Information Scotland

The Journal of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland

August 2006 Volume 4(4)

Community

Midlothian Libraries achieved great results with its Fathers Matter sessions in which fathers teamed up with offspring to raise awareness of their roles in their children’s development, says Agnès Guyon.

Top scores
There is now a well-established link between fathers’ involvement in their children’s learning with better exam results, better behaviour and improved relationships in adult life. Although this is recognised by fathers in certain areas of society, tackling traditional gender roles is particularly challenging in areas where literacy levels are lower than average. Midlothian Libraries worked in partnership with Community Learning & Development and MALANI (Midlothian Adult Literacy and Numeracy Initiative) to implement a project designed to raise awareness of the role fathers have as educators and its importance in the development of their children.

The intention was to deliver a series of stand-alone “dads and kids learning together” sessions. Our first priority was to hold a first session that could be advertised independently and would attract interest in the whole series of workshops. We also decided on a theme that would appeal to fathers.

So, for the first session, storytelling duo ‘Next Goal’s the Winner’ were recruited. They promote literacy using a football theme and came highly recommended.

The “nagging factor” was used as the prime promotional tool. This consisted of addressing the children directly at school assemblies where “Pleeeease Dad!” leaflets were distributed. This was backed up by posters and press coverage.

The kick-off session was well attended with around 30 participants. It successfully engaged children and their fathers in the activities. In addition to the storytelling, we also took photographs of each family group to display in the library and gave a copy to the fathers as a memento. From feedback forms, all the adults rated the speaker/entertainer as “excellent” and all the other aspects of the day were judged either excellent or good.

The following three sessions were tutor-led workshops, which, through the football analogy, explored issues of fatherhood such as looking at why fathers are important, identifying what is important in a role model, as well as discussing different styles of play and learning. The sessions were relaxed and informal with the emphasis on having fun together and bonding with the children. Positive values were highlighted and reinforced throughout the sessions. The activities were varied enough to suit a wide age range, and all enjoyed a game of football at half-time. One of the lasting memories of the project will be watching one of the dads playing football with a toddler bouncing on his shoulders.

The first of these three sessions established some ground rules and explored the theme of ‘Heroes.’ This involved looking at the qualities heroes possess and then moving on to the qualities we like and the qualities important for a role model. One father remarked that one reason why our children are so special is that they are reflections of themselves. This naturally led to the importance of positive role models. This was a good session which helped fathers to be open about their values.

The second session looked at the idea of teams. The participants were divided into two groups which competed to locate Scottish Premier League clubs on a map using library facilities. The whole group then produced a poster with the theme Together Everyone Accomplishes More.

The awful weather on the day of the last tutor-led session probably deterred families, as only a few people turned up - football at half-time was going to be highly unlikely. The theme of ‘the great game’ was used to sum up the ideas raised over the previous three weeks.

An author’s visit was the grand finale. This event was open to the general public. Despite a difficult start, the session evolved with the author and the public making up a story together.

So, what was the score? On feedback forms for the whole programme, all the fathers rated every aspect as either excellent or good. The tutor also had an evaluation form which yielded similarly positive responses. When asked how much they felt they had learned, fathers ticked either 4 or 5 on 1-5 scale.

The written comments emphasised both the fun aspect and bonding with their children. For example, ‘The thing I enjoyed most today was’ elicited the responses: “Playing football with kids”; “Having fun with the children”; and “Good old fun”. ‘Today’s session helped me think differently about…’ got the responses: “Bonding with kids” (twice); and also: “The way authors work”. ‘I surprised myself by…’ got the comments: “Taking in what the author was saying”; “Sitting for so long”; and “How everyone got on with everyone”.

At the end of the five weeks, all participants become members of the library service, and the project helped familiarise reluctant users with the library environment. It also helped change peoples’ perception of libraries within the community.
Anyone who has completed an obstacle course using a football in a library cannot see libraries merely as “quiet places full of books”!

Agnès Guyon is Children’s Mobile Librarian, Midlothian Council Libraries.

Information Scotland Vol. 4(4) August 2006

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Last updated: 01-Sep-2006