One aspect of changing families in recent
years is greater involvement by fathers in their children's
lives. Many initiatives to promote involved fatherhood have
emerged. There have also been renewed emphases in education
on building strong school-home partnerships and on family
learning. There is strong research evidence showing that
parents' involvement in their children's learning has a
substantial impact on children's educational attainment.
In light of a gender achievement gap in schools, many experts
propose the importance of positive male role models for
boys' learning and reading. Much of the research published
on the relationship between parents and their children's
learning uses the term 'parent' but focuses almost entirely
on mothers. Fathers are also absent in many family learning
programmes and their evaluations.
This report takes a comprehensive look at
fathers' involvement in their school-aged children's learning
and education, and in schools and family learning programmes.
The research was carried out in 2003 and 2004 in partnerships
with the DfES Fathers Advisory Group of local policymakers,
voluntary organisations and practitioners.
How involved are fathers in their children's
learning and education - some findings:
Extent of fathers' involvement
- Resident fathers are less likely than resident mothers
to be involved in many aspects of their children's out-of-school
learning and in their children's school.
- Fathers contribute substantially to specific areas
of their children's out-of-school learning: building
and repairing, hobbies, IT, maths, physical play etc.
There is a focus on play, leisure, practical activities
and fun. Their involvement in these areas of learning
is at higher rates or more frequent than mothers' participation.
- Considerable proportions of fathers also read with
their children, help with homework, and give praise
and support to their children for their schoolwork,
but at lower rather or less frequently than do mothers.
When fathers read with their children, they often use
non-fiction, environmental print and recreational materials.
- Additionally, considerable proportions of resident
fathers attend parents evenings and general school meetings,
and drop off and pick their children up at school, but
at lower rates or less frequently than mothers.
- Much less data was found on the involvement of non-resident
fathers and single-parent fathers than on the involvement
of resident fathers in two-parent families.
- Non-resident fathers are especially unlikely to be
involved in their children's school. Involvement with
their children's out-of-school learning often takes
place at weekends and has a recreational focus. Schools
and family learning programmes have the potential to
be a neutral place where non resident fathers and their
children can have positive time together.
- Single-parent fathers tend to get more involved in
their children's schools than do resident fathers in
two-parent families.
- Overall, fathers are more likely to be involved if
their children's mother is involved in the child's learning
and education, they had good relations with their child's
mother, they or their child's mother have relatively
high educational qualifications, they got involved in
their child's life early on, their child is in primary
school rather than secondary school, amongst other factors.
However, the strongest association is with the level
of mother's involvement.
Impact of fathers' involvement on children's learning
- There is consistent evidence that the quality and
content of fathers' involvement matter more for children's
outcomes than the quantity of time fathers spend with
their children
- Many research studies assessing the impact of fathers'
involvement in their children's learning and education
on children's educational outcomes are localised and
small-scale and this report focused on five high-quality
studies with large-scale, nationally representative
samples of fathers and children, which indicate that
- fathers' interest in and involvement in their
children's learning and in schools in statistically
associated with better educational outcomes. There
are also associations with better social and emotional
outcomes
- The statistical associations with fathers' involvement
are independent of mothers' involvement
- Mothers' involvement is no substitute for fathers'
involvement, although there are mixed findings on
any differences in the strength of impact of fathers'
involvement and mothers' involvement
In addition, this report synthesises the evidence about
the benefits of fathers' involvement for fathers and mothers,
the barriers to fathers' involvement and outlines effective
practice in engaging fathers in schools and family learning
programmes. This report concludes with several policy
implications.
Goldman,
R. (2005). Fathers' involvement in their children's
education. London: NFPI.
Order this publication on the NFPI website: www.nfpi.org/data/publications/index.htm
More than 2000 children and their parents
took part in this study that explored fathers' levels of
involvement with their secondary-school-aged children, the
nature of fathering and its impact on children.
This study showed that resident fathers were
more likely to be involved with their children if the mothers
were involved too, if the father held egalitarian attitudes
towards gender roles and if the children were well-adjusted.
Non-resident fathers were more likely to be involved with
their children if the resident mother was involved, if the
separation was recent and if the relationship between the
separated parents was amicable.
Children were likely to be better adjusted
if they were living with their biological fathers and if
their father was well-educated, well adjusted and highly
involved. Overall, parents with fewer social and emotional
resources were less involved with their children. The authors
conclude that better father-child relationships are promoted
by enhancing whole family well-being.
Welsh, E., Buchanan,
A., Flouri,
E. and Lewis, J. (2004). 'Involved' fathering and child
well-being: Fathers' involvement with secondary school age
children. York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
This report is available electronically at www.jrf.org.uk
This booklet summarises research and information
available on the subject of engaging fathers in their children's
(school) learning. This information is supplemented by case
studies and practical suggestions for schools.
DfES (2004). Engaging fathers: Involving parents, raising
achievement. London: DfES.
Download the report from www.teachernet.gov.uk
This publication outlines the academic research
on father involvement, which has grown rapidly since the
early 1970s. There is increased awareness of the diverse
ways in which fathers can be emotionally significant to
their children, even when they do not live together. Findings
from time-use studies are also outlined that show that fathers
and children are spending more time together, a trend that
is particularly strong for fathers with children under 5
years.
This report builds on the messages from academic
research that have attempted to evaluate the impact of father
involvement in family service interventions, and provides
evaluation techniques that family support programmes can
use to assess their impact on fathers.
It concludes that although the evidence is
equivocal, there is some indication that involving fathers
as well as mothers in pre-school parental sensitivity programmes
may be more effective in promoting children's emotional
well-being than programmes that focus solely on mothers.
O'Brien, M. (2004). Fathers and family support
services: Promoting involvement and evaluating impact. London:
NFPI.
Order this report from: www.nfpi.org
This study, carried out by researchers from
the University of East Anglia, found high support for work-life
balance among fathers as well as mothers. However, fathers
had lower expectations of family-friendly working practices
being available to them and were less likely to take advantage
of existing ones. There is evidence that fathers now spend
more time with their children: in the mid 70s fathers of
children under 5 devoted less than 15 minutes per day to
child-related activities compared to two hours a day by
the late 90s. The report also found that whilst the time
fathers spent with their children accounted for approximately
one third of the total parental childcare time, the 'long
hours culture' prevented a more equal sharing of caring.
O'Brien, M. & Shemilt, I. (2003). Working
fathers: Earning and caring. Manchester: Equal Opportunities
Commission.
Download the full report from www.eoc.org.uk
Analysing data from the ALSPAC cohort of 12000
births to investigate the effects of early maternal employment
on child cognitive and behavioural outcomes, this report
found that fathers are significantly more involved in childcare
in households where mothers return to work early and that
this equal division of parenting has strong positive effects
on later child outcomes.
Gregg, P. & Washbrook, E. (2003). The
effects of early maternal employment on child development
in the UK. CMPO Working Paper Series No 03/070. University
of Bristol: Department of Economics.
This report is available electronically from www.bris.ac.uk
This paper evaluates the impact of a US family
literacy programme, the Fathers Reading Every Day (FRED)
project, on fathers' involvement in their children's literacy
practices. The aim of FRED is not only to increase father
involvement in children's literacy development, but also
to improve the quality of father-child relationships. Preliminary
results of this project show that fathers reported reading
more to their child every day, spending more time with their
child, being better able to interact with their child and
being more satisfied with being a parent. However, further
evaluation of this program is needed to validate the findings
that this project improves fathers' involvement in education
and strengthens emotional bonds.
Green, S. (2003). Involving fathers in family
literacy: Outcomes and insights from the Fathers Reading
Every Day program. Family Literacy Forum and Literacy
Harvest, Fall, 34-40.
This paper is electronically available from www.lacnyc.org
This U.S. research digest, produced for ERIC
by the Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education,
explores what is known about the role of fathers in young
children's academic achievement and early literacy. It shows
that even when fathers have limited schooling, their involvement
in children's schools and school lives has a powerful impact
on children's educational attainment. This digest concludes
that more research is needed that defines father and family
involvement more precisely and that examines the culturally
rich dimensions of children's early care and education experiences.
Gadsden, V. and Ray, A. (2003). Fathers' role
in children's academic achievement and early literacy. Eric
Digest, November.
This research digest is electronically available from ceep.crc.uiuc.edu
This paper outlines research on fathers' involvement
in preschool literacy activities from an international perspective.
In line with other reports, this paper shows that men are
reluctant to participate in print-related activities. However,
this report argues that such findings should not detract
from the valuable contributions fathers may make to their
children's literacy development through other types of (print)
interactions. The authors also outline factors that facilitate
fathers' involvement in their children's emergent and school-based
literacy development, and propose that it is important for
the differences between fathers and mother roles to be understood.
Fletcher, R. and Dally, K. (2002). Fathers'
involvement in their children's literacy development. Newcastle/Australia:
The Family Action Research Centre at the University of Newcastle.
This paper is downloadable from www.newcastle.edu.au
The extremely successful parental involvement
programme run by the Community Education Development Centre
identified the need to provide focused support to fathers
on reading with their children. It's a Man Thing was launched
in 1999 as a 10-week programme and provided reading activities
for dads to take part in with their children. Evaluation
showed that many fathers felt the pressure was on them to
provide financial support to the family, with emotional
support perceived as the preserve of mothers. The focus
on reading together provided the first opportunity for some
fathers to experience the close bond that results from shared
activities around reading. One commented, "I have usually
left that sort of thing to her mother. Reading together
is a good way of enjoying ourselves."
Millard, E. (2001). It's a man thing! Evaluation
report of CEDC's Fathers and Reading Project. Coventry:
CEDC.
For more information on this project please visit the ContinYou
website
This project explores the ways in which fathers
may affect boys' reading and general achievement levels.
Interviewing 52 boys and 22 fathers, the author found that
most fathers reported that their son's reading was their
responsibility. Fathers also reported that having books
in the house and being seen reading was important. Mothers
and fathers were also found to read different books to their
sons. This report concludes with a number of recommendations
that could be made to early learning settings, including
schools and local authorities.
Lloyd, T. (1999). Reading for the future:
Boys' and father's views on reading. London: Save the Children
You can buy this report from www.amazon.co.uk
This report synthesises data from two UK surveys
on fathers' contribution to parenting and the effects of
such contributions on their children's development. The
two surveys are (1) national time use studies and (2) the
National Child Development Study. Together, these surveys
show that there has been a substantial increase in the amount
of time parents devote to childcare in Britain, which has
almost quadrupled since the 60s. Historical evidence suggests
that children benefit substantially from the time they spend
with their fathers. For example, children who spent more
than average amounts of time with their fathers in the 60s
showed significant educational benefits, social and psychological
adjustment later in life.
Fisher, K., McCulloch, A., & Gershuny,
J. (1999). British fathers and children: A report for Channel
4 "Dispatches". University of Essex: Institute
of Social and Economic Research.
This report describes research on father involvement
and points to ways in which research findings might inform
economic and public policies that affect fathers. It integrates
research and policies into a framework that stresses the
synergetic relationship between the two. It argues that
is through this merging of research and policy that a richer
appreciation of the ways in which different dimensions of
father involvement lead to positive relationships with children
will be realised.
Tamis-LeMonda, C. S. & Cabrera, N. J.
(1999). Perspectives on father involvement: Research and
policy. Social Policy Report for the Society for Research
in Child Development, vol. 13, 1-32.
Download this report at www.srcd.org
Using an ecological framework to explore predictors
of father involvement in urban Head Start programmes among
134 fathers and father figures with preschool-age children,
this report indicated that fathers were more involved with
their sons and with Head Start sites that provided programmatic
support for male involvement. Father engagement was also
positively related to father nurturance and mother involvement
in Head Start. This report concludes with implications for
practice.
Fagan, J. (1999). Predictors of father and
father figure involvement in pre-kindergarten Head Start.
Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania, National Center
on Fathers and Families.
Download this report at wwww.ncoff.gse.upenn.edu
This seminal U.S. report provides a broad
overview of the extent to which resident and nonresident
fathers are involved in their children's schools and explores
the influence their involvement has on how children are
doing in school. Their data are based on a sample of parents
of almost 17000 children and teenagers. Whilst this report
emphasises fathers involvement in their children's school,
information on mothers engagement is also provided. It concludes
that paternal involvement in their children's schools is
highly beneficial for children's school success. Regarding
nonresident fathers, this report argues that is is not contact
per se that is associated with children's educational outcomes,
but with active participation through involvement in their
schools that makes a difference.
Nord, C.W., Brimholl, D.A. & West, J.
(1997). Fathers' involvement in their children's school.
Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education, National Center
for Education Statistics.
The full report is downloadable from nces.ed.gov
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