Transitions of motherhood: a study of the transitions of motherhood and the relationship to the career of teaching

Abstract

What are the challenges and opportunities for teachers who are new mothers as they transition back into their teaching practice? How do teachers who are new mothers suggest that they might be supported in this transition and what are the structural barriers to such supports? A study of the transitions of motherhood and the relationship to the career of teaching. This paper investigates the concept of transition through women teachers’ experiences of transitioning back to work after a maternity leave and what it means to transition in and out of the workplace. These personal experiences serve as qualitative data that begin to tell a narrative through which the concept of transition, with respect to motherhood and career, is explored. Living inquiry in the form of narrative inquiry and Feminist Participatory Action Research (FPAR) serve as the methodology for the research. Focus group meetings and fieldnotes served as the data collection methods. The focus group was comprised of four women teachers, along with the researcher, and the data obtained from these focus group meetings was combined with the data from the individual participant fieldnotes in order to present themes in the results of this study. The results indicate that teachers who are mothers share feelings of isolation upon return to work, have a risk for burnout/leaving the profession and face structural barriers within the maternity leave and return to work process. The data suggests that supports are needed in order to improve the experience of transition back to work after a maternity leave for mothers. Recommendations are made to create supports such as a women’s advocate in the HR department, offering flexible return to work options after a maternity leave, integrating well-being into the work day, and creating a support network consisting of teachers who are new mothers.