Від стереотипів до різноманіття: гендерний аналіз програми підготовки замісних батьків
From Stereotypes to Diversity: a Gender Analysis of the Foster Parent Training Program

Summary/Abstract: Deinstitutionalization of the support system for orphans and children deprived of parental care in Ukraine provides for a gradual transition to the professionalization of foster parenting. The content and methods of educating and raising children in the family form of placement are currently not considered a private matter. Parents who have fostered a child join a cohort of social workers and play the role of parasocial workers: in addition to performing parental functions, they themselves become providers of social services. Care and upbringing in a foster family as an important institution for the socialization of children should be based on ethical principles of social work, which include, in particular, non-discrimination, equality and respect for diversity. The foster family has to become the leader of the position of equality in intergender relations and ensure the upbringing of children, free from the restrictions imposed on them by gender stereotypes. Given this, it is especially important for parents to master gender competencies. Therefore, the challenge is to develop gender-sensitive materials for use in the education of candidates for foster parents. Given the urgency of the problem, the purpose of the investigation was to carry out a gender analysis of the PRIDE's program for training foster parents, adapted by Ukrainian specialists. In the study with the help of qualitative and quantitative content analysis through gender «lenses» the following components of the program were considered: general content, explicit and implicit elements, language design, compositional structure, illustrations. Based on the analysis, the educational impact of the materials is highlighted. Open-ended observation of the work of trainers allowed to reveal a hidden curriculum. The author concludes that the program corresponds to a gender-neutral position, but contains imprints of a stereotypical approach that can strengthen gender-harmful norms, mostly in the content of the program and in the trainer’ interpretations. In order to disseminate the guidelines, adequate to modern ideas about the egalitarian model of the family, the author provides additional recommendations for making changes to the text of the program.

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