Lead Parent Café Conversations
Parent leaders, teachers or community educators can play an important role in connecting parents together for conversations focusing on learning. Parent Café can provide a unique space to share successes, resources and build supportive networks. The Parent Café format is designed to create a space where people come together in trusting conversation which can validate what they are already doing well and lead to further engagement and action. An appreciative inquiry, positive approach to the conversation serves to highlight strengths, possibilities, and local resources. Parent Café also can serve as a forum when parents wish to collectively become more informed about learning, and energized and purposeful in finding ways to connect to each other, the community, and its resources.
The Parent Café materials are designed to help stimulate a flowing, organic conversation relevant for each group of parents. Café provides facilitators with a guide of possible questions and background resources to help get conversations started. However, be prepared for conversations that have a life of their own! Café will also provide personalized orientations to any groups or individuals wanting a face-to-face introduction. Please contact Café for more information.
We suggest you browse through the Parent Café Facilitators Guide and see if this strength-based approach resonates with your work. You will find ideas, tools and resources that might be helpful in getting started. Feel free to browse through the suggested themes. A number of communication resources or tools are provided as an option to help save valuable time when planning a conversation café. Forms are provided in a Word format allowing you to add your own organization or school logo and customize information. Click on the links below to download:
Cafe is pleased to make these resources available to school groups and other community educators to use in bringing parents together. In return, we request that those who have used and appreciated the resources provide feedback via the attached survey evaluations below, designed for both the conversation leaders and participants. (please circulate link to participating parents). Follow-up and ongoing feedback from users will inform Café’s work and development of future resources.
Leader evaluation Participant evaluation
For further information or inquiries please feel free to contact us. If you decide to go ahead and host your own Café conversations, have fun and be ready to be inspired by parents doing great things! Please do not forget to share your stories, photos or successes as you go along and become a member of the Café community!
Thank you for your responsible and ethical use of the Cafe materials. Cafe’s resources, materials, and information on the website are all made available for educational, non-commercial purposes. Users are free to copy, distribute, and transmit information if cited or a link to cafeinstitute.org is acknowledged. If material that is linked or recommended by Café is individually copyrighted by another organization or author we ask that all specified rights be respected. If you or your organization appreciates and makes use of Cafe in-person orientations or this consolidation of resources, honorariums will be graciously accepted along with any donations that will help to support a continuation of Café’s efforts.
