Parentella

My goal for my class this year is big and bold:  More father involvement in school. I want every father of every student I teach to attend one school based activity.  Are there any other teachers willing to take the challenge with me?

Have you ever seen a student’s face when they see their dad turn up to do reading groups?  Or when they turn around after receiving a certificate and see their father clapping?  The smile is huge and doesn’t leave all day. Dad’s involvement in school has a big impact on all students, not just the son or daughter.  So many schools are predominantly female and many students have very limited time with a male figure in their life. Dad support is so important.  Father involvement is crucial in schools.  Fathers matter.

Image Credit:  NJLA

Schools need to stop making it so hard for fathers to be involved. I believe that teachers and schools make it harder for dads to be involved in schools.  We rarely ask for specific help from fathers and when we do it is for typical ‘male’ jobs like the BBQ at the school fete.  And many classrooms only have fixed times for when parents can help and those times rarely suit working parents.So this is my plan of attack to get 30 fathers (or uncle or grand fathers) involved at school this year:

• Be personal – I will write a letter to all fathers to explain what I want to do this year with ideas on how it could work
• Be flexible – I have an Open Door Policy.  If a dad turns up because they happen to have a spare morning, I will not turn them away
• Be specific – When writing letters asking for help with fete day or excursion I will specifically ask for dads and tell them why they are so helpful in those situations
• Be supportive – I know many dads are nervous when they turn up in a classroom.  I will make sure that I have specific jobs they are comfortable with completing when they turn up to school.

So who is with me?  Who wants to work at getting more dads involved at school?  I would love to know in the comments below, and if you have any ideas or activities that fathers like doing at school then also tell us in the comments.

Related posts:

1. Parental Involvement in School: Enter the Father
2. Father’s Day and Legos
3. Parental Involvement in Homework
4. Using Online Tools in Boarding Schools to Promote Connections
5. Getting Parents Involved at Disadvantaged Schools: II

Tags: Ainslie Hunter, Communication, Family, Fathers, Parent involvement

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 31st, 2010 at 12:01 am and is filed under Ainslie Hunter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.