Engaging African American fathers in the education of their children

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to illuminate the voices of African American fathers on the factors that deter and promote their engagement in their children's education through a qualitative study in an urban father's mentorship organization in Boston, Massachusetts. The research question of this study asked, what are the perspectives of African American fathers on how and why they engage in their children's lives and education to promote academic success? It deliberately asked this question with the intent to create space for the often-silent voice and narrative of African American fathers, as a group of men that is often misrepresented, invalidated, racialized, and demonized within social, moral, and political debate, and in legal frameworks and education discourse. Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory provided a framework that underscores the prominence of adults in a child's proximal environment as most influential on the development of a child. Ecological Systems Theory provided the requisite capacity to account for the environmental influences on human development by positioning individuals within a system of dynamic and multi-directional relationships. This study contains the findings of a series of semi-structured one-on-one interviews with each study participant. Through this study, social scientists, education practitioners, parents, and researchers will understand urban fathers' perspectives on their role in supporting the educational development of their children and gain insight on fostering father-child engagement in urban communities and schools. This qualitative-narrative research seeks to provide insight into the central research question on the perspectives of African American fathers, specifically how and why they engage in their children's lives and education to promote academic success.--Author's abstract