Pregnant with meaning : teen mothers and the politics of inclusive schooling / Deirdre M. Kelly.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kelly, Deirdre M.

Series:

Adolescent cultures, school & society ; vol. 13.

Adolescent cultures, school & society

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Teenage mothers--Education--Social aspects--British Columbia--Case studies.

Feminism and education.

Teenage mothers--Education.

Social aspects.

Teenage mothers.

British Columbia.

Genre:

Case studies.

Physical Description:

xi, 257 pages ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : P. Lang, [2000]

Contents:

Chapter 1 Introduction: Locating the Study in Historical and Political Context 1

Dilemmas of Difference and the Ideal of Inclusive Schooling 5

A Critical Feminist Stance 8

Placing City and Town Schools in the Historical Context of School Inclusiveness 10

Placing British Columbia within the Current North American Political Mood 15

Pregnant Students: No Uniform Meaning 19

Chapter 2 Pregnant with Meaning: Teen Mothers as Catch-all Enemies 25

"Stupid Sluts" 27

"Children Having Children" 31

"Welfare Moms" 35

"Dropouts" 37

"Neglectful Mothers" 38

Flash Point: The Case of Teen Mothers Who Smoke 40

Images Refracted through Lenses of Gender, Sexuality, Class, and Race 42

Contradictory and Overlapping Negative Images 45

Chapter 3 The Good Choices Discourse: A Fashionable, Flawed Attempt to Avoid Stigma 47

The Good Choices Discourse: Spanning the Ideological Divide 48

The Choice to Have Premarital Sex 52

The Choice to Use Contraception 53

The Choice to Have an Abortion 55

The Choice to Marry 57

Opting for Adoption versus Keeping the Baby 58

The Choice to Have a Second Baby 60

Subtexts of the Good Choices Discourse 61

Chapter 4 Stigma Stories in the Media: Four Discourses about Teen Mothers, Welfare, and Poverty 67

Media and Discourse Theory 68

A Critical Feminist Interpretation of the Scholarly Research on Teen Mothers, Welfare, and Poverty 70

Stigma Contest: Discourses about Teen Mothers 73

Implications 87

Chapter 5 Integrating Teen Mothers into City and Town Schools: Coping with the Dilemma of Difference 91

Creating Community Buy-In 93

Fighting for Visibility: The Politics of Location 96

Building Political Support within the School 99

Monitoring Student Attendance and Progress 104

Providing Support and Accommodation 106

Using Teen Mothers as Role Models: "Shining Stars" or "Communicators of Reality"? 107

Advocating with and for Teen Mothers 112

Chapter 6 Therapeutic Haven Versus Real-World Microcosm: How Citizenship Challenges the Dichotomy 121

Teen-Age Parents Program as Haven 123

Teen-Age Parents Program as Real-World Microcosm 137

Chapter 7 Inconceivable Conceptions: The Politics of Silence at Town School 149

The Play's the Thing That Silences 150

The "Emperor's-New-Clothes" Approach to Sexuality Education 153

The Teen Mothers Enter: Muted and Conflicting Voices 156

Chapter 8 Warning Labels: Stigma and the Popularizing of the Stories of Teen Mothers 161

The Appeal of Play-Building and the Pitfalls of Experience as a Building Block 162

Enter the Ethnographer, Stage Left 164

Building the Play 165

Performing the Play, Answering Questions 172

Interpreting the Play 176

Chapter 9 Studying Up, Down, and Across in Schools; Speaking About, For, and With Teen Mothers: Dilemmas of a Critical Feminist Ethnographer 185

Studying Up, Down, and Across in Schools: Fieldwork Dilemmas 188

Speaking About, For, and With Teen Mothers: Writing Dilemmas 204

Chapter 10 Teen Mothers and the Inclusive Ideal: Toward a Critical Feminist Stance 213

Reproductive Rights for All Women, Regardless of Age, Class, and Race 214

Nurturing Agency, Promoting Collective Social Responsibility 215

Challenging the Dependence-Independence Dichotomy 216

Challenging the Ideologies of the Good Mother and Good Father 218

Translating the Critical Feminist Stance into Policy 219.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [223]-248) and index.

ISBN:

0820445363

OCLC:

41871296