Making Childcare Centres a Father’s Arena

5 October 2011 -Childcare centres wanting to engage fathers through their programmes are looking at creative ways to help men feel more at ease in the childcare or preschool setting in order to get "them through the doors". This can be achieved when teachers subtly communicate how important father-involvement is to a child’s development.

This was one of the key points brought up by Ms Adrienne Burgess, Head of Research at Fatherhood Institute (United Kingdom), when she met with over 80 practitioners on the afternoon of 5 October at the Rock Auditorium in Suntec City Mall, to present: An Introduction to Father-inclusive Practice in Childcare Centres.

Benefits of Father-involvement and Father-inclusion

Citing research findings, Ms Burgess reported that children of highly involved fathers tend to have many advantages in life, including better educational achievement, as well as higher self-esteem and life satisfaction.

Research also shows that fathers’ participation in childcare centres and early-years-programmes has been found to lead to growth in their parenting abilities. This includes greater knowledge and understanding of child development; improved communication skills; and increased satisfaction with parenting. In addition, the children show better behaviour and greater school readiness.

A Practitioner’s Approach to Engaging Fathers

As such, it is vital for childcare practitioners to know how to approach fathers and engage them in the centres’ programmes. This can be achieved, for example, by the childcare practitioner purposefully deciding to treat the father as an expert on his own child and seeking his perspective on matters pertaining to the child.

“Hear his (the father’s) view, hear his narrative,” Ms Burgess urged the practitioners.

Ms Burgess also suggested that sometimes by merely ensuring that an invitation to a preschool event is extended to both “Dad and Mum” could positively swing the father’s decision to come.

Other ways practitioners can help improve father-child interaction, include helping dads understand what behaviour is age-appropriate in a young child, as well as sharing about research on fatherhood and child development.

“Teachers in childcare play a critical role in keeping fathers informed of other services,” Ms Burgess added. This means that, oftentimes, fathers get to hear of activities such as library reading programmes through the formal caregivers in childcare centres.

A Team Approach to Engaging Fathers

Ms Burgess explained that fathers are three times more likely to be involved if the centre has a team approach to engaging dads.

Where there is centre-wide commitment to engaging fathers, supervisors regularly ask staff about their understanding of fathers in families. There is ongoing critical reflection and learning by both supervisors and staff. Practitioners working in such centres view fathers as co-parents rather than as ancillary figures.

Ms Burgess pointed out that childcare practitioners do not have to be male to communicate confidently and effectively with dads. They simply need an understanding of gender issues and a positive attitude towards men. This was an important piece of information, given that the industry is predominantly staffed by women.

All in the audience received a copy of the Dads Included Test for Childcare Centres. This is a tool designed by Fatherhood Institute to help those working in childcare centres assess how they are doing in terms of engaging fathers in their service delivery.

Fathers@Schools

Mr Adrian Lim, Outreach Manager of Fathers@Schools, shared that preschools registered under the programme can receive an annual funding of $400, if they organise at least two activities such as father-child bonding events and parenting skills workshops for fathers.

Describing an excursion to a fire station, Mr Lim showed how teachers can help make the event more meaningful by getting the children to write and draw about the special time with their dads.

With the year now in its final quarter, Mr Lim encouraged the audience to begin planning for a Back to School with Dad programme in 2012.

Before the day’s end, Ms Burgess and Mr Lim addressed the participants’ concern in a lively Question and Answer session moderated by Mr George Sathiasingam from the Dads for Life Secretariat.

A Word from the Participants

An enthusiastic team of childcare practitioners from Odyssey The Global Preschool asked questions and spoke about their experiences.

In an interview with them, Curriculum Specialist, Aza-Nor Faizah Masod (second from right in photograph) said that she will be sharing bits of research information to the fathers in her school community.

Art Specialist, Muhammad Fadly Bin Asis (extreme right in photograph), shared that he sees the benefits of engaging dads in schools, "Fathers give a different perspective to life."

His colleague, Curriculum Specialist, Faeizah Ali (second from left, in photoraph), wants to use the ideas she had gleaned, to spark an interest in fathers so that more will come to attend the school’s programmes.

Their determination to invite dads into the childcare centre, will open doors to meaningful conversations on fatherhood and their children’s healthy growth all round.

About the Author: The Dads for Life Resource Team comprises local content writers and experts, including psychologists, counsellors, educators and social service professionals, dedicated to developing useful resources for dads.