Telling Stories about the Value of Co-responsibility: An educational strategy to train Spanish families in the values of the work-life balance

Abstract

The entry of women into the workplace has not resulted in a just reallocation of the family’s household chores. This situation has had two adverse effects: first, mothers experience difficulties in achieving a good work-family life balance; and, second, unwelcome changes occur in the children’s health, their performance at school, and in their ability to make constructive use of their leisure time.

An educational proposal has been drawn up, designed to foster values for achieving a better work-life balance and adhering to the principles of: 1) placing the teaching of the values of co-responsibility at the heart of the family project; 2) taking appropriate action in the early years of the children’s lives; 3) telling true or fictitious stories about the values of co-responsibility; and 4) engaging the children in dialogue so they might reflect on these values through informal, spontaneous activities of recreation.

Our research, conducted using grounded theory, identifies the strategies that families in Barcelona (Spain) adopt on a day-to-day basis to achieve a good work-life balance. Our results show that families have various practical concerns, but one overriding worry: they all express the hope that their children will grow up to be happy, decent people; yet they do not implement any systematic actions to achieve this objective.

Descarga: » Telling Stories about the Value of Co-responsibility: An educational strategy to train Spanish families in the values of the work-life balance «