Not All Mothers Are White: Expectations of Motherhood and Parental Involvement in Schooling

• In Event: Theorizing From the Intersections: Understanding Education Policies and Practices Through Critical Feminist Theories

Abstract

The second panelist considers the impact of racialized and gendered expectations for mothers when it comes to schooling and parental involvement. When parents are engaged with their children’s schooling, there are expectations and assumptions that mothers are the ones doing this work (Boehme, Goetz, & Preckel 2017; Posey-Maddox 2017). At the same time, those viewed as doing acceptable motherwork and recognized as mothers, are white women (Dillaway & Paré, 2008; Littlefield 2007). It is often Black mothers, whose actions are viewed as outside expectations, considered inferior to the actions of white mothers in supporting children’s schooling. However, literature that centers the voices and experiences of Black mothers and Black families shows diverse and meaningful ways that they engage with children’s learning and schooling.
The constraining expectations of identity and action in motherhood and parental involvement in schools show the challenges of families trying to support children in a context that privileges white norms above all else. Such white privileging does a disservice to the actions of Black mothers, viewed often as less capable in their mothering and failing at expected involvement with schooling (Morgan 2018). How parents and educators frame parent involvement and expectations is often different, with educators privileging white norms of involvement such as physical presence at the school and supporting school-directed practices (Allen & White-Smith 2018; Anderson & Minke 2007). The pervasive images and practices of whiteness for mothers and parents supporting learning creates challenges for recognition and acceptance of mothers who are not white, or for people who support children’s learning outside of expected white norms.
There are opportunities to broaden understandings of motherhood and parental involvement in schooling that does not limit these practices to white norms. By focusing on the positive practices of Black mothers and the different ways that parents meaningfully engage with children’s learning, research can reframe what counts as motherhood and parental involvement. The literature that focuses on the experiences of Black mothers and their children show a diverse range of activity and support for their children that provides meaningful ways for children to learn, but look different than typical (white) schooling practices (Allen & White-Smith 2018; Cooper 2007/2009). For example, Bhargava & Witherspoon (2015) show how Black parents’ involvement with adolescents shifts to strategies that support independence and recognizing the value of education, which are meaningful skills but not recognized as traditional parent involvement practices.
This paper focuses on a review of literature on the expectations of motherhood, supported by the stories of mothers’ experiences from a study of parental engagement. The work uses a Black feminist perspective to frame the constraints and opportunities of expectations for both motherhood and parental engagement in the context of racial and gender norms of the United States. A Black feminist perspective of motherhood and parental involvement allows for a reframing of what counts as acceptable motherhood and engagement with children’s learning by honoring the experiences and positive actions of Black mothers (e.g. Hill Collins 2000; Salazar Pérez & Williams 2014).

Author

• Sam Prough, University of Delaware