Mothers as educational workers: mothers’ emotional work at their children's transfer to second-level education

Abstract

This paper investigates the phenomenon of mothers’ emotional labour in relation to children's transfer from first- to second-level schooling: a time that has been shown to pose significant challenges for students and their families. It seeks to break the silence that surrounds the recognition and production of emotional labour in general, and specifically in relation to education. Drawing on 25 case studies, this research explores in-depth both the extent and nature of emotional work in mothers’ daily practices. Against that backdrop it identifies the specific emotional work performed at school transfer. It examines mothers’ common experiences in shouldering emotional education work and finds that mothers are key education workers. This research suggests that mothers’ lives are shaped by caring labour including education work: labours that are largely unseen but that are inalienable, and demanding on their time and energies.

Thanks are due to the reviewers of this paper for their insightful comments particularly with respect to the structuring and organisation of this paper. Thanks are also due to the mothers who generously told their stories and reflected upon their emotional work at their children's transfer to second-level schooling. To the Department of Education and Science, Gender Equality Unit, sincere thanks for supporting this project. I would also like to acknowledge those at the Equality Studies Centre in UCD for many fruitful discussions on care and emotional work.