'Their status will be affected by that child': How masculinity influences father involvement in the education of learners with intellectual disabilities

Background: Parents play a critical role in the formal education of their children. However, a limited body of scientific knowledge exists on fathers' involvement in the formal education of their children with disabilities, particularly in Global South settings. This study sought to understand how father involvement is constructed in the formal education of learners with intellectual disabilities in an African context.

Methods: The study uses data from a broad qualitative case study of one special school in Kenya. Data were collected from eight fathers, six mothers, nine teachers and six children with disabilities using individual interviews, key informant interviews and focus group discussions. A document review was also conducted. The data were analysed thematically.

Results: Two themes emerging from the data are presented, named using selected quotes from the participants thus: 'He's a monster, you're the one who gave birth to him' and 'The excuse that he has work to do'. Father involvement in the education of learners with intellectual disabilities is influenced by the need of the fathers to protect their identities as men in a society whose cultural norms and values associates manliness with strength and perfection, and disability with weakness and imperfection. Father involvement is also impacted by the teachers' perceptions of the fathers' masculinity. Additionally, father involvement is influenced by the ways fathers cope with the threats to their masculinity.

Conclusion: Perceptions of masculinity and disability intersect to construct father involvement in the formal education of learners with intellectual disabilities in this African context.