Project Details

Elterncafes im Dialog

Short Description and Goal

“Elterncafé im Dialog e.V.” (Parents’ Café in Dialog.), has built a bridge between the parents and children of Arkhangelsk and Emden on the basis of organizing joint group discussions, seminars, round tables and workshops, such as the annual summer schools held reciprocally in twinning cities.

Detailed Description

The aim of the project: to strengthen the responsibility of parents in the field of education of children through joint activities in the Parents’ Café, in groups “parents – parents”, “parents – children”, “parents – specialists of educational, social and cultural institutions”.
Target groups of the project: parents, children, guardians, family members (grandmothers, grandfathers, etc.), teachers, specialists of educational, social and cultural institutions working with families, moderators and volunteers of Parents Cafe, students studying “Pedagogy” and “Psychology”,
“Psychological and pedagogical education”.

Partners of the project:
– Department of Psychology of the Northern (Arctic) Federal-
Lomonosov Moscow State University; – City Hall of Arkhangelsk;
– Arkhangelsk Secondary School #43, 62; – Novodvinsk gymnasium;
– Arkhangelsk Regional Public Organization (RPO) “Foster Family”;
– Childhood Rights Protection Centre of Arkhangelsk;
– Arkhangelsk Regional Children’s Library named after A.P. Gaidar;
– Severodvinsk city public organization for large families “Sem Ya”;
– Regional Public Organization “Union of Journalists”;
– University of Applied Sciences, Emden / Leer (Germany); – NGO “Parents’ Cafe in Dialogue (Emden, Germany).

Project duration: 2011 to present.

Project tasks:
– Increasing the psychological and pedagogical competence of parents in the field of upbringing.
– Acquiring the experience of parents in group discussion of problems associated with the children’s upbringing.
– Development of the educational resources of the family, self-help skills through direct cooperation of parents with each other, as well as the need for self-development through the upbringing of their children.
– Optimizing child-parent and couple relationships.
– Formation of the ability to prevent the occurrence of difficult crisis situations related to the upbringing of the younger generation.
– Development of the ongoing relationship with educational, social and cultural institutions in order to provide psychological and pedagogical support to parents.

Foreign authors of the project from Germany suggested to the Arkhangelsk teachers that informal communication between parents and teachers of schools on the problems of children will only benefit everyone. Parents Café is the result of pedagogical creativity that has international roots. Arkhangelsk secondary school No. 43 was the setting for this project. During the four years of work a small cafe has turned into a large-scale project. Today there are already 10 such sites in the region. The parents’ cafe is a territory of freedom of speech. Here parents discuss pressing problems of children and schools, participate in master classes, consultations with specialists, and meet with representatives of the authorities. Live communication takes place in informal conversations, often over a cup of coffee or tea. On the basis of the Parents’ Café at School No. 43, hobby groups, sports teams, and the Council of Fathers have already formed. The Russian implementation of the German idea has attracted the interest of foreign colleagues.

This project, new for Russia, solves a number of important problems. Mothers and fathers, attending classes at the Parents Cafe improve their psychological and pedagogical competence in the field of education, acquire experience in group discussion of problems, develop skills of self-help and mutual assistance, and also learn to engage in self-development through the education of their children. Classes at the Parents’ Café help build relationships within the family, not only between parents and children, but also between the spouses themselves. With the help of group work mothers and fathers develop the ability to prevent crisis situations related to the upbringing of the younger generation, and specialists from educational, social and cultural institutions provide psychological and pedagogical support to parents, holding consultations.

Today, not only parents but also grandmothers, grandfathers, guardians, educators, teachers, volunteers helping the project, students studying psychology and pedagogy come to the Parents’ Café. There are exciting master classes for children and parents in drawing, sculpting, and making handicrafts. While the kids are expressing themselves in the creative sphere, the adults are discussing such topics as proper nutrition, communication with difficult people, the ability to manage their emotions, the role of the father in the formation of the child’s personality, the development of parental activity and responsibility, and many other important issues. A special feature of the project was joint work with professional librarians. They work with children and families, and together with volunteers teach them how to compose and tell stories.
The project is successful and recognized both in Russia and abroad.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Initiated by

  • Elterncafes – im – Dialog e.V.

Initiators are

• Private individual(s) / Civil society

Funded by

• Municipality
• Crowd
• Private Individuals
• Federal or State Funds

Project Website(s)

Contact Info

http://www.elterncafe-im-dialog.org/Kontakt/index.php/#STRATP_cm4all_com_widgets_Formular_18869207

riedhelm Biederbeck 1. Vorsitzender

Ursula Alpers-Gervelmeyer Kassenwart

Elterncafes – im – Dialog Archangelsk

Dr. Tatiana Bulygina Leitung der psychologischen Abteilung Universität Archangelsk

Project Topics

Civil Society, Education, Inclusion & Welfare, Young People

Level / Project Complexity /

Medium

Participating Cities

  • Emden
  • Arkhangelsk

Sizes of Participating Cities

• 20.000 - 100.000
• 100.000 - 500.000

Participating Countries

  • Germany
  • Russian Federation

Project Region(s)

• Europe

Media Credits

Cover picture: Photo by Gift Habeshaw on Unsplash