In 2022, ISSA Member, CIP-Center for Interactive Pedagogy developed the Parenting on the Move program with the support of Save the Children North West Balkans. By combining psychological support, education, and entertainment, the program aims to empower families in creating conditions for wellbeing, resilience and education of children up to 12 years old during situations of migration.

ISSA interviewed program developers, Aleksandra Kalezić (Education Specialist) and Kristina Drini (Junior Education Specialist) to learn more about the program and its implementation – from the initial focus groups with families to piloting the program in refugee camps in Serbia, and through the finalization.

The program is built on three components: parent workshops, family workshops, and resources with activities that parents and children can do together. The family workshops allow parents and children to bond, which can boost parents' confidence.

"We learned how to love our families, what to do when a kid has a problem, how to get kids into school, how to be flexible and live better at camp with other cultures. We have a lot of free time, it is important for us to be together, to talk, to become friends”

- Participating parent, Parenting on the Move workshop

During the process of piloting the program, developers paid special attention to creating an engaging environment for program participants. The team put together activities like role play, drawing and relaxation games instead of focusing on lectures or large group discussions. Through this approach, the team was able to conduct workshops with participants that did not speak Serbian and help make families, already facing challenging circumstances, feel more comfortable. To ensure that materials can be used at home, all activities developed for families are available in English, Farsi, and Arabic.

The program package includes:

• PoM Handbook for trainers and mentor – Program implementation quality assurance
• PoM Workshop moderator’s handbook
• PoM Games and Activities to Go – 31 cards with ideas for exploring, learning, creativity, and play for families
• PoM Notes to Go – a notebook with key learnings for parents

If you are interested in learning more about the program package, you can watch the full interview with Aleksandra Kalezić and Kristina Drini. You may also access the whole program package here.

CIP-Center for Interactive Pedagogy is a Serbian association founded in 1998 that contributes to the realization of rights for children and young people, and access to quality education, with a focus on social inclusion. The goal of the association is to promote, support and develop action research and apply interactive methods in education.