Promene izazvane očinstvom kao izvorište potreba za celoživotnim učenjem

When it comes to the research of parenting in the social sciences, fatherhood is a phenomenon that has not been studied extensively. Usually, parenting is discussed in general or research on parenting focuses mostly on mothers. The beginning and development of parenting education and educational programs for parents are primarily associated with mothers, their role in the functioning of the family and the upbringing of children. It has long been believed that fathers do not have a major, direct influence on the early development of a child and that their influence is reflected primarily in the economic provision for the family and support for the mother of the child. Two streams of research are responsible for changing this picture - the first of them refers to research into the consequences of the father's absence on the development of his child, while the second one refers to the research of the influence of fathers on the development of their children. The conclusions of the researchers are consistent - the role of the father in his child's development is crucial. In our research, and some research results will be presented in this paper, we tried to determine what changes fatherhood brings to personal, individual development of fathers. Our goal was to probe into the perception of the fathers of young children of these changes as potential sources of their need for lifelong learning. In the research, we used the survey method and the semi-structured (in-depth) interview technique. The most significant results of the research indicate that the changes that the birth of a child brings into a father's life are certainly the source of his need for lifelong learning.