Bringing Up Great Kids – a reflective parenting program for both parents and facilitators
‘Bringing Up Great Kids – a reflective parenting program for both parents and facilitators’ blog article was written by Nina Moffat, Parenting and Early Years Consultant and Therapeutic Specialist at Australian Childhood Foundation.
Throughout all variations of our Bringing Up Great Kids (BUGK) Parenting Program, there is a strong focus on personal reflection for parents.
The practice of mindfulness can support parents in their efforts to develop reflective and thoughtful, rather than reactive, ways of responding to their children. It is the facilitator’s task to hold parents in a safe space to share their experiences, thoughts, and emotions to foster self-reflection and growth.
Relationships and reflective practice are the heart of the program.
To support facilitators to hold parents in this space, the BUGK program invites facilitators to also take the time, for personal reflection in preparation for each session.
This provides facilitators with the opportunity to not only consider how they will best support parents in their groups but also to consider the application of that topic or theme in their own lives.
Reflective group facilitation is characterised by self-awareness, careful and continuous observations, and respectful, flexible responses. Thus, the most important preparation for facilitation of the group is on-going self-reflection on the part of the facilitators themselves.” – BUGK Foundation Manual
Facilitator reflection in a reflective program provides numerous opportunities.
It can support facilitators in creating a safe and supportive group environment. These reflections invite facilitators to consider their own biases and assumptions, in turn supporting them to create an inclusive space that respects diversity.
Taking the time between each session and different groups offers facilitators the opportunity to enhance their facilitation skills as they reflect on the needs of their current group and the differences between groups and appreciate the dynamic nature of groups.
It is an opportunity to identify their strengths and growth areas, and this reflection can support facilitators to be adaptable to the different group dynamics that will emerge and, where needed, identify and respond to challenges.
Taking the time for personal reflection allows facilitators to notice their connection to the topic or themes.
These invitations encouraged facilitators to consider how they were parented when they were a child, how they parent their own children and the interconnectedness between how they were parented and how they then parented. Bringing awareness to one’s connection to the topic supports facilitators to notice, should their own stories arise during a session, while also providing facilitators with a similar experience of what they will be inviting and supporting their parents with throughout the program.
Facilitator reflection is a key component of successfully delivering a reflective program, and it is expected that BUGK facilitated will model the practice of reflection in every interaction with parents.
While it can be easy to brush over in the hustle of getting ready for group or to stop, once you have delivered many programs, we encourage all facilitators to make the time, to sit with the facilitator reflections prior to each session.
Learn more about our Bringing Up Great Kids (BUGK) Program
Bringing Up Great Kids (BUGK) is an integrated suite of activities and tools that are unique and offer all parents and carers a fresh way to understand and enact relationships with their children. It focuses on building positive and nurturing relationships between parents and their children, while also aiming to support parents to review and enhance their patterns of communication with their children to promote more respectful interactions and encourage the development of children’s positive self-identity.