ABSTRACT
Fathers play an important role in their children’s education. There is significant research
showing that involving fathers in their children’s education has many positive outcomes
on children’s intellectual development, social competence and emotional well-being (Clark
2009; Geddes 2008). According to Potter et al. (2012), fathers need to be involved in their
children’s learning and development right from early years schooling. However, some fathers
encounter barriers to engagement, for example:
•• work commitments; •• separated fathers who do not regularly see their child; •• a lack of awareness of services offered; •• a lack of organisational support; •• concerns over the content of the services; •• fathers who see school involvement as the mother’s responsibility; •• past poor learning experiences discouraging fathers’ commitment; •• the discounting of fathers’ own sociocultural experiences and knowledge leading to
disengagement.
