Father involvement in preschool education: Describing the father-child partnership experiences using a case study design

Although father involvement in preschool education supports the children's educational life, it is known that fathers do not take an active role in this process. When the literature is examined, it is seen that father involvement studies are generally teacher-centered. Consulting children's perspectives in father involvement can make fathers active in children's life. Based on this problem, this research aimed at describing the experiences of parents and children in father involvement process supported by the father-child partnership. This qualitative case study research was conducted in a private kindergarten, located in a large-scale province of the Central Anatolia Region between April 2020 and February 2021. The participants of the study consisted of children, attending this kindergarten and their parents. Within the scope of the study, various father involvement activities were planned in partnership with fathers and children. Throughout the research, these activities were applied in home environment and evaluative reviews were made about the participation of children and fathers at school. During the data collection, interviews with children and parents, observations, written feedbacks and researcher's diary were used. The data analysis included content analysis using NVivo software. The findings of the study showed that father involvement planned in partnership with fathers and children had positive results for children and parents. The realization of the father involvement process with activities suitable for the interests, needs and expectations of children and fathers made this process enjoyable, enthusiastic and beneficial for most of the participants. With this research, where fathers and children mostly have positive experiences, the importance of consulting children's perspectives in father involvement studies was emphasized.