Bringing Neighborhood Dads Into Classrooms: Supporting Literacy Engagement

Fathers' engagement in their children's education has increased over the years, yet we know less about fathers' perspectives and engagement in children's literacy development. The authors focused on a fatherhood reading program that was initiated in several Title 1 schools in a large school district in the Southeastern United States. Findings are based on fathers' reading in classrooms in one elementary school. Based on interviews with teachers, a focus group with fathers, and observations of fathers' reading in the classroom, several themes were found: a positive male role model for students, a reported increase in student motivation for reading, fathers' confidence in their parenting role, and fathers' respect for volunteer reading at school. Ways that teachers can organize a similar program at their schools are presented, along with implications of the findings for teaching practice and research.