There has been a significant growth in recent years in the educational underachievement amongst boys, who are over-represented amongst pupils who under-perform academically and behaviourally. Equally, too, there has been evidence that the involvement of fathers in schools is significantly less well-developed than that of mothers. Moreover, delinquency and criminality amongst boys and men far outstrip that of girls and mothers in most national settings globally.These phenomena are apparent in many countries, both in Europe and elsewhere (Garner, 2008). The core, generic resrearch question being addressed is whether some mens' experiences as fathers in respect of schools is a less positive and empowered than that of (for example) mothers or certain 'advantaged' fathers. The paper outlines a set of contextual factors which illustrate the historical, cultural, economic and social factors for this situation. It then draws on a range of narrative accounts, from 'marginalised fathers' in a number of English school settings in order to illustrate the tenuous connections between fathers and schools and to highlight the negative impacts that this can have on educational performance. It seeks to explore the views of fathers relating to a number of themes: their own experiences of school, their emotional and social relationships with their sons with regard to schooling, the extent to which they participate in school life, and their views concerning learning and the curriculum. Each of these is illustrated by a number of extended narrative extracts. The paper deconstructs these data-narratives in order to identify groups of themes or experiences; it then uses these to discuss the implications for schools and for educational policy-makers generally.

A small group of fathers, purposively selected, each with a son in primary or secondary schooling, formed the basis of the data generated in this study.The research reported in this paper adopts a mixed methods approach (Green & Elmore 2006*) which incorporates elements of the following: • Semi-structured recorded interviews with a small sample of fathers in each of four partner school-settings (n=16) • Semi-structured recorded interviews with their sons (n=16) • Desk survey (meta analysis of literature and documentation regarding the involvement of fathers in their son’s learning; underachievement in boys etc) • Two focus group discussions in two school settings • Document/resources scrutiny

The study highlights a number of significant points of tension for fathers in engaging with contemporary schooling. It confirms that schooling remains a gendered activity, from which adult males are often significantly excluded and isolated, with potential negative impact on their child's education.