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Supporting activities of Parents Academy as a measure to facilitate the reconciliation of work, studies and family.

Submitted by: Natalija Mažeikienė, Vytautas Magnus University

- ongoing

Supporting activities of Parents Academy as a measure to facilitate the reconciliation of work, studies and family.

Starting from 2016, every month informal learning activities (lectures, seminars, forums and workshops) for the broader public and university community on issues of parenting, reconciliation of work, family and studies are held. Examples of activities – lectures on the changing nature of contemporary families, diversity of parenting and family practices, dual careers, reconciliation of work and family, how to deal with stress and burnout, how to handle children’s online learning, etc.  VMU Gender Equality Plan includes a measure of supporting activities of Parents Academy. Since 2020, more focus on activities of the Academy has been placed on challenges in parenthood, families, working parents during COVID-19 pandemics. 

COMPASS PERSPECTIVE – in what way(s) was the measure C O M P A S S?

C - for looking for creative ways and formats to initiate discussions with the university community, social partners (schools, teachers, parents) and the broader public on the current issues in parenting and drawing the attention to changes in family life, career and work.  

O - for including diverse forms of family and parents (single mothers, divorced couples, challenges in dual careers, fathers in academia, new roles of fatherhood in family).    

S - for SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Results-focused and Time-bound). The measure covers informal teaching, learning, discussion and experience sharing activities organised monthly on a regular basis. 

S - for sustainable, continuous, self-generative and responsible activities and efforts of researchers, teachers and professionals in psychology, social work, education and sociology. The initiative of Parents Academy has been promoted since 2016 and has received additional inspiration and support in the process of GEP design and implementation.

ACTORS AND STAKEHOLDERS

Teachers of VMU Faculty of Social Sciences in cooperation with colleagues from other VMU faculties have been giving lectures and training on the issues of parenting, combining family responsibilities with work and studies. 
Target groups and audiences: broad society and audiences (parents, teachers), VMU employees, young researchers, students who are interested in the topic and are experiencing challenges in combining family, parenthood and work.

AUTHOR’S REFLECTIONS

What would you do the same/differently another time?
What have you learnt? Do you see relevance for this in other contexts?

This measure has been introduced several years ago to enhance communication on VMU expertise with external audiences and stakeholders (parents and school teachers, broader public). Additionally, it was considered a measure to consolidate community and improve the emotional, psycho-social wellbeing of the community members. The VMU SPEAR project team has included this measure into VMU GEP and initiated the dialogue with the enthusiasts from the Faculty of Social Sciences to transform this measure into a discussion platform to address current changes in the nature of family, reveal diversity in practicing marriages, family relations and parenthood.