Mothers’ Perception and Practice in their Childs’ Out of School [summer] Time: a Socioeconomic Perspective
Open Access
- Author:
- Milhomme, Marcy Bloom
- Graduate Program:
- Educational Theory and Policy
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- April 07, 2014
- Committee Members:
- Dana Lynn Mitra, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Gerald K Letendre, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Katerina Bodovski, Committee Member
Stephanie Cayot Serriere, Special Member - Keywords:
- out of school time
childhood
cultural capital
summer learning loss
motherhood
belonging - Abstract:
- I set out to explore the question: How do middle-class, working-class and low-income mothers experience their children’s out of school summer time? Using qualitative basic interpretive approach, study findings draw from interview data, journal entries and participant observations from a study completed with 22 mothers of varying socioeconomic statuses whose children underwent a 10 to 12 week summer vacation. Study participants had at least one child in K-6th grade during the study. All participants resided in one of three communities. Each community was selected because of contrasting makeups in terms of resident levels of education, poverty concentrations, economic prosperity and employment opportunities. I used Lareau’s (2003; 2011) theories related to a cultural logic of childrearing and I asked three guiding questions. First, what are mothers’ perceptions of summer related to learning regression? How do education stakeholders prepare families? How did preparation affect childrearing strategies? I find that the fissure between the school and the home begins even prior to the close of the school year. This anticipation for summer months creates anxieties for mothers who aspire to provide their children with productive out of school experiences, but find them unattainable due to life constraints. I also find that though mothers have intentions for keeping up with school-like activities, these goals are rarely realized. I also asked, how do mothers of varying SES characterize the purpose of their child’s summer vacation; and where does summer vacation “fit” into family life? Regardless of social class, I find that mothers appropriate their own memories from their own histories with summer vacations. Middle-class mothers go to great lengths to construct summer plans for their children, but these efforts are often rebuffed as children use their own sense of agency and “child capital” (Chin and Phillips, 2004) in establishing their own schedules and summer routines. Finally, I asked how can Lareau’s cultural logic of childrearing explain social class reproduction cycles? My findings were not entirely consistent with Lareau’s theory of concerted cultivation and accomplishment of natural growth. As a result, I propose a reconceptualization of child-rearing practices during the summer called leveraged exploration and contingent exploration. These theories introduce new dimensions for understanding the replication of social class differences.