Exploring The Challenges Facing Teenage Mothers in School and How They Cope in the Wa West District
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11594/ijmaber.02.08.07Keywords:
Teenage Mothers, Challenges, School, Coping StrategiesAbstract
Education is a built-in mechanism that retains its essential value as a human right, not as a static commodity to be viewed in isolation from its larger context. Every person has the right to quality education and the ability to guarantee their human rights are secure for the long term. This research examined teenage mothers' struggles in school. The study employed a descriptive phenomenological approach. Twelve teenage mothers were selected, using a snowball sampling approach. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from these teenage mothers by audio taping. The data was transcribed, pursued and analysed thematically. The research revealed that teenage mothers in school face various difficulties in school, including lack of financial support, poor time management, low self-esteem, and emotional instability. The further revealed that majority of teenage mothers in school employ direct problem solving, cognitive decision-making, understanding, and constructive cognitive restructuring to cope with the challenges they face.
Downloads
References
Aldwin, C. M. (2007). Stress, coping and develop-ment: An integrative approach (2nd ed.). New York.
Arlington Public School (2004). Teenage parenting programmes. Retrieved March 6, 2015, from Arlington Web site: http://www.arlington.com.html.
Ayers, T. S., Sandler, I. N., West, S. G., & Roosa, M. W. (1996). A dispositional and situational as-sessment of children's coping: Testing alter-native models of coping. Journal of Personality (64), 923-958.
Bhana, A., & Bhat, V. G. (2010). Knowledge, atti-tudes and behaviours of adolescents in rela-tions to STIs, pregnancy, contraceptive utili-zation and substance abuse in the Mhlakulo region, Eastern Cape, SA. Family Practice, 52 (2), 154-158.
Boulden. (2000). Learning from the margins; Young women, social exclusion and education. New York: Routledge.
Brown, L. M., & Gilligan, L. (1992). Meeting at the crossroads: Women's psychology and girls' de-velopment. Harvard Graduate School of Edu-cation: Sage Publication.
Canada Ministry of Education. (1998). Challenges and Choices Keeping Teenage Mothers in School. Canada: Quebec.
Chevalier, A., & Viitanen, T. K. (2003). Long-run labour market consequences of teenage motherhood in Britain. Journal of Economics, 16, 323-343.
Chigona, A., & Chetty, R. (2007). Girls' education in South Africa: Special consideration to teen mothers as learners. Journal of Education for International Development, 3 (1), 1-17.
Dlamini, L. S., van der Merwe, M. M., & Ehlers, V. J. (2005). Problems encountered by teenage mothers int the southern Hho-Hho region of Swaziland. Health SA, 8 (3), 74-85.
Fennel, S., & Arnot, M. (2008). Gender education and equality in a global context: Contextual framework and policy perspectives. New York: Routledge.
Gillham, B. (1997). Retrieved from http://www.abcbooks.com/smsearch-0304336149-facts-about-teenagepregnanciesw/0304336149.html-3k.
Gouws, E., & Kruger, N. (1994). The adolescent: An educational perspective. Johannesburg: But-terworth.
Grant, M., & Hallman, K. (2006). Pregnancy-related school dropout and prior school performance in South Africa. New York: Population Council.
Kaufman, C. E., De Wet, T., & Stadler, J. (2001). Teenage pregnancy and parenthood in South Africa. Studies in Family Planning, 32 (2), 147-160.
Kelly, M. J. (1998). Primary Education in a Heavily Indebted Poor Country: The Case of Zambia in the 1990s. Lusaka: University of Zambia.
Kernway, J. (1990). Privileged Girls, Private Schools, and the Culture of Success. London: Palmer.
Lowenthal, B., & Lowenthal, R. (1997). Teenage parenting: Challenges, interventions, and strategies. Childhood Education, 74: 29-32.
Marlene, C., & Mackey, R. N. (1998). Adolescent's description and management of pregnancy and preterm labour. Journal of Obstetric, Gy-naecological and Natural Nursing, 27 (4).
McCauley-Brown, C. (2005). Pregnant and parent-ing youth: Do we know how they fare in school (Fall Edition). Retrieved February 2016, from HTTP: www.thennotebook.org/editions/2016/fall.
Mohase, T. B. (2006). Influence of teenage pregnan-cy and parenting on the performance of Soshanguve Secondary School learners. Preto-ria: Tshwane University of Technology.
Mulongo, E. M. (2005). Young single motherhood; Contested notions of motherhood and sexual-ity in the policy. Discourse/Programme Inter-ventions' ISS, Working paper general series No. 423.
Mwansa, A. (2011). Re-entry to school after Giving Birth: An Evaluation of the Process Used to De-sign and Implement Policy in Zambia. London, UK: The Institute of Education, University of London.
Nsamenang, A. B. (2002). Adolescence in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Image Constructed from Africa's Triple Inheritance. Cambridge: Cam-bridge University Press.
Oyaro, K. (2008). Teenage mother denied education, IPS. Retrieved March 20, 2015, from http://www.worldmapper.org.
Phoenix, A. (1991). Young mother. Cambridge: Poli-cy Press.
Tomasevski, K. (2003). Education Denied: Costs and Remedies. London, New York: Zed Books Lim-ited.
UNESCO. (2010). EFA Global Monitoring Report 2010, Reaching the Marginalized. Paris: UNESCO.
UNESCO. (2014). Global Monitoring Report 2013/4, Teaching and Learning: Achieving Quality for All. Paris: UNESCO.
Unterhalter, E. (2007). Gender, Schooling and Global Social Justice. USA and Canada: Routledge.
Zarina, C. C. (2010). Deconstructing teenage mama's talk about self. Johannesburg: Witwatersrand
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See the Effect of Open Access).