The celebration of Father’s Day on the global calendar recognises the role of the father in the family.
Father’s Day also provides teachers a chance to focus on family values and the life orientation national curriculum statement creates the space for educators to plan innovative lessons for learners in various grades about the role of fathers within our families. In fact teachers should not be afraid to adapt their work schedules to incorporate real-life situations and events such as Father’s Day.
Be mindful, however, that South Africa is a country of diverse cultures and that children are raised within their particular culture, which consist of norms and rituals that need to be respected and valued. The life orientation curriculum teaches learners about diversity so that they can better understand the sociology of South Africa. In this way real-life scenarios – such as Father’s Day – also allow for learning about other cultures.
As you bring fathers into the classroom, start by encouraging learners to speak about their parents, who are the immediate role models of children. You can focus on the father as a role model. However, this could be tricky. In some instances there might be learners who do not have fathers in their family situation, such as single- mother families or children whose fathers are not really good rolemodels.
Single-mother families – how do children celebrate Father’s Day without the father figure at home? This is a difficult situation, but children should know and be taught that all of them have fathers. Some of the emphasised values should include:
Respect your father/guardian;
Acknowledge your father/guardian;
Be obedient towards your father/guardian;
Be faithful towards your father/guardian; and
Learn to trust your father/guardian.
Families with poor father role models – many children might have fathers who are not good role models. Such children normally experience a tremendously adverse family life. Not only are children at risk of following in the footsteps of their poor fathering role model, but they could become rebellious towards their parents and society later in life.
Such children should be exposed to:
The difference between good and bad role models;
How to make informed decisions in right and wrong situations;
How to deal with conflict situations; and
Basic problem-solving skills.
Father’s Day in different grades.
Foundation Phase
(Grade one to three): use the storytelling in your life skills learning programme to design your lesson for Father’s Day. Choose a story about the role of a father. Children could then learn about the positive values that fathers bring to the family. Make sure that children understand the story.
Children can be asked to write a message to their father or a person who acts as the father. This can be done in a creative way, such as post cards, Father’s Day cards, letters or by making little gifts.
By using the storytelling method, teachers use the third-person approach to create a safe environment for children to respond to Father’s Day, especially those learners who do not have a father figure at home or whose fathers are poor role models.
Teachers can incorporate this into their life skills learning programme. For example:
Grade one
Teachers can use the Life Orientation Learning Outcome Two and the assessment standard that focuses on ”the relationship with members of the family, extended family, school and broader community” to build a fantastic lesson on Father’s Day.
Grade two
Teachers can use Life Orientation Learning Outcome Three and assessment standard three that deals with emotions; and assessment standard four that deals with behaviour in conflict situations to design a lesson that could help learners whose fathers are not good role models.
Grade three
Teachers can use Life Orientation Learning Outcome Three and assessment standard three that deals with assertiveness and teaches learners to stand up for themselves, while showing respect and gratitude to their fathers. They can use a variety of strategies to show love and respect for their fathers. The key point is to teach learners not to be afraid to show their respect and love for their parents. This can be an excellent way to teach assertiveness.
Intermediate Phase
(Grade four to six). Grade four learners can compare the relationship between elders and children in a variety of situations in different cultural contexts (as outlined in the national curriculum statement for Life Orientation Learning Outcome Two and assessment standard three). Learners can examine the basic values that are necessary in a child-parent relationship. Values such as respect, obedience, love and trust can be taught. An interesting task for learners can be to make a concerted effort to demonstrate these values to their fathers on Father’s Day.
Grade five learners can use Father’s Day to express their emotions by showing respect and compassion for their fathers (Life Orientation Learning Outcome Three and assessment standard three, which deals with coping with a range of emotions).
Grade six learners can discuss and evaluate the significance of nation-building within the context of family values (national curriculum statement for Life Orientation Learning Outcome Two and assessment standard two). A healthy family life is the key to a healthy nation. By building good family values teachers also indirectly help to build a good nation. Therefore, teachers can use Father’s Day to talk about fundamental family values that indirectly contribute to nation building.
Good luck with your lessons! Happy Father’s Day.
Joseph Sitzer is a senior curriculum adviser for life orientation in the West Coast Winelands district of the Western Cape education department