12

Taking into account the importance of the role of parents in accompanying their children (3-5 years old) through the discovery of an interactive scientific and technical exhibition, this research offers: 1? the elaboration of a Parents Training Scheme (PTS) - aimed mainly at changing parents’ attitudes towards their children, including a film to stimulate discussion and experience sharing among parents; 2? an evaluation of the PTS. The study was conducted with parents interested in a “pedagogical visit” of the “3-5 years old” exhibition at the Cité des enfants (“Children’s corner”) of the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie (Paris). A total of 7 parent-child dyads were observed and their spoken exchanges transcribed and analysed in reference to different models (tutorial acts, conversational pragmatics, and parents’distancing acts). The hypothesis suggesting that previous awareness of their role as tutor modifies the way parents accompany their children is verified. Analyses show a sharp and individualised evolution from their first visit to the museum to their second one after the PTS. These data are discussed in relation to previous studies on parent training.