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Parental Coaching and the “Happy Medium” Between Laxism and Authoritarianism: Experts in Common Sense

par Marquis, Nicolas ;Mignon, Solène
Référence Education, Parenting, and Mental Health Care in Europe: The Contradictions of Building Autonomous Individuals, Taylor and Francis, page (110-126)
Publication Publié, 2024-01

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Résumé :

The logic of coaching - to give people the means to create the changes they need - calls for specific competencies. In the parental coaching field, the reference to “skills” is everywhere even if the skills are not precisely defined. Why this reference? This chapter argues that referring to competencies or skills and especially (parental) common sense creates a common language that concretely helps coaches to navigate between different resources and to stay away from burning public controversies. In the first section, the chapter investigates how the controversy about parenting in French-speaking countries compares with the situations in other areas. A second section shows empirically how Belgian coaches try to avoid both extremes of the controversy that they are drawn into, i.e., laxism and authoritarianism. The focus on parental common sense helps them present a pragmatic stance, adapted to each situation, and empowers the parents. Finally, a third point asks: If parents already have their common sense, what then is left for the coaches to legitimate their intervention?.