‘It’s a school but it’s not a school’: understanding father involvement in the schooling of children with intellectual disabilities in Kenya

ABSTRACT

This study sought to understand how fathers perceived schooling of their children with intellectual disabilities and how this impacted upon their involvement. The paper reports specifically on the views of fathers, teachers and mothers of children with intellectual disabilities regarding how fathers understood schooling and how the understanding affected father involvement at a special school. The findings are a part of a larger case study conducted at one special school for children with intellectual disabilities in Kenya. Purposive sampling was used to recruit nine teachers, eight fathers, and six mothers of children with intellectual disabilities from the special school. Individual interviews, focus group discussions and a document review were the data collection methods. Data were transcribed and analysed thematically. Fathers’ understanding of schooling was expressed in the two themes emerging: the ambivalence of the purpose of the school and a focus on functional skills. Fathers want their children with disabilities to be educated, which means gaining knowledge and skills that would lead to becoming self-reliant, but they do not always agree with schooling which is the way that society has chosen to educate children. While fathers may not be involved in schooling they often are involved and concerned about education.

KEYWORDS:

• Africa
• children with disabilities
• colonialism
• fathers
• intellectual disability
• special education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences in collaboration with the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa [grant number APS16/1046] and University of Cape Town, Health Sciences Faculty Research Committee Postgraduate Publication Incentive.

Notes on contributors

Amani Karisa

Dr Amani Karisa is a research fellow in the Including Disability in Education in Africa (IDEA) research unit in the Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at University of Cape Town (UCT). His research interests traverse the areas of critical disability studies, inclusive education, intellectual disability, family life, postcolonial theory and, recently, disability inclusive disaster risk reduction.

Judith McKenzie

Dr Judith McKenzie is an Associate Professor and the Director of IDEA at UCT. She convenes the postgraduate diploma in Disability Studies and is also responsible for supervision of masters and PhD students. Her research interests focus largely on inclusive education, intellectual disability and family life.

Tania De Villiers

Dr Tania De Villiers is the Head of the Division of Nursing and Midwifery, Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences at UCT. She convenes the postgraduate diploma in nursing, the postgraduate professional development studies program and supervises masters and PhD students. Her research interests include gender based violence, masculinities and disability rehabilitation.