Faculty of Pedagogy joined online International Parenting Programme (IPP) congress

A Congress within International Parenting Programme (IPP) “Resilience of Parents in a Changing World” was held online from 24th to 26th November 2020. The event was organized by the Parenting Consortium, established in 2017 with the participation of Satakunta University of Applied Sciences (Finland), Vilniaus kolegija / University of Applied Sciences (Lithuania), University of Malta (Malta), Howest, University of Applied Sciences (Belgium), University College Leuven-Limburg (Belgium), Nottingham Trent University (the United Kingdom) and Zuyd University of Applied Sciences (the Netherlands). The Consortium aims to implement IPP online courses on the theme of parenting, as well as organise and host an annual IPP study exchange programme for students in one of the participating countries.

159 people took part in the Online Congress: 73 students, 31 teachers, 42 professionals and 8 parents. 19 Social Work and Pedagogy of Primary Education students from Vilniaus kolegija / University of Applied Sciences attended virtual lectures and gave presentations on what they have learned during the IPP about the resilience of parents and how professionals can reinforce it.

Lecturers from all the partner countries joined the conference. Professor Carmel Borg from the University of Malta presented challenges faced by parents in a fast-changing world. Joyce Leysen from KU Leuven discussed the neuro-discourse of parenthood. Workshops were held on the topics of intercultural methods and theories, as wells as the resilience of young mothers. One of the workshops was delivered by Aušra Simoniukštytė, lecturer from the Faculty of Pedagogy at Vilniaus kolegija / University of Applied Sciences, titled “Communication with Vulnerable Parents to Stimulate Resilience: A Case of Roma Parents and Refugees”.