I had the opportunity to meet with the director in the program and talked about what was their plan(s) to get more men involved in the program. I found out that alot of the responsibility fell on the male parent support specialist. She mentioned that fathers are always welcome to the parent cafe's, which is a parent meeting that discusses topics of interest or concerns. The problem is that no male involvement is ever present. The majority of attendees are the mother's. I then mentioned to her that we needed to come up with some ideas as an agency, and not just from the male family support specialist to figure out a way to get fathers/males involved. I reminded her again that I am going to do my best to see if we could come up with some ideas to get fathers/males involved. I gave her an example like:
- When we inform parents to discuss the progress of their child do we ask to talk to the father
- If the mother is the custodial parent do we also mail materials regarding the child to the father (If approved and legally appropriate)
- Are there workshops/trainings provided for fathers only
- Is the environment father/male friendly
The director that I spoke to is a very hardworking individual and she said that she would assist me anyway she could to make this a success. I then said to her that this effort to get fathers/males involved in the program is it not going to happen over night, but we need to start advocating on this issue together as an agency.
Advocacy is just like playing the lottery, you can't win if you don't make an effort to play!! So I say, we all need to play.
I think that alot of times we do forget to acknowledge fathers and schools often do the same. You brought up important points that really made me think of how I can involve my students fathers more in their education. So how would you encourage those fathers who don't want to be involved?
ReplyDeleteI agree, that it will take an agency effort to advocate and come together to get more male involvement within the center. As Sandra stated,it's hard to get some fathes involved who may not have an interest. It's a something that they have to want, but, advocating and showing them that they are appreciated is a good start.
ReplyDeleteI think you have a good idea. There is not a lot of fathers that help with their child's school. I have seen that having a male in the room can make a difference in the way that children act. More fathers do need to be involved in every part of their child's life.
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