The conference will focus on parental involvement in children’s educational development within the context of the Maltese and European family literacy PEFaL (Parent Empowerment for Family Literacy) Project coordinated by the FES in collaboration with the participating partner countries Belgium, Lithuania, Italy, England and Romania. The project was held within the framework of Grundtvig 1 strand of the Socrates Programme of the European Commission.
One of the aims of this project was to disseminate the Maltese experience in organising family literacy programmes to the other partner countries. Maltese families participated in both after school and day school programmes held through the collaboration of the FES and selected primary schools in Malta and Gozo. The FES family literacy programmes of Hilti and IDF brought together parents and children from different school communities. Professionally trained family literacy coordinators and tutors helped them develop their literacy skills emphasising parental participation in children’s educational development and the importance of home-school links for enhanced lifelong learning.
Principal Elements
of the Conference
The Foundation for Educational Services has invited two keynote speakers, Prof. Sheila Wolfendale from the University of East London and Ms. Pat Collard Executive Director for Regional Development within the Basic Skills Agency, to present their papers on how these literacy programmes have been proven to enhance the educational development of both parents and children.
Various workshops will also be held during the conference, focusing on two principal themes, literacy and parental involvement. The academic element will be dealt with during workshops in which the latest research and policies governing family literacy programmes both in Malta and Europe will be presented by both local and foreign researchers in the field. Parents who were involved in such programmes will also be participating and giving their input.
More practical workshops are also being organised by both local and foreign parents who participated in family literacy programmes and who gained further training in facilitating parent-to-parent programmes. These parents not only received training to strengthen their literacy skills but were also trained to take a more active part in their school community, reaching out to other parents and delivering short educational courses with the collaboration of trained teachers. These ‘parent leaders’ will share how this experience has helped them reflect on their personal educational development and life-long learning journey. Further training seminars will also be held concurrently with the aim of creating networking learning communities between the European partners.
This conference should be of particular interest to all teachers, school administrators and educators working in the field of lifelong learning and parental involvement in education as well as parents who are interested in family literacy and who have either already worked in family literacy programmes or who are considering such future possibilities.
European Family Festival
The highlight of the conference will be the Family Festival held on 10 July between 7pm and 10pm. on the Coastline Hotel’s open-air terrace.
This Festival will be an opportunity to celebrate all the educational achievements of FES and PEFaL programmes. An ‘educational market’ will feature a number of stands exhibiting work of local and European family literacy programmes. Visitors can also participate in educational activities which will be held on each stand. There will also be fun activities for the whole family to enjoy. This event will be open to the general public and entrance is free.
More information can be obtained by accessing the PEFaL website www.pefalmalta.org.mt
Parents, teachers and administrators interested in attending the conference are kindly asked to contact Ms Marie Claire Mifsud on 21455600/7 Ext. 121 or on email address [email protected]
Marie Claire Mifsud is a Programme Animator within the Foundation for Educational Services