What's the point?

Does it really matter whether or not dads read with their children? Research says that it does. Christina Clark from the National Literacy Trust sets out the evidence.

Research in the last three decades has established a clear link between parental involvement and children's educational attainment. Although most of this research has taken "parental involvement" to be the same as mother's involvement, increasing attention has been paid to the specific influences fathers and other male carers have on their children's development.

Much of the research on father involvement and child outcomes, both in the UK and internationally, has focused on educational achievement. This research has shown that when fathers take an active role in their children's education by volunteering at school, helping children with their homework or attending school meetings, children are more likely to do better academically, to participate in extra-curricular activities and to enjoy school (Nord et al., 1997). Children also benefit in numerous other ways from having involved fathers, including increased cognitive abilities, higher self-esteem and greater social competence. Overall, children are more likely to reap these benefits the earlier fathers become involved with their children's learning (Clarke-Steward, 1978).

However, with the exception of studies into the facilitators of or barriers to father involvement in family literacy programmes, the relationship between fathers' engagement and children's literacy outcomes has rarely been explored in detail. This is surprising since fathers' reading habits can have a substantial influence on their children's ability to read, their levels of interest and their reading choices (Llyod, 1999). Shared literacy activities can also strengthen the bond between fathers and their children. Indeed, it has been suggested that the lack of male role models involved in reading and other literacy-related activities during children's early years is one of the possible causes for the declining rates of school achievement for boys (Wragg et al., 1998).

So, what is known about fathers' level of engagement with their children's literacy activities? Surveys have shown that there are high social expectations for fathers to spend time with their children, as evidenced by recent provisions of paternal leave and flexitime in the workplace (Dex & Ward, 2007; Smeaton, 2006). Not only are there greater expectations on men to become involved fathers who are active in their child's upbringing, but young men today also endorse less traditional gender roles (Scott et al., 1998) and wish to participate more fully in family life (Henwood & Procter, 2003).

This shift in perceptions of fatherhood is borne out by time-use surveys (e.g. Fischer et al., 1999), which indicate that although mothers continue to devote more time to caring for children, fathers' involvement in child-related activities has increased substantially in the past few decades. As part of these activities, fathers are involved with their children's literacy. Research shows that fathers who share in childcare duties, such as feeding and bathing the child, tend to be more involved in their children's reading and writing than fathers who do not participate in childcare duties (Ortiz et al., 1999).

When asked who read most with their children in a UK study (Millard & Hunter, 2001), 37 per cent of fathers reported that they and their partners both read to their children in equal amounts, while 40 per cent conceded that their partners were more likely to read with their children than them. Interviewing 26 fathers regarding their literacy involvement with their children, a US study (Ortiz et al., 1999) found that the majority of fathers reported engaging in weekly school-related literacy practices with their children, whilst almost two-thirds of fathers also read with their children for recreational purposes. Common to these studies is the finding that fathers view reading as a way to maintain a relationship with their children, and believe that having books in the home and being seen reading by their children are important (Lloyd, 1999).

While fathers might want to increase the amount of time spent with their children, there are family, personal, structural and cultural barriers that may hinder increased involvement in family life (for a review see Goldman, 2005). Fathers may also not see that they have a role to play: one study found that they tended to give the child's mother the main responsibility for reading with children, usually because they viewed her as the main teacher and caregiver (Karther, 2002). This perception might not be inaccurate. Children in a National Literacy Trust survey (Clark & Foster, 2005) reported that their mothers were more engaged with their reading than their fathers were. Not only were fathers less likely than mothers to encourage children to read more, but fathers were also seen to be reading less than mothers. Similarly, when asked who had taught them to read, children reported that it had been their mother, followed by their teacher, and then their father who had taught them.

Overall, studies show that fathers are generally less likely to take part in traditional reading and writing activities than mothers (e.g. Millard, 1997). Several researchers have argued that the current emphasis on literacy has included a narrow view of book-based literacy practices, thereby neglecting media with which fathers are more comfortable - for example, using technology, languages other than English, or activities involving pop culture. A US study (Ortiz et al., 1999) lists various activities in which fathers report they have participated, including: reading environmental print such as road signs, logos, billboards and television adverts; reading newspapers, magazines, dictionaries, maps, telephone directories, manuals and bed-time stories; spelling and defining words; spelling names; colouring and tracing letters, and making use of the computer for spelling or writing activities.

UK researchers have explored the extent to which mothers' and fathers' involvement independently affected their children's schooling, and whether levels of father involvement were dependent on the degree to which mothers are involved. This research was based on longitudinal data from the National Child Development Study, a study of 17,000 children born in one week in March 1958. Flouri and Buchanan (2004) found that both father's and mother's involvement at age seven predicted the child's educational attainment by age 20, irrespective of the other parent's involvement. This study also found that the impact of father involvement on children's later educational outcomes did not depend significantly on the degree of mother involvement. In a separate study (Flouri et al., 2002), this research also highlighted that engagement by both the father and the mother contributed significantly and independently to children's attitudes towards school.

The literature reviewed here indicates that fathers have an important role to play in their children's literacy development. However, involving fathers in their children's literacy activities not only benefits their children. There are also numerous benefits that have been reported for the fathers themselves, including greater skill acquisition, greater confidence and self-esteem, a better father-child relationship, and increased engagement with learning.

Finally, a finding by US researchers (Fagan & Iglesias, 1999) is worth keeping in mind when studying father involvement. They found that actual changes in the quality of paternal behaviour are necessary for significant outcomes to come about, suggesting that an emphasis on increased father involvement alone may not be sufficient for bringing about change or beneficial impacts. Reading, if it can be seen as something that is fun, can be one way of ensuring that quality time together.

References

Clark, C. & Foster, A. (2005). Children's and young people's reading habits and preferences. The who, what, why, where and when. London: National Literacy Trust.

Children’s and young people’s reading habits and

preferences: The who, what, why, where and when.

Children’s and young people’s reading habits and

preferences: The who, what, why, where and when.

Children’s and young people’s reading habits and

preferences: The who, what , why, where and when. London: National Literacy Trust

Clarke-Steward, K.A. (1978). And daddy makes three: The father’s impact on mother and young child. Child Development, 49, 466-478.

Dex, S. & Ward, K. (2007). Parental care and employment in early childhood. Working Paper No. 57. London: Institute of Education.

Fagan, J. & Iglesias, A. (1999). Father involvement program effects on fathers, father figures, and their Head Start children: A quasi-experimental study. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 14, 243-269.

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.

Flouri, E. & Buchanan, A. (2004). Early father’s and mother’s involvement and child’s later educational outcomes. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 74, 141-153.

Flouri, E., Buchanan, A. & Bream, V. (2002). Adolescents’ perceptions of their fathers’ involvement: Significance to school attitudes. Psychology in the Schools, 39, 575-582.

Goldman, R. (2005). (2005). Fathers' involvement in their children's education. London: NFPI.

Henwood, K.L. & Procter, J. (2003). The 'good father': Reading men's accounts of paternal involvement during the transition to first time fatherhood. British Journal of Social Psychology, 42, 337-355.

Karther, D. (2002). Fathers with low literacy and their young children. The Reading Teacher, 56, 184-193.

Lloyd, N., O'Brien, M., & Lewis, C. (2003). Fathers in Sure Start. University of London: Institute for the Study of Children, Families and Social Issues.

Millard, E. & Hunter, R. (2001). It's a man thing! Evaluation report of CEDC's Fathers and Reading Project. Coventry: CEDC.

Nord, C.W., Brimhall, D. & West, J. (1997). Fathers' involvement in their children's schools. Washington, D.C.: Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement.

Ortiz, R., Stile, S. & Brown, C. (1999). Early literacy activities of fathers: Reading and writing with young children. Young Children, 54, 16-18.

Scott,  J., Braun, M. & Alwin, D. (1998). "Partner, Parent and Worker:  Family and Gender-Roles". Pp 19-37, In Curtice et a.l (Eds), British Social Attitudes, European Report. Aldershot: Ashgate

Smeaton, D. (2006). Dads and their babies: A household analysis. London: The Policy Studies Institute.

Wragg, E.C., Wragg, C.M., Haynes, G.S. & Chamberlain, R.P. (1998). Improving literacy in the primary school. London: Routledge.