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Involvement of fathers in primary school activities.

Article Excerpt
A telephone survey investigated the level of father involvement in primary schools in a regional area of New South Wales. Hypotheses tested were: (a) that the level of mother involvement is higher than that of fathers, and (b) that fathers are primarily involved in gender stereotypical activities. The survey also aimed to provide a benchmark for programs aimed at increasing the level of father involvement in primary schools. Out of a possible 52 public primary schools, I 43 participated. The results confirmed the hypotheses: principals estimated that only one-fifth of volunteers at the schools were male, and sports, outdoor activities and security were the preferred areas of involvement.

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Parent involvement is widely recognised as an important factor in students' success at school (Epstein, 1992; Fan, 2001). Governments at both Commonwealth and state level have included parents as essential elements in their frameworks for providing educational services (Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs, 2000; Department of Employment, Education and Training, 2001; NSW Department of Education and Training 2000). Not only are parents expected to support their child's learning at home, but most schools rely on voluntary labour from parents to maintain school premises and to provide educational activities to students. The involvement of fathers, however, may differ in quantity and quality from that of mothers. Given the well-documented differences between father and mother involvement in children's care, a marked difference in mothers' and fathers' participation in school activities would be expected (Bittman, 1995; Bittman & Pixley, 1997).

Evidence of the positive effects of father involvement has recently been reported. In the US, a large cross-sectional survey carried out by the US Department of Educational Statistics (National Center for Education Statistics, 1998) found that academic performance increased significantly if fathers were highly involved in schools, and that this effect was independent of household income, race, family type and mothers' and fathers' education. Father involvement was also found to be independent of mothers' involvement, even though mothers tend to be involved when fathers are. In the UK, adolescents' perceptions of their father's involvement has been found to significantly influence students' positive attitudes towards school (and to be an important factor in school success). The researchers found that this influence was independent of mothers' involvement (Flouri & Buchanan, 2002). However, schools rarely document parent involvement and reports quantifying generic parental support in Australian schools could not be located.

Parental involvement in literacy has been regarded as particularly important since the literacy levels of the population are regarded as one of the most important benchmarks in the provision of public education (Ellison, 1998; Peach, 1998). A recent study of school-parent partnerships in Australian schools collected data on approximately 260 programs involving parent language and literacy initiatives (Cairney, Ruge, Buchanen, Lowe, & Munsie, 1995). Cairney et al. reported that the participation of parents in the programs was strongly gendered, with mothers representing the majority of participants. Not only were the family members more likely to be mothers than fathers, but also virtually all of the school personnel who participated in the programs were women. According to Cairney et al., 'Programmes were largely initiated, planned, run and coordinated by women for women' (p. 36).

The available Australian and overseas evidence supporting school-parent programs to improve academic outcomes for children has been criticised for using the gender-neutral term 'parent' participation when typically it is only mothers who have been involved (Nichols, 1994). Nichols argues that it is misleading to describe the benefits of parent involvement when studies including or targeting fathers are extremely rare. The problem with using gender-neutral language in studies investigating parent involvement is that it may mask important gender differences between mothers and fathers in their attitudes and approaches to participation in literacy activities (David, 1993). Cairney et al. (1995) argued that Australian research is needed to 'investigate the role of gender in parental support of children's literacy learning' (p. 37).

The purpose of the research reported in this article was to investigate the level of father involvement' in primary school activities. It was hypothesised that the level of mother involvement would be higher than that of fathers, and that fathers would be primarily involved in gender stereotypical activities, such as working bees, school watch and sport events.

Furthermore, this research project was to provide a benchmark for the level of father involvement in regional...