Parents share their portfolio experience

FES trained several parents to help other parents develop their Parents' Lifelong Learning Portfolio (PLLLP). Following are some of the experiences shared by four parents.

Pauline Agius said that the PLLLP helped her realise the difference between 'living' and 'existing', both as an adult and a parent. The PLLLP helped her reflect on experiences she had gone through during the FES programmes.

•Ms Agius became involved with FES to work with other parents who wanted to train as childminders during non-formal adult education courses. She then trained as a parent leader, became actively involved in curricular matters at her own school community at Mtarfa primary school, co-worked with teachers on the design and delivery of parent-to-parent courses, and now assists FES staff in teacher training events dealing with parental involvement in education.

The development of her own portfolio led her to realise how much communication within her family had developed, how actively she listens to her children, and how supportive her husband is of all her self- and family development endeavours.

Ms Agius is now chairperson of the Parent Leaders Forum established in October 2006. The Parent Leaders Forum is an independent and autonomous organisation which aims to share good practices of parental involvement and participation in schools, among others. She highlighted the important role of the portfolio as a self-esteem boost for women who dedicate their life to the growth of their family while minimising their own skills and inner resources.

•Parent-leader Veronica Farrugia started her active involvement at her child's school in St Paul's Bay through the FES family literacy programme Klabb Óilti. Following her participation, her self-confidence improved so much that she continued her training as a parent-helper, co-working with FES teachers in the organisation of educational events and courses for other parents from her school community. The PLLLP helped her reflect on her wish to become a self-empowered person. Life circumstances did not enable her to become a teacher. However, she currently works as a supply teacher and plans to be able to join a university degree programme.

•Dounia Borg of Zebbug and her husband worked together on their separate lifelong learning portfolio. The reflective part of the portfolio led Ms Borg to join an ETC course on starting a small business. She trained as a mentor to help other parents from her locality in filling in the portfolio. She talked about working with a parent who, after using the portfolio as a self-reflective tool, started to acknowledge her self-worth and skills and subsequently became very actively involved in a very interesting parish venture.

Ms Borg intends to work closely with FES to translate the portfolio into Arabic.

•Ramona Sargent said the PLLLP helped her focus on her own educational strengths and needs. It also helped her acknowledge her responsibilities towards her school community. Today, she is a very active parent at the St Paul's Bay primary school and has also been elected a parent representative on the school council.