Many parents of different ages recognize the need to replenish their psychological and pedagogical knowledge in order to build intra-family relationships with both children and adults. Not everyone is aware of the multiplicity of family functions and the depth of educational potential. They have no idea what educational opportunities society has.
"A family"
From the point of view of sociology, a family is an association of a small group of people connected not only by blood kinship and material relations, but also by mutual moral responsibility. The difficulty of coexistence is, first of all, that each member of the family differs from the other not only in age and gender, but also in character, attitudes, goals, ideas about morality and duty in relation to each other. The size of the material contribution to family affairs also varies significantly, which sometimes leads to conflict.
That is, this union of non-identical 7 "I". Despite the general goals of the cell of society (housekeeping, raising children, etc.), the worldview, interests, and aspirations of its members may differ. The family is a small social group in which everyone has certain rights and obligations in relation to each other. Their violation entails its disintegration and various kinds of hard to recover losses for each member of the family.
Family Functions
The family is a small group of people, however, an analysis of its functions shows that, by solving its own problems, the family also solves general social problems.
The main functions of the family include:
- Reproductive, that is, the function of numerical reproduction of the population.
- The function of the socialization of the individual is to teach the moral and ethical rules of behavior in society.
- Economic or household. The family takes care of their financial situation, engages in useful work, thus satisfying their household and household needs (purchasing and using housing, clothes, household appliances and items, appliances, buying or growing food, etc.).
- Educational - raising children in accordance with social, national, religious traditions. At the same time, each family maintains its own pedagogical traditions and creates new ones in the spirit of modern social changes and requirements.
- Recreational, psychotherapeutic - provides a person with a variety of help (material, psychological) and protection from external negative influences. A person should be aware that the degree of such help and protection from the family will be maximum, even if he has committed serious mistakes and misconduct.
The tasks of the functioning of the family are solved in a complex manner, otherwise its private problems can become problems of a social scale. Drug addiction, alcoholism, crime, immorality, lack of ideology, dependency are manifestations of an asocial lifestyle that require intervention in the inner world of the family by public and state institutions.
The family as the main social institution ensures the security and well-being of the country as a whole.
Types of Family Relationships
The characterization of the family as a small group of close people depends on what type of relationship is established between them.
- Cooperation - a highly organized family has common tasks and goals, strives to achieve them, combining their capabilities and forces. In the full sense, this is a family team, which takes into account individual needs and opportunities.
- Non-intervention, peaceful coexistence - parents deliberately give their children complete freedom of action, avoiding any pressure on them. In some cases, this is dictated by the belief that only with this style of relationship children will grow up free and independent. In others, these are selfish manifestations of passivity and indifference of adults, unwillingness to perform parental functions.
- Guardianship - parents completely protect the child not only from material, but also from moral and psychological difficulties, worries, decision making. As a result, selfish, uninitiated, unadapted personal relationships grow up.
- Dictate - based on the unconditional submission of all family members to the requirements of one of them. The concept of a family as a small group of close people is absent. Seeking from others the recognition of their superiority over them, the dictator can use measures such as violence, threats, ignoring needs, and humiliating self-esteem.
Different types of family relationships can be combined. For example, dictatorship with indifference to other family members.
Educational opportunities of the family
The pedagogical potential of the “cell of society” is huge, because the family is a small group of people with deep internal connections. In different families, the same factors of education are expressed more, in others - less. Material, cultural, spiritual, civic or other goals and motives for raising children may prevail.
The socio-economic factor characterizes the financial situation of the family: how many parents are busy at work and can they devote enough time to raising children, is there enough earned money to pay for the urgent and cultural and educational needs of adults and children.
A comfortable and beautiful environment that is safe for life and health - a technical and hygienic factor - has a positive effect on the formation of feelings, imagination, and thinking of a child.
The composition of the family, that is, the demographic factor, certainly influences the personality of the child (complex or simple family, complete or incomplete, one or many children, etc.).
The family microclimate largely depends on the culture and citizenship of the parents, that is, on how deeply they realize their responsibility to society for the results of raising their own children. Their goal - 7 "I" should become a strong team of people close in spirit.
Principles of Family Education
The principles of family education, developed by A. S. Makarenko, have not lost their relevance in our days.
Proper education will save from the enormous expenditures of parental energy, strength and patience in re-educating the child’s incorrect behavioral and moral attitudes.
- The family is a small group of its equal members, but the main ones in it are the parents - an example for children who have assumed a difficult responsibility for all aspects of the existence of the family.
- Only parenting in a large family allows the child to practice participating in various types of social relations.
- Parents should have clear goals for raising children as future citizens of the country, and not as a means of satisfying their own parental ambitions.
- A personal example of behavior is the main method of raising a child.
You bring him up at every moment of your life, even when you are not at home. The slightest changes in tone, the child sees or feels, all the turns of your thoughts reach him in invisible ways, you do not notice them. (A.S. Makarenko)
Pedagogical principles are implemented through methods of education of the necessary qualities of a child’s personality.
Family Education Methods
The choice of methods for raising children is dictated by the level of psychological and pedagogical education of parents, family educational traditions. It should be based on love for the child, on understanding his internal and external needs, taking into account the specific situation of the event. The predominant example is an adult, a child demonstrating trust in him, openness, readiness for discussion, empathy.
- Demonstration of methods of action and reactions to the situation (he was embarrassed: to get angry or to laugh and improve?).
- Instruction - should be feasible, followed by analysis of the results of the implementation and encouragement or patient explanation of the reasons for failure.
- Reasonable and sufficient control of actions, states of mind and soul.
- Humor. It helps to see the situation from the ridiculous side, relieve tension and choose adequate measures of influence.
- Encouragement - verbal (praise) or material. Underestimating and overestimating a child’s actions is equally undesirable. In the first case, the incentive to useful actions is lost, in the other, arrogance, a sense of superiority over others are formed.
- Punishment is a proportionate misconduct. Physical and moral humiliation is inadmissible as inhumane, leading to deformation of the individual, to alienation from other family members.
When choosing methods of education takes into account the age of children, their psychophysiological state. They should stimulate the child’s desire to become better in every way, to be useful, to meet the optimistic expectations of adults. Wrongly chosen methods in children form various kinds of complexes, neurotic states, a rejection of self-development and life goal-setting.
The family is in crisis. Who will help?
Despite the fact that the family is a small group, considerable problems of a material, psychological or other nature may arise within it.
Not all of them can be overcome by the forces of its members. The family assistance system looks like this.
At the initiative of family members or the public, experts from the legal and health authorities, social services, psychological and pedagogical services of the children's educational institution study the essence of family problems, their sources and causes.
The content, terms, forms and methods of providing individual or group support are coordinated. Responsible for the implementation of the planned assistance plans are appointed.
The results and quality of the assistance provided are systematically monitored until a family problem is resolved.
Many parents do not want to publicize their difficulties, they are afraid of outside interference, hoping for their own strength. Specialists from the competent authorities should find opportunities for explanatory work with the parent contingent in order to remove this barrier of mistrust.