Parent Education Program
This excerpt is from a memo written by Susie Ling on February 18, 2025 to Social Sciences faculty and other colleagues.
Dr. Pauline Crabb, former coordinator of our Parent Education program, asked me [Susie Ling] to deliver some archived material into the Shatford Library's PCC vaults. Before doing so, I looked them over and thought I'd share a few finds. Pauline Crabb began her association with PCC in 1956 when she took her toddlers to a parent education class. She became a parent education teacher for 14 years and then its coordinator for 14 years, and rose to Associate Dean of Instruction before retirement in 1994...
In the realm of childhood education, PCC has noncredit Parent Education classes, Child Development (CHDV) certificate and transfer programs, a Child Development Center, a Family Resource Center, and a Teacher Preparation and Pathways program (that covers infant through high school).
It should be recognized that each class, each certificate program, each milestone was achieved with intentional and dedicated effort. As a reminder, in 1981, when the Child Care Centers was granted $35,000 -- about half of its request, there were two Board trustees that voted "no". One dissenting trustee warned, "The rearing of children falls within the realm of the family...Child care constitutes an invasion of the family by the state," and, "[The adoption of the Child Care Center] may be a turning point in PCC's history."
While California established public schools as early as 1852, the California State Department of Education was established in 1921. In Spetember of 1926, the Department of Education established a formal parent education program and a "Bureau of Parent Education." This field of expertise was encouraged by a Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial grant, followed by a Rockefeller Foundation grant. Pasadena Junior College was a leader in parent education. Its first parent education class, called a "Play Group", was organized in 1933 by Dr. Gertrude Laws with Pauline Gartzmann as the first teacher. Our Parent Education program was corrdinated by K. Clemons in 1949, Dorothee Hodges in 1949, Hanna Pearl Alexander in 1968, Pauline Crabb in 1975, Ann Reynolds (former Philosophy faculty) in 1985, Nino Valmassoi in 1994, Gia Blount in 2000, and Jane Stockly in 2020. [Blount and Stockly are still teaching parent education courses in Spring of 2025.]
The logistics and reach of parent education evolved tremendously with time. Non-credit classes were first held in PUSD schools, community churches, and then, other parts of the PCC district. Classes were only for parents of children older than 2 1/2, but there is now outreach to expecting parents, foster parents, and even mutlilingual/multicultural families."
"More importantly, curriculum in parent education is every changing," said Dr. Crabb in a recent interview. "Now there is more emphasis on cultural diversity and other factors. The objectives of the program ahve evolved with present-age developments. It will continually evolve."
Parent Education Program
This excerpt is from a memo written by Susie Ling on February 18, 2025 to Social Sciences faculty and other colleagues.
Dr. Pauline Crabb, former coordinator of our Parent Education program, asked me [Susie Ling] to deliver some archived material into the Shatford Library's PCC vaults. Before doing so, I looked them over and thought I'd share a few finds. Pauline Crabb began her association with PCC in 1956 when she took her toddlers to a parent education class. She became a parent education teacher for 14 years and then its coordinator for 14 years, and rose to Associate Dean of Instruction before retirement in 1994...
In the realm of childhood education, PCC has noncredit Parent Education classes, Child Development (CHDV) certificate and transfer programs, a Child Development Center, a Family Resource Center, and a Teacher Preparation and Pathways program (that covers infant through high school).
It should be recognized that each class, each certificate program, each milestone was achieved with intentional and dedicated effort. As a reminder, in 1981, when the Child Care Centers was granted $35,000 -- about half of its request, there were two Board trustees that voted "no". One dissenting trustee warned, "The rearing of children falls within the realm of the family...Child care constitutes an invasion of the family by the state," and, "[The adoption of the Child Care Center] may be a turning point in PCC's history."
While California established public schools as early as 1852, the California State Department of Education was established in 1921. In Spetember of 1926, the Department of Education established a formal parent education program and a "Bureau of Parent Education." This field of expertise was encouraged by a Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial grant, followed by a Rockefeller Foundation grant. Pasadena Junior College was a leader in parent education. Its first parent education class, called a "Play Group", was organized in 1933 by Dr. Gertrude Laws with Pauline Gartzmann as the first teacher. Our Parent Education program was corrdinated by K. Clemons in 1949, Dorothee Hodges in 1949, Hanna Pearl Alexander in 1968, Pauline Crabb in 1975, Ann Reynolds (former Philosophy faculty) in 1985, Nino Valmassoi in 1994, Gia Blount in 2000, and Jane Stockly in 2020. [Blount and Stockly are still teaching parent education courses in Spring of 2025.]
The logistics and reach of parent education evolved tremendously with time. Non-credit classes were first held in PUSD schools, community churches, and then, other parts of the PCC district. Classes were only for parents of children older than 2 1/2, but there is now outreach to expecting parents, foster parents, and even mutlilingual/multicultural families."
"More importantly, curriculum in parent education is every changing," said Dr. Crabb in a recent interview. "Now there is more emphasis on cultural diversity and other factors. The objectives of the program ahve evolved with present-age developments. It will continually evolve."