Opportunities Lost: Disconnections Between Parenting Education Programs and Low-Income Mothers' Lived Realities

• In Event: Parents and Families' Influences on Education

Abstract

In recent years, scholars and policy makers have turned to parenting education to enhance children’s earliest experiences and improve social, emotional, and cognitive outcomes. Research on parenting education has generally focused on outcomes, leaving important questions about mothers’ experiences and understandings unexplored. This study uses ethnographic methods to examine parenting education in five sites over a three-year period. We found a striking lack of congruence between program material and low-income mothers’ lives and concerns. Here we focus on three realms: poverty, unsafe neighborhoods, and the complicated role of fathers. As researchers and policymakers strive to increase the efficacy of parenting education, greater attention to social context and parents’ own needs and concerns (especially in these areas) would be beneficial.

Authors

• Maia B. Cucchiara, Temple University

• Erin Cassar, Temple University

• Monica Lynn Clark, Temple University

• Ginger Rae McCartney, Temple University

• Thierry Saintine, Temple University