Listening to the Uninvited Stakeholders: Stories of Parent Engagement in Preschool From Fathers of Color

• In Event: AERA Poster Session 13
  In Poster Session: Family-School-Community Partnerships Poster Session

Abstract

This qualitative study explores the experiences of preschool fathers of color within home-school partnerships. Research from the field of early childhood education highlights the importance of parent involvement as influential in children’s success in school. However, much of the current research focuses on mothers’ involvement in early childhood education and fails to provide strategies for engaging fathers. Results from a thematic content analysis of a sample of Head Start fathers (N = 20) illustrates the subtlety of Head Start father experiences entering early learning spaces with their children and engaging with teachers. The authors draw upon these narratives to generate principles of engagement that actively address common biases fathers face in early learning spaces from racial, gender, and cultural divides.

Authors

• Andrea M. Emerson, Western Oregon University

• Jacquelyn Hemingway, Head Start