1st Edition
Motherhood, Childhood, and Parenting in an Age of Education An Invited Invasion
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. An Invitation
2. The Good Mother Goes to School
3. The "Good Childhood" Is a Delicate Balancing Act
4. The Institutional Invasion
5. The "Good Mother" Is an Engaged Parent
6. The Normative Lens
7. Before the Invasion
8. The Invited Invasion as a Joint Project with the Family
References
Biography
Maryellen Schaub is an associate professor of education policy studies in the College of Education at the Pennsylvania State University and the professor-in-charge of the Education Theory and Policy program. As a sociologist of education, she investigates how social institutions, particularly family and schooling, intertwine and overlap in society. Her current research delves deeply into the social constructions of parenting and childhood, examining it from a number of angles and organizations. For example, she has published on topics as diverse as the increase of parent engagement in early childhood cognitive activities, the expansion of early childhood education, and the growth of child rights worldwide.
"What makes this an important contribution is that it links changes in the wider society (and even the world as in the world educational revolution) to changes in what constitutes the good mother without pretending that we now know what constitutes good motherhood. That is, the book avoids essentialist traps and pretentious universal application claims while still showing how consequential the models of the good mother have become for mothers, children, and their societies. This will be a salient text for students, teachers, and researchers for years to come."
–Francisco O. Ramirez, Professor of Sociology, Stanford University
"Reading this book changes the way you think about how education has transformed motherhood and childhood over the past century, including the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. Schaub’s compelling analysis is full of insights, creatively contrasting everyday notions and academic arguments with a wealth of evidence embedded in an accessible, engaging narrative of shifting intergenerational relationships. An important sociological contribution, it unmasks how the ever-tighter intersection between schooling and the family influences roles, expectations, and identities of childhood and parenthood everywhere."
–Justin J.W. Powell, University of Luxembourg
"The worldwide explosion of education has dramatically impacted parenting -- and motherhood in particular. Dr. Schaub impressively analyzes this transformation, based on her own research, the wider literature, and her own personal reflections. This unique book will be of great interest to those concerned with modern familial and educational arrangements".
John W. Meyer, Professor of Sociology, emeritus, Stanford University
