Nursery World - Positive Relationships: Male Practitioners

In Glasgow, an ‘Approved by Dads’ training programme is getting men – many of them fathers – into the childcare profession, to the benefit of participants, settings and children, finds Annette Rawstrone

Entering a female-dominated profession can be challenging for men, but a new programme in Glasgow is successfully targeting dads and training them in early learning and childcare with life-changing results.

The programme, developed by Experiential Play in partnership with Glasgow City Council, was named ‘Approved by Dads’ by the participants, who were fed up of seeing notices in shops and on products stating ‘approved by mums’.

Targeting dads meant that they already had experience of being with children, and Maureen McKenna, executive director of education at Glasgow City Council, believes it is important to have an all-male cohort in order for them to learn together in a ‘supportive, positive way’ and enable the course to be tailored to their particular needs.

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