Examination of father participation during the pandemic period

Unprecedented all over the world Covid-19, Turkey has been affected in a very short. The problems experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic process have affected people of all age groups as well as children directly or indirectly. Some measures have been taken to prevent the rapid spread of the epidemic. One of these measures is the change of working hours. While these measures taken regarding working hours affected the parents, they caused a change in family interactions. In this process, it is important to examine the participation of fathers who spend more time at home in the development, education, and care of their children. For this reason, the aim of the research is to examine the participation of fathers in the education process of their children during the pandemic process. The samples of the quantitative data of the study, in which the mixed research method was used, consist of the fathers of 172 children aged 4-7, who attend independent kindergartens, private kindergartens, and kindergartens affiliated to primary school in the center of Tunceli the spring semester of the 2020-2021 academic years. The sample group of qualitative data was consisting of 12 fathers. The data was collected by "Family Information Form", "Father Participation Scale (PAQ)" developed by Sımsıkı and Şendil (2014), and "Father Interview Questions". According to the quantitative results of the study, it was determined that father participation in the pandemic process differed according to the variables of father's age, economic status, and father's and mother's working/not working. In the qualitative part of the study, it was determined that there were intense negative changes in the work and social lives of the fathers, their relations with their children, the daily routines of the children, and the father-child relationship, according to the views of the fathers. The research findings were discussed by comparing them with other research results. Keywords: Pandemic, father participation, father-child relationship, pre-school period