Mothers as children's 'First and Best Teachers:' An institutional ethnography.

摘要

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.