School is Suppose to be a Place of Learning: Black Mothers' Schooling Logics

• In Event: 2484 - Section on Sociology of Education Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 17. Race and Ethnicity in Education 1

Abstract

This paper focuses on black middle class mothers’ schooling logics. I draw from in-depth interview data with 32 mothers living in one northeastern metropolitan region--half of whom homeschool, while the other half send their children to conventional schools. I find that across groups close to half of respondents use what I refer to as a singular path schooling logic, selecting a schooling option to which they intend to remain for the duration of their child’s primary schooling years. Like prior studies, singular path homeschoolers explain their school choice as primarily motivated by religion. The second set of respondents follow the phase path schooling logic. These respondents enroll their child in a school, but after intervening in the school on their child’s behalf, end up transferring them to a different school or opting out to homeschool. The conventional schoolers explain drawing on class resources to transfer their child to a different school after they experience racial discrimination. Similarly, many of the phase path homeschoolers also report racial bias as motivating their reason for homeschooling, drawing on class resources to carry out their decision. In addition, the homeschoolers report their social network – knowing someone who homeschools – influenced their decision. This research makes theoretical contributions to race and school choice literature by showing how race impacts parents’ schooling choices. These findings suggest that when the responsibility of protecting children from discrimination falls on individual families, particularly mothers, class resources and social networks are crucial for navigating these negative experiences.

Author

• Mahala Dyer Stewart, University of Massachusetts-Amherst