New Zealand Exports Parenting To China

New Zealand Exports Parenting To China

Thousands of Chinese parents are completing New Zealand parenting courses. Entertainer Pio Terei and John Cowan from The Parenting Place have just returned from a speaking tour in Chengdu.

“It was the most bizarre experience: walking into a room in the heart of China and all these people already know me from watching our parenting videos,” says John Cowan, writer and speaker with The Parenting Place. “To tell the truth I probably didn’t even know there was a city called Chengdu before I got the invitation to speak there. They love our video parenting courses. Chinese families are struggling with so many problems and these courses give them techniques and insights that work even in a Chinese context.”

Cowan, who wrote and presents much of the course material spoke at seven sell-out sessions in Chengdu on topics such as Anger Management and Talking to Your Child About Sex. “Some of the seminars they arranged for me were six hours long: obviously Chinese speakers and audiences are more robust than Kiwi ones! It was fantastic having Pio to ‘tag team’ with me – his songs and stories and extra insights really connected with the Chinese audiences.”

“We made Toolbox Parenting courses for New Zealand families but somehow they got taken up by a Singaporean organisation. Then a couple went from there to Chengdu; they translated the material and discovered it was a huge hit,” says Cowan

Several thousand parents have now completed the courses which consist of eight, three hour sessions. Each course is run in groups of twelve to twenty parents who watch videos and then discuss them. Most of the content is presented on video. The presenters feature New Zealand celebrities like Jason Gunn, Petra Bagust and Pio Terei, as well as psychologists and parenting experts such as Ian and Mary Grant. “Of course parenting in China is different. The thing that makes these videos work is the discussion exercises lead by local facilitators; they can translate the ideas into their context.”

“Two things particularly impressed me,” says Pio Terei. “Firstly, they get it! They get our humour, they relate to our stories, and they have many of the same problems with their kids as we have. The second thing that impressed me is how excited they are. We have something here that they don’t have and they desperately want – ideas of how to have fun, relaxed, happy families. They told us how Chinese families have lost their way – so much has changed in their culture in just a few decades and some of their old ways just aren’t working. They are hungry for new ideas. It just so happens Kiwis have some ideas that they can use. They are genuinely excited by these courses – it’s changing their lives.”

50,000 New Zealand parents have done Toolbox parenting courses run by The Parenting Place, which is New Zealand’s largest not-for-profit provider of parenting education.

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