Father Involvement and Family Literacy – Ch.10 Handbook of

Family Literacy

RDG 690 – Parent Partnerships and Family Literacy – Summer II - 2015

Objectives

Explore distal and proximal relationships between family members which contribute to

learning – within the family

Examine factors which facilitate or hinder access to literacy

Investigate ways to impact educational policy and practice regarding family literacy

Inspect the impact of father involvement and review programs designed to enhance family

literacy

Family Literacy Dynamics

Family Literacy

Received

Experienced

… for and by family members

The Family

The family is defined by

cultural practices, social mores, political

events, & economic factors

The family is a critical social system which

promotes, disrupts, or mediates literacy

experiences of its members

Factors Influencing Fathers’ Position

Father’s Position

Family traditions, cultural, &

social practices

Accepted societal expectations

Relationships with family &

social institutions

Scope of Father Involvement

Father Involvement

Family Engagemen

t

Literacy Interaction

s

Academic Achievement

&

Well Being

Parenting

Day & Lamb, 2004

Fatherhood Research

Prior to the 1960’s, research and policies related to fatherhood and families was dominated by models around nuclear families.

Fatherhood Research • Roles of fathers were based on an

Westernized interpretation of family in which fathers provided economically & mothers attended to their development.

(Cowan et al., 2009)

Fatherhood Research • Research began to incorporate diversity,

within the family beginning in the 1990’s (Anderson & Zuberi, 2000).

• Programs were designed to address non resident, noncustodial fathers regarding low-income communities

Fatherhood Research

Fathers and family research, as it currently exists, is a new area of inquiry & encompasses several

factors: Children’s living arrangements resulting

from declines in marriages

Rising incarceration rates

Increased foster care placement

Increase in non-marital childbearing

(Amato, Meyers, & Emery, 2009)

Last 15 years of research contains numerous gaps and lacks clarity

Fathering Question Stems

Economic status

Employment/employability

LiteracyEducation

Cultural differences

Discriminatory Factors

Fathers Involvement in Schooling

• Fathers play a critical role in caregiving, socio-emotional development, and academic achievement (Gasden et al., 2000)

• The most frequently cited empirical study (Nord, Brimhall, & West, 1977) examined the effect of fathers’ participation in schooling.

Fathers’ Involvement in Schools

Earn good grades Enjoy school Achieve promotion

Children from 2 parent families with moderately or highly involved fathers in school were more apted to…

Nord, Brimhall, & West, 1997

Nonresidential fathers who were active in schools had similar outcomes

Father Involvement in Schools

Mothers’ attendance rates

exceeded fathers’ in all

school activities

Fathers, who do not obtain high school diplomas are less likely to be involved in

school activates, than fathers with higher education

levels

Teachers may be reluctant to solicit help from fathers, especially nonresidential fathers involving parental conflictGadsden & Ray , 2002; Ortiz & Stile, 2002)

Fathering Programs

• Fathering programs are primarily geared towards low income families

• Determining paternity at birth • Teaching parenting skills • Increase child support compliance • Facilitate positive father-child relations

Fathering Programs

Some programs serve and support:

• Nonresident

• Noncustodial

• Low income fathers

• Residential fathers

regardless of income

levels

Some programs serve and support:

• Fathers

• Men in general

• Children and

families

• Co-parenting

workshops

Participants Missions

Some programs serve and support:

• Workforce

development

• Entrepreneurship

• Employment Training

• Establishing Paternity

• Child Support

• Parent Reconnection

Focus

Fathering Programs also differ in the level of general and financial supports

Fathering Programs

Integration of family literacy & fathers

Insert a family literacy framework in to fathering programs

Integrate fatherhood work into existing literacy programs

Gadsden & Rethemeyer’s (2002) study investigated fathering programs & found that although such programs had many purposes, education & literacy took a back seat to unemployment, poverty, and recurring pregnancies.

Fathering practitioners reported: More than 50% of participants lacked proficiency in reading and writing

Fathering programs are capable of positively impacting families and communities,but revisions are needed in: content, scheduling, & mindsets of participants & practitioners

Focus of Fathers

Resources for Children’s

Health

Serves fathers, stepfathers, &

male caregivers

Promotes positive parenting, healthy pregnancies, and

well being for families

Goal: To increase the participation

of fathers in parental roles

Serves more than 400 males a year:

75% A.A. 20% Latino

5% Other ethnic groups

12 week period 2-hour, weekly

parenting education and skills training

1 session on literacy

Barriers: 1. Reading levels hinder homework help with children2. Lack of time fathers have with their children

Fatherhood Initiative Program

Sessions Cover: • Responsible fatherhood • Father empowerment • Psychosocial

development• Parenting • Building & maintaining

healthy relationships

Barriers: • Child support • Employment • Job readiness • Relationships • 50% H.S. dropout rate

Raising Him Alone Initially for

single mothers raising sons

Added Changing Fatherhood

component to support dads

Goal: “Defending good fathers”

Works to support mothers, while reconnecting

fathers

More than 13,000 parents receive Raising Him

Alone newsletter

Thousands of men receive daily,

devotional messages encouraging father –

child connections

Family Literacy Research on Fathers

• Time • Diversity within fatherhood • Unemployment • Socioeconomic needs• Nonresidential & Noncustodial nature of

many father child relationships

Family Literacy Research on Fathers

Learning Denied (Taylor, 1990) – Examines the plight of both

parents in their quest to ensure positive academic outcomes for

their child.Fantuzzo, Gadsden, & McDermott, (2011) studied Head Start & Early Head Start programs & reported children completed 50% of home connection tasks specifically

designed for family involvement, with fathers.

6. Discuss link between poverty, literacy & power

4. User friendly descriptors 5. Highlighting the

importance of fathering roles

Emerging themes in research on young fathers: 1. Use multiple approaches to engage

participation

2. Avoid intrusive methods 3. Authentic reading and

writing activities

Final Thoughts • Family literacy is interwoven in to the

fabrics of family supports and child welfare

• The impact of fatherhood and family

literacy share a common continuum

• The misnomer that family literacy is women’s work, must be corrected to embrace the family in its “entirety”