Abstract:

In this article, the authors explore the problem of the study of fatherhood as an educational institution. As a phenomenological indicator, the authors propose a concept of the educational potential father. This concept is about personal characteristic of the father, which consists of many parameters.

The construction of the aforesaid characteristic was conducted by the authors on the basis of the analysis of the sociological, psychological and pedagogical literature (including I. S. Kon, R. V. Ovcharova, V. Borisenko, S. V. Lippo, Y. A. Tokarev, M. E. Lamb, R. Palkovitz, R. D. Parke, M. Siegal was, F. Parsons, D. McDonald, K. Daly, M. M. West, M. J. Konner, N. W. Townsend, W. C. MacKey, E. Kruk, etc.) and synthesis of the responses of the fathers obtained in the survey "what does it mean to be a father?". The authors interviewed more than 500 people from several Russian cities (Moscow, St.-Petersburg, Ekaterinburg, Pskov, Omsk, Novosibirsk, Tyumen, Tobolsk, Salekhard) and abroad (Chicago, Vienna, Dresden, Berlin). Men-fathers simply answered the question "What does it mean to be a father?". It received about more than 2 thousand answers. Semantic classification, that was made by authors, allowed to point on three major determinants of educational potential of fatherhood, and to build 17 structural "parameters" of the paternity and fatherhood:

1) Education and kids upbringing actions (scales: physical interaction; communication and mentoring; initiative and interest in the child's life; caring; planning and self-organization of paternity practice; self-development, training and consultative support from health care professionals, psychologists, etc.)
2) The Value sphere of the father's mind (scales: respect for the child and tact; contact and empathy; humanism and understanding; responsibility, awareness and self-criticism; authoritarianism and masculinity)
3) Educational motivation (orientation to social approval and recognition; prosocialist, the contribution to the development of society; the happiness of the child; child's socialization and the formation of its competitiveness; implementation of children's dreams of a father in a child's life; Pro-family, the motivation of procreation and family values)


The three-part model of the determinants of educational potential paternity cased to be applicable to the development of appropriate methods of diagnosis of the aforesaid potential of the real fathers. This methodology was adapted and tested based on a survey of 200 fathers.

In this article, the authors describe the main qualitative correlations between variables and determinants of the educational potential of fatherhood, which was determined. In particular, using the method of factor analysis and based on the deletion of items (the identification of the coefficient Alpha Cronbach's (in SPSS 23 digital environment)) the authors found significant positive correlations between such indicators of fatherhood, as support and care, interest in the child's life and exactingness on him, exactingness and child care, etc. Based on these correlations some conclusions about the typical sustainable features of modern fatherhood can be drawn.

The proposed method can be used in research that is the basis for the positive transformation of the municipal and regional family and social policy in a case of concrete region. The author's methodology offers an effective approach to the study of real fatherhood.

Keywords:

Research, parenting, the educational potential of fatherhood, father-child interaction.