Mothers As Children's

View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by KU ScholarWorks Mothers as Children‟s “First and Best Teachers:” An Institutional Ethnography BY C2010 Melissa A. Freiburger Submitted to the graduate degree program in Sociology and the Graduate Faculty of the University of Kansas in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy ________________________________ Shirley Hill, Chairperson ________________________________ Sandra Albrecht ________________________________ Mehrangiz Najafizadeh ________________________________ Mary Zimmerman _______________________________ Chris Petr Date Defended:___April 23, 2010______________ The Dissertation Committee for Melissa A. Freiburger certifies that this is the approved version of the following dissertation: MOTHERS AS THEIR CHILDREN‟S “FIRST AND BEST TEACHERS:” AN INSTITUTIONAL ETHNOGRAPHY Committee: ________________________________ Chairperson _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ _______________________________ Date approved:__April 23, 2010________ ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS…………………………………………………………...v ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………...1 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………….2 Research Questions…………………………………………………....6 Literature Review……………………………………………………...7 Outline of the Dissertation…………………………………………...24 Significance of the Study…………………………………………….27 CHAPTER 2. METHODS…………………………………………………………..28 Institutional Ethnography: An Overview…………………………….28 Data Collection………………………………………………………32 Analysis and Data Interpretation…………………………………….42 Reflections of a Mother-Researcher…………………………………43 CHAPTER 3. INTENSIVE MOTHERING………………………………………...47 Mother as “Executive”……………………………………………….48 Developing Philosophies and Practices……………………………...53 Uncommon Ground………………………………………………….70 CHAPTER 4. COGNITIVE CARE…………………………………………………81 Babies are Learners………………………………………………….81 Monitoring Children………………………………………………...95 “Other Mothers”……………………………………………………111 CHAPTER 5. PRODUCING “SCHOOL READINESS”…………………………118 The Child Development Discourse………………………………...119 School Readiness…………………………………………………..129 CHAPTER 6. NEGOTIATING THE DEMANDS OF MOTHERHOOD……………………………………………….148 Isolated Mothering…………………………………………………150 Finding a Tribe……………………………………………………..155 Mother to Mother…………………………………………………..160 CHAPTER 7. CONCLUSION…………………………………………………….169 Summary and Implications of Findings……………………………179 Directions for Future Research…………………………………….179 APPENDIX A: SYNOPSIS OF THE PROGRAM READY TO LEARN…………182 iii APPENDIX B: MOTHERS AND SELECTED CHARACTERISTICS…………...185 APPENDIX C: INTERVIEW SCHEDULE – PARENTS…………………………187 APPENDIX D: INTERVIEW SCHEDULE – PARENT EDUCATORS………….189 BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………………………………..190 iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First, I would like to offer gratitude to my advisor, Shirley Hill for her guidance and support over the past eight years. Her quick turn around on the many drafts of this dissertation, her thoughtful feedback, and constant encouragement has sustained my efforts to produce this finished dissertation. Thank you, Shirley. I am also indebted to the wonderful mentoring I received as a graduate student at the University of Central Missouri from Karen Bradley. She nurtured a deep appreciation for the work of Dorothy Smith, institutional ethnography, and just as important, my working-class heritage. Many thanks, Karen. Finally, this list of academic support would not be complete without a huge thank you to my dear friend and fellow institutional ethnographer, Shelley Koch. Our conversations about Dorothy Smith and institutional ethnography have enriched my work and her support throughout my journey in graduate school has been a blessing. Thank you Dr. Koch! But most of all, I am deeply indebted to my biggest fan and greatest source of support, my husband Matt. We met at age eighteen, the summer before he entered college in a nearby community. While I spent my first year as a high school graduate waiting tables at Pizza Hut (where he spent many nights as a cook), I watched him pull off the “college thing” and became interested in giving it a try myself. Matt not only encouraged me to do so, he showed me the ropes and helped this first-generation college student navigate the institution of higher education. Obviously, college suited me well, and here I am fifteen years later, continuing to benefit from the continual support and love of my husband. In addition to commuting and working a full-time v job, Matt took on the role of primary caretaker of our two girls during those times when I was unable to juggle the competing demands of graduate school and mothering; when I could only offer at times, minimal contribution to family work. Indeed, he is a wonderful father, partner, and friend. This dissertation is only possible because of his hard work “holding down the fort” as I put in long hours to complete my degree. Thank you Matt, I love you! Finally, I offer my gratitude to all of the women who participated in this study. The mothers, parent educators, and program administrators were kind, welcoming, and enjoyable people to get to know. Thank you for your time and generosity! For my daughters with love. vi Mothers as Children‟s “First and Best Teachers:” An Institutional Ethnography Melissa A. Freiburger, Ph.D. University of Kansas. 2010 This dissertation examines how women‟s mothering practices are coordinated and constrained by discourses and expert knowledge that they encounter through their participation in “Ready to Learn (RTL),” a national parent education program. Utilizing institutional ethnography, I examine how the expert knowledge and discursive themes of the program coordinate mothers‟ work with the schooling system through the institutional goal of producing “school ready” children. Through in-depth interviews with mothers, RTL parent educators, and program administrators, I explore how women‟s commitment to intensive mothering ensures that they will monitor and facilitate the growth of their babies and toddlers so that they conform to the normative timeline of development constructed by experts. This conformity is essential to children‟s school readiness and educational success. In addition, I employ participant observation of home visits, play groups, and parenting classes as well as document analysis of texts that are implicated in the social relations of the setting. Document analysis includes RTL curriculum and handouts, primary texts produced by researchers and universities, and documents generated by organizations that advocate for “school readiness” The primary objective of this dissertation is to bring visibility to the unpaid work that mothers do in producing “school ready” children and the strategies they employ in negotiating the numerous demands placed on their carework. 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION In a recent conversation, Olivia,1 mother of a 13-month old baby girl, vocalized her anxiety regarding her daughter‟s development by saying, “I‟m freaking out now because I read somewhere that she should be saying 2-5 words, and she isn‟t.” This mother then turned to her baby on her hip and asked, “Where‟s mama?” Her daughter turned away, uninterested. “I try,” says her mom. And she does. This mother owns stacks of child development books, researches child-rearing on the internet, and is enrolled in a parent education program, Ready to Learn (RTL).2 Due to her research and involvement in RTL, Olivia knows what her baby “should” be doing and just as important, what she as a mother ought to do to foster that list of “shoulds.” Like many educated, middle-class mothers, Olivia actively monitors and works on her daughter‟s development and consents to the discursive construction of her toddler as a “learner” and she, as a “good mother” – the teacher. This dissertation examines how the mothering practices of educated middle- class women like Olivia are coordinated and constrained by the mothering and child development discourses that they encounter through participation in RTL. Increasing “school readiness” through the monitoring and facilitating of children‟s development is one of the primary goals of Ready to Learn, a national, universal-access education program that serves parents of children from birth to age three. I utilize institutional ethnography (IE), a method of inquiry designed by Dorothy Smith to explore the 1 I use pseudonyms for all participants to ensure their anonymity. 2 I have changed the name of this program to protect the anonymity of the research participants 2 social relations of everyday life and how they are put together. The “local,” everyday experiences of mothers provide the standpoint from which I investigate institutional and discursive relations; they are the starting point for the “map” I construct as to how those experiences came to be. “Your baby was born to learn, and as a parent, you are your child‟s first and best teacher.3” This statement summarizes the philosophy of Ready to Learn; there mission being, “To provide the information, support and encouragement parents need to help their children develop optimally during the crucial early years of life.4” The free, universal-access program serves families with children from birth up to kindergarten-age, depending on local resources. The Lawrence, KS program serves families of children from birth to age three due to its constrained budget. The Lawrence, Kansas RTL program is fifteen years old and in 2007, the year in which I collected data on the

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