Teenage Motherhood: Caring Practices as Counternarratives

• In Event: Mothering as Methods: Centering Care, Storying Experience, and Re-envisioning Knowledge in Education

Abstract

Purpose:
This presentation shifts focus away from dominant deficit narratives that surround teenage mothers, instead highlighting their caring practices as acts of resistance and counternarratives. Drawing from my doctoral research, I explore how teen mothers engage with their children’s schools in ways that are often overlooked. My goal is to show how young mothers enact their parent knowledge (Pushor, 2015) to advocate and care for their children through material-discursive entanglements with school environments and materials.

Theoretical Framework:
Guided by feminist new materialism (Barad, 2007), I engage with the “matters of care” (Puig de la Bellacasa, 2017) to consider ways in which care emerges through human and more-than-human entanglements. Within this framework, matter is not passive but agentic, shaping everyday practices of care. I also draw on feminist scholarship that works to reframe narratives of teenage motherhood, challenging deficit discourses and highlighting agency and strength (Minaker et al, 2019a).

Modes of Inquiry:
Using narrative inquiry (Clandinin, 2013), I weave my own teenage mother experiences with those of my participants, attending to relational, affective, and material dimensions of these narratives.

Data Sources:
Data sources include recorded Zoom conversations, researcher field notes, photographs of home and school-related objects, and text messages illustrating the impact of objects and institutional encounters on parenting practices.

Results:
This presentation centers three vignettes in which young mothers—through their entanglements with both human and nonhuman elements—advocate for their children in powerful, embodied ways. Their caring practices reveal parent knowledge and agency, countering dominant portrayals of teenage mothers as negligent or incapable.

#1
Christina got upset with her son, Devon’s, grade 1 teacher, who was concerned about his frequent trips to the bathroom and who wouldn’t accept Christina’s explanation. Christina stated, “I had to get kind of mad at her because I was dealing with lots. And she knew, because Devon was worried about me in the hospital. She didn’t really say much else after that.”

#2
Myka received her daughter’s kindergarten report card and was confused. The comments and marks did not match what she knew about her daughter’s abilities. Myka mentioned, “I was looking at her report card and thinking like, did the person that wrote this even know her?”

#3
Amanda’s son Ryan has diabetes and brings a medical kit to school each day, which includes a cell phone used to check sugar levels. One day Amanda forgot to charge the phone and the teacher called child protection services. Amanda explained, after having a meeting with staff, “We ended up just pulling Ryan out of the school because they weren't really understanding.”

Significance:
Much of the existing research on teenage motherhood emphasizes damage and deficit. However, a small body of scholarship points to the strength young mothers possess (Minaker et al, 2019b). The mothers in this study demonstrate intimate knowledge of their children and a readiness to advocate fiercely on their behalf. Their stories also reveal persistent and skillful care. This research aims to challenge harmful stereotypes and contribute a strength-based counternarrative to the field.

Author

• Esther Maeers, University of Regina