Fathers.... and babies

In a too-rushed ending to our class on Wednesday, we talked about fathers and their roles in caregiving. Although we can debate family compositions and gender role requirements for happy lives and childrearing outcomes, men make up half of our population in the US or worldwide (or around there, depending on your source of statistics) and it's important that we focus on the impact they make on children through their relationships with them, and how we can support men in being nurturing fathers.

As a great transition to next week as we talk about the beginning of life and what babies need, here's the clip on fathers that was listed for week 2 in our class. It's from the "I Am Your Child" series. It's called 'To Be a Father." 

http://mediamill.cla.umn.edu/mediamill/display/79973 

Also, a picture from the new NBC series, "This is Us." As you watch the video (a bit dated but still relevant), consider the roles that fathers play in the new life that is a baby. How is it different, or as Ray Romano says, a transition from the way fathers used to be involved (or should we say, were 'only' involved)?

What factors influence how father's father their children? What do we want them to do and be for their children? And what messages to them support and reinforce caregiving as being more than 'the wallet' and 'the disciplinarian'?

Consider your own father, or the person who has functioned most closely as a father to you. What roles does this person play in your life (in concert or perhaps separate from your mother)? How has this person shaped who you are today?

Cultural Differences in Child Feeding

In Monday's class we began to explore the role of culture as an influence in childrearing and on the parent-child relationship. We discussed how a culture's norms and values are transmitted through parents through their actions and expectations of their children, in what they teach and how they teach it. We discussed how parents and families can differ along cultural continuua, encouraging for instance independence and others encouraging interdependence. Some families promoting more individualistic behaviors and others operating on more collecitivistic principles. And so on.

In this video clip*, we see parents representing different cultures all performing the same parenting task: providing an environment for a young child (or children) to learn about feeding, self-feeding, and eating.

As you watch this clip, what differences do you see? What motivations or values might the parent(s) have for feeding or encouraging eating and feeding in children as you observe it? What is the child learning from this? And how might the action represent facets of culture?

*click the link to open the video in another window. Click the small box in the lower right corner of the video to open to full screen.

Clip Analysis: Parenting Styles and Relationship Dynamics

During class on Wednesday, we discussed the concepts of agency and communion in parent-child relationships (Wiggins) and parenting styles as a blend of warmth and demandingness (Baumrind). We viewed a film clip from The Lion King and discussed our observations of how the father (Mufasa) and son (Simba), and even Mufasa and his aide Zazu, demonstrated the relationship concepts.

Below are clips from two other films, Dead Poets Society and Willie Wonka*. Please view them (click on the URL - opens to a new window) and comment with your observations of how the scenes demonstrate agency and communion by parent and child, and which parenting style the parent demonstrates, and how this is shown.

http://mediamill.cla.umn.edu/mediamill/embed/15059

http://mediamill.cla.umn.edu/mediamill/embed/12524

and one more time, father and son from 'The Lion King'

http://mediamill.cla.umn.edu/mediamill/embed/12532

*All 3 film clips are from classic films (or remakes of a classic in the case of Willy Wonka). For more information on each of the films, a good source is IMDB (international movie database) at www.imdb.com. 

Our own parent-child relationships as a context for human development

At the end of class on Monday, this graphic of a wordcloud was shared. It includes the terms offered by the class to describe in one word their relationship with a parent. As wordclouds do, the larger the letters the more frequently the word appeared. The words here represent 89% of the class.

 

What does this graphic tell you about our perspectives on parent-child relationships? 

In our discussions, we've identified that meaningful relationships can offer us a variety of supports, guidance and resources, validation for our identities, companionship and contribute to the myriad of outcomes of who we are and what we achieve (e.g., adjustment, life success, choices on living in a society). And parent-child relationships, of course, are two-way streets. There are two players, and both child and parent are influenced by the relationship. And as living things, they take place and can change over time.

Given that, what does our wordcloud suggest about the parent-child relationship as a context for human development?

About Parent-Child Relationships

In this course, FSOS 4155 Parent-Child Relationships, we are exploring the dynamics between parents and children that create the lifelong bond and that have countless influences on the development of the child, and of the parent as an adult.

We'll begin by looking at the internal dynamics between parents and children that drive relationships - human development, life stage, personal characteristics, contexts and psychological motivations, such as the drive for agency and for communion. Then we'll explore parent-child relationships over the normative trajectory of the transition to parenthood through infancy and early childhood, through schoolage, adolescence, young adulthood and then parent-child relationships between the adult as child and the adult as parent into grandparenthood and caring for our aging parents.

At each turn, to reinforce the content provided to us in readings, web links, videos and lecture files, we will come together to discuss the key points. Complementary to our class work we will learn outside of class in a variety of ways - as we do as learners naturally. We observe humans and human interactions, we are sparked by conversations and interactions with others on topics directly and indirectly related to the course, and reflect on our personal experiences to make deeper connections.

This blog will be a part of our out of class learning. Throughout the course we'll offer insights and discussion on topics, events and content from our lives that are relevant. It might be a news item, a current film or TV show or book; it might be a personal reflection that invites others to contribute to.

As we begin the course please read the articles for the first day, "Choose Your Parents Wisely" and "A Manifesto Against 'Parenting," and watch the trailer for the film, "Raising of America." What processes do you see that occur in parent-child relationships? What context factors might make a difference in these relationships?

As you ponder your own parent-child relationships, how would you characterize what goes on between you and your parent (or the person you consider most like your parent)?