For the second consecutive year, I will have the opportunity to speak at the Indiana Black Expo’s Education Conference.
This conference brings together principals, teachers, superintendents, district leaders, and other educators from the elementary to the collegiate level. The sessions range from educational policy, teaching strategies, leadership, and other issues educators face. This year, I will be joined by author and educator Brother Thomas X. Williams as we both tap into our experience as educators and fathers.
Our session is called, “How Fathers and Men Can Change Your School’s Culture.” It is time to call on men, fathers, uncles, grandfathers and brothers to get more involved in our schools, and it is time for our schools to invite them in!
I’m going to call your mother
As an educator in the public and private sector for over 20 years, I have primarily dealt with moms when it comes to school issues, such as discipline, academics or basic involvement.
Consistently, women are the educational caregivers at school for their kids, and it is a long-standing tradition for students to hear, “I’m going to call your mother!” Calling mom is great, but given the challenges that schools face today, it is time to call on dad to add another important voice to the conversation as a potential solution.
Schools should begin to change their approach when it comes to parental involvement and find ways to invite and bring more men into the school community.
Where are the dads?
Make no mistake, I know a number of men who are very involved in their students’ education and school.
You may not see them due to work schedules or traditional roles at home. Dads are present, but schools have to meet them where they are to inform and empower them. During my time as a school leader, I consistently see dads at sporting events, halftime and the concession stand. I see dads in the pick-up line waiting for their students.
Schools should take advantage of the halftime of sporting events to share information with dads, hold mini-social opportunities with dads and the school administration, and find unique ways to get more men involved in the school community.
This current administration in Washington D.C. continues to make it more difficult to educate our children with the elimination of programs, school personnel and funding.
Despite these challenges I am encouraging school leaders to begin to think outside the box and think about how they can build a better school community. Building strong communities includes fathers and men and giving them opportunities to contribute. If you are from Indy you may be familiar with the Security Dads program founded in Arlington H.S.
The Security Dads did more than just provide another layer of school safety; they also played a pivotal role in building a positive school culture at Arlington H.S. They were mentors, mediators, teachers, father figures, and much more. Schools and school leaders have to find ways to create opportunities for men to play a role in schools.
Brother Thomas and I look forward to sharing with schools how they can use sporting events to connect with dads. We will share ways to eliminate barriers that schools create to more men getting involved and show school leaders how to build bridges with their programming. We will analyze data showing fathers’ importance and how they impact academic performance and decision-making. The IBE Education Conference will be a call to action for dads, schools and school leaders. Local, state and federal policies should not hold us back from doing and giving our best to our students.
It is an all-hands-on-deck approach we must seek and include the hands of fathers and men throughout our schools and communities.
