Fathers' involvement in young children's literacy development: implications for family literacy programmes

Abstract

Relatively few studies of family literacy programmes have investigated parents' experiences and whilst a number of such programmes have been specifically aimed at fathers, little is known about the involvement of fathers in programmes which target both mothers and fathers. This article reports fathers' involvement in a family literacy programme and their home literacy practices with their young children. The article provides a definition of family literacy and describes the context of the study, which was carried out in socio‐economically disadvantaged communities in a northern English city. Fathers' participation in their children's literacy was investigated through interviews at the beginning and end of the programme (n = 85) and home visit records made by teachers throughout the programme. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of these data indicate that, while fathers' participation in the family literacy programme was not easily visible, almost all fathers were involved to some extent in home literacy events with their children. During the programme, teachers shared information about literacy activities and the importance of children having opportunities to share literacy activities with their parents. Data indicate that fathers who were not mentioned by mothers as having been involved in their children's literacy were significantly more likely to be on a low income than those who were reported as being engaged with their children in home literacy activities. Fathers in the study were involved in providing literacy opportunities, showing recognition of their children's achievements, interacting with their children around literacy and being a model of a literacy user. Although involved in all four of these key roles, fathers tended to be less involved in providing literacy opportunities than mothers. While fathers and sons engaged in what might be described as traditionally ‘masculine’ literacy activities, fathers were more often reported to be involved with their children in less obviously gendered home literacy activities. The article concludes with discussion of implications for involving fathers in future family literacy programmes.