PAT - learning with parents
PAT - Learning with parents is a preventive support program for toddlers from families in psychosocial risk situations.
The main goal of PAT - Learning with Parents is to promote the healthy, age-appropriate development of children from birth in order to prevent later learning and behavior problems in school as much as possible.
Origin and implementation
The support program was developed under the name “Parents As Teachers” (PAT) in Missouri USA in the early 1980s to improve the school ability of children from socially disadvantaged families. In 2004 PAT was brought to Germany by AWO Nuremberg, translated and adapted to German conditions under the name PAT - Learning with parents .
Since 2010, PAT - Learning with parents has also been used in Switzerland as part of the longitudinal intervention study ZEPPELIN (Zurich equity prevention project, parent participation and integration). This funding program was selected for ZEPPELIN because it corresponds to effectiveness criteria in the area of early childhood education for families in psychosocial risk situations, namely early start, continuity and intensity, individualization options, professionalism of the staff, consideration of language support and low-threshold access.
PAT is also being implemented in Australia , New Zealand and the United Kingdom .
Addressees
PAT is aimed at all young families who need support and guidance in bringing up their children, especially families in psychosocial risk situations such as single young mothers, unemployment of parents, migration coupled with social isolation, financial problems, tight living conditions, addiction and violence . Measured against the quality criteria of access to families that are difficult to reach, PAT is suitable for winning the cooperation of parents in risky situations.
Program elements
The focus is on regular home visits : a PAT parent trainer visits the family on average every two weeks for three years, discusses the particularities of the respective development phases of their child with the parents and supports them with issues that arise from this for everyday upbringing. A second element of the program are the group offers for around 10 families, which take place once a month and serve to exchange experiences, learn from other parents and observe the child together with other children. A third program element is the development of social networks : PAT creates access to facilities and offers, such as German courses or the receipt of housing allowance. Finally, PAT provides screenings that help the parent trainer and parents to observe developmental areas such as vision, hearing, cognition, motor skills and the health of the child and to identify critical areas that require clarification by experts and possibly therapeutic offers.
Objectives of the program
- Improving parenting skills
- During home visits, the parents are provided with practical knowledge about development processes that can be observed in the child. They get suggestions on how they can promote this development and learn how their own behavior is related to the behavior of the child.
- Promote the building of secure bonds between parents and children
- The parent trainer supports the parents in developing the necessary sensitivity for dealing with the baby and encourages them to understand the child's signals and respond to them sensitively and promptly.
- Promotion of age-appropriate school ability
- The family as a place of education is of central importance in the formative first years of the child's life. PAT - Learning with Parents helps parents to create a stimulating environment for their children, which is necessary for the development of learning competence and the development of school-based precursor skills.
- Reduction of child abuse and neglect
- PAT builds preventive support systems for young families and imparts knowledge and skills in dealing with children. This ensures that parents' expectations of their children's behavior are appropriate.
- Increasing the well-being of the family
- With every home visit, the parent trainer not only keeps an eye on the child, but also on the well-being of the entire family. In emergencies, she will help parents get the support they need.
Evaluation results
Between 1984 and 2008, 17 PAT evaluation studies were carried out in the USA, the majority of which were progress evaluations and five of them were carried out in an experimental test arrangement with a control group design. The results show largely positive effects at both parent and child level. Children from high-risk families benefit particularly strongly. Only sporadic data is available on the long-term effects of the program on the later development of children, so that no reliable conclusions can be drawn from them. According to the last large replication study in Missouri, the results showed weak to moderate effects on the variable “willingness to go to school” and on performance in third grade. The ZEPPELIN intervention study is supposed to be the proof of effectiveness for Europe.
criticism
PAT is an evidence-based, but also an elaborate early intervention program. It is “parent education” and it is “early help”. It is concrete, individual help, prevention and general support. It's upbringing and education. Thus, it moves according to the system of youth welfare at an interface, which makes access control and financing more difficult.
literature
- A. Lanfranchi, A. Neuhauser: ZEPPELIN 0-3: Theoretical basics, concept and implementation of the early childhood support program "PAT - With parents learning". In: Early Education. Volume 2, No. 1, 2012, pp. 1-9.
- A. Lanfranchi, A. Burgener Woeffray: Reaching families in risky situations through early childhood education. In: M. Stamm, D. Edelmann (Ed.): Handbuch Frühkindliche Bildungsforschung. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Weinheim 2013, pp. 603–616.
- A. Neuhauser, E. Ramseier, S. Schaub, SCA Burkhardt, F. Templer, A. Lanfranchi: Hard to reach families - A methodological approach to early recognition, recruitment, and randomization in an intervention study. In: Mental Health & Prevention. Volume 3, No. 3, 2015, pp. 79-88. doi: 10.1016 / j.mhp.2015.07.002
- D. Paulsell, S. Avellar, E. Sama Martin, P. Del Grosso: Home Visiting Evidence of Effectiveness Review: Executive Summary. US Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC 2011.
- R. Sindbert: PAT –Learning with parents. Better educational opportunities for children from socially disadvantaged families through early support and parent empowerment. In: C. Leyendecker (Ed.): Endangered Childhood. Recognize risks early, extract resources early. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2010, pp. 344-349.
- Edward Zigler , Judy C. Pfannensstiel , Victoria Seitz : The Parents as Teachers Program and School Success: A Replication and Extension. In: The Journal of Primary Prevention. Volume 29, No. 2, 2008, pp. 103-120.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ pat-mitelternlernen.org
- ↑ zeppelin-hfh.ch
- ↑ Lanfranchi & Neuhauser, 2013.
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento from April 25, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Parents as First Teachers ( Memento from May 5, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
- ^ Parents as First Teachers
- ↑ Lanfranchi & Burgener Woeffray, 2013.
- ^ Neuhauser & Lanfranchi, 2013.
- ↑ Zigler, Pfannenstiel & Seitz, 2008.