Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

The crucial role of mothers in cultural reproduction has been widely debated since the seminal work of Basil Bernstein (1997). School education which stands as the foundation of a child’s further education and future professional career relies to a great extent on the mother’s role along with other important factors. The article attempts to explore micro-mothering activities contributing to children’s schooling processes. This exploratory study, conducted in a village in the state of Odisha looks at the factors that influence several nuanced mothering activities in the context of mothers’ differential educational qualifications and their varied locations in the caste/community and class hierarchy. The nature and extent of mothers’ involvement in children’s schooling was captured through interviews with 75 mothers. The study found significant instances of maternal involvement in children’s schooling; the higher the level of the mother’s education, the more proficient did the mothers grow, irrespective of their social origin. Educated mothers took a keen interest in their child’s progress and provided concrete guidance. This does not happen in the case of the poorly educated or non-literate mothers although their love and care continues to be unquestionable!

Keywords

Micro-mothering activities mothers’ educational qualification location in caste–class hierarchy schooling process mother-educator children’s attainment

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Barker

David P.

Stevenson

David L.

(1986). Mothers’ strategies for children’s school achievement: Managing the transition to high school. Sociology of Education, 59(3), 156–166.

Bernstein

Basil

(1997). Class and pedagogies: Visible and invisible. In Halsey

A. H.

Lauder

Hugh

Brown

Phillip

Wells

Amy Stuart

(Eds), Education: Culture, economy and society (pp. 59–79). New York: Oxford University Press.

Bourdieu

Pierre

. (1984). Distinction: A social critique of the judgment of taste. Great Britain: Routledge & Kegan Pal Ltd.

Chanana

Karuna

(2003). Female sexuality and education of Hindu girls in India. In Rege

Sharmila

(Ed.), Sociology of gender: The challenge of feminist sociological knowledge (pp. 287–317). New Delhi: SAGE Publications.

Dreze

Jean

Sen

Amartya

. (2002). India: Development and participation. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Drury

David

. (1993). The iron school master: Education, employment and the family in India. Delhi: Hindustan Publishing Corporation.

Galab

Moestue

Anthony

McCoy

Ravi

Prudhvikar

Reddy, P.

(2008). Child learning in Andhra Pradesh: The interplay between school and home. Journal of Educational Planning and Administration, 22(1), 5–25.

Jeffery

Roger

Basu

Alaka M.

(1996). Schooling as contraception? In Jeffery

Roger

Basu

Alaka M.

(Eds), Girls’ schooling, women’s autonomy and fertility change in South Asia (pp. 15–47). New Delhi: SAGE Publications.

Kamat

A. R.

(1985). Education and social change in India. Bombay: Somaiya Publications.

10.

Karlekar

Malavika

(1988). Women’s nature and the access to education. In Chanana

Karuna

(Ed.), Socialisation, education and women: Explorations in gender identity (pp. 129–165). New Delhi: Orient Longman Limited.

11.

Kothari

Anjali

(2011). Globalisation, economic reforms and the lives of urban, middle-class women in India. In Lall

Marie

Nambissan

Geetha B.

(Eds), Education and social justice in the era of globalisation: Perspectives from India and the UK (pp. 81–101). New Delhi: Routledge.

12.

Kumar

Nita

. (2007). The politics of gender, community, and modernity: Essays on education in India. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

13.

Lareau

Annette

. (1987). Social class difference in family-school relationships: The importance of cultural capital. Sociology of Education, 60(2), 73–85.

14.

Lareau

Annette

. (Ed.) (2003). Unequal childhoods: Class, race, and family life. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, Ltd.

15.

Nambissan

Geetha B.

(2010). The Indian middle-classes and educational advantage: Family strategies and practices. In Apple

Michael W.

Ball

Stephen J.

Gandin

Luis Armando

(Eds), The Routledge international handbook of the sociology of education (pp. 285–295). London and New York: Routledge.

16.

Reay

Diane

. (1998a). Class work: Mothers’ involvement in their children’s primary schooling. London: UCL Press Limited.

17.

Reay

Diane

. (1998b). Engendering social reproduction: Mothers in the educational marketplace. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 19(2), 195–209.

18.

Vincent

Carol

(2010). The sociology of mothering. In Apple

Michael W.

Ball

Stephen J.

Gandin

Luis Armando

(Eds), The Routledge international handbook of the sociology of education (pp. 109–120). London and New York: Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group).

19.

Vincent

Carol

Menon

Radhika

(2011). The educational strategies of the middle classes in England and India. In Lall

Marie

Nambissan

Geetha B.

(Eds), Education and social justice in the era of globalisation: Perspectives from India and the UK (pp. 56–80). New Delhi: Routledge.

20.

Walsh

Judith E.

(2004). Domesticity in colonial India: What women learned when men gave them advice. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Maternal Involvement in Everyday Schooling: A Micro Study

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References