| Abstract: | SUMMARY: The provision of parenting education in Australia has increased dramatically in recent years in response to the rapid changes in contemporary society and the involvement of professionals in family life and relationships. Informed by a critical perspective which highlights the impact of individuals and society upon each other, the paper argues that the value base of parenting education programmes needs to be made clear. Parents need to be helped to consider their personal experiences of mothering and fathering in relation to the under structural tensions shaping their individual responses which impact in turn on the broader situation. A study being undertaken in Melbourne, Australia is drawn on to illustrate certain aspects of parenting education, and ways in which programmes can perpetuate dominant ideologies which can disadvantage parents, but especially mothers, are noted. |
