Something to Read on Father's Day

Parental involvement is without doubt an important factor in basic education. Although gender specific roles remain in society, there is really no rule that says encouragement, support and inspiration are exclusively either feminine or masculine. Fathers are often mistakenly associated with discipline. On the other hand, mothers are frequently linked to warmth and support. It is therefore interesting to examine how much a father's involvement specifically influences a child's performance in school.

A study to be published in the Journal of Educational Psychology from researchers at Harvard and Oxford looks at research over the past thirty years in the hope of answering the question of how much does a father really contribute to his child's education. The authors indeed found a difference between a father's involvement from a mother's. The father is seen less inside the school. Although fathers score less in school involvement, there is really no significant difference between fathers and mothers in terms of their academic impact on children. The roles may be distinct and complementary, but these probably arise on what seems to be encouraged by society. The authors commented that "programs or policies targeting parents’ educational involvement do not encourage father involvement in school settings". A father is certainly a great resource for a child's education. In all the studies covered, it was clear that a parent's involvement, either father or mother, is strongly linked to a child's academic achievement.

In my own case, I know that this is true. My father has provided me not just the hard lessons in life but also enriching conversations and experiences. My father has sacrificed and given so much to me. I only hope that I could do the same for my own children.

Happy Father's Day to all.

Above copied from Happy Fathers Day Celebration In School


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