Spaces for Native and Foreign-Born Parents: When Personal Thoughts Can Become an Opportunity for Learning

Abstract

Globalisation  characterises  our  current  century  and,  as  a  consequence  of  its worldwide spread, it affects a multiplicity of disciplines. In light of this phenomenon, the  present  article,  which  describes  qualitative  research  in  family  pedagogy, focuses  on  foreign-born  parents.  The  life  stories  of  these  parents  provide  an interesting  point  of  reflection  on  the  importance  of  recognising  themselves  as bearers of a unique history, despite being citizens of the world.

The narrated and shared personal experience is characterised by relationships and thoughts that have helped form the individual. These same relationships re-present themselves in the present in the host country and challenge the subject to a daily learning experience. However, the learning and reflective moment is not limited to self-reflection. Therefore, it is fundamental for foreign-born parents to be able to interact with other subjects, who in turn are required to be welcoming towards the foreign parents. This is an attitude that requires fearlessness because a  sense  of  security  or  fear  towards  others  is  an  expression  of  the  trust  that a community has in itself. If one believes in the community’s ability to integrate other individuals within itself, then its members consequently have an attitude of openness towards the foreigner: in other words, they are not afraid of the different culture. This predisposition requires parents to adopt a logic of globalisation which includes rights and duties; it is a challenging task since the planetary dimension of citizenship cannot be achieved without a true commitment to reflection, active decision-making and education.

Sustainable ecologies are associated with relationships, culture, ethnicity, and education.  Therefore,  it  is  important  that  within  local  communities  spaces  of encounter between parents are fostered, so that the thoughts of the individual can  be  shared.  These  spaces  should  be  built  with  the  awareness  that  human sustainability itself is often related to creating sufficient hope in individuals and communities,  building  meaningful  dialogue  and  an  experience  of  communion through all the differences. In these contexts, the subject as such lives a continuous educational  and  formative  experience,  which  leads  them  towards  their  own personal and social search of the self and others. This experience is possible as a result of the foreign-born parents’ capability of reciprocal socialisation, sincere dialogue, and confrontation with the other (i.e.  the native parents) in the diversity and richness of which each one is the bearer.