Mothers as Children's "First and Best Teachers:" An Institutional Ethnography

Abstract

This dissertation is an institutional ethnography that examines how women's mothering practices are coordinated and constrained by discourses and expert knowledge that they encounter through "Ready to Learn (RTL)," a national parent education program. Through in-depth interviews with mothers, RTL parent educators, and program administrators, I explore how women's commitment to intensive mothering ensures that they will monitor and facilitate the growth of their babies and toddlers so that they conform to the expert-derived timeline of child development. In addition, I employ participant observation of home visits, play groups, and parenting classes as well as document analysis of texts that are implicated in the social relations of the setting. Document analysis includes RTL curriculum and handouts, primary texts produced by researchers and universities, and documents generated by "school readiness" organizations. The primary goal of this dissertation is to explicate how mothers' unpaid carework supports the institutional goal of school readiness.