Open Access‘It’s an adjustment’: The experiences of stay-at-home mothers in graduate teacher education programs
Author(s) -
Karrin Lukacs
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of professional, continuing and online education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2371-0071
DOI - 10.18741/jpcoe37
Subject(s) - balance (ability) , psychology , medical education , graduate students , graduate education , pedagogy , medicine , neuroscience
It is important that teacher education programs be aware of their students’ lives and experiences both inside and outside of the classroom. This is especially true in the case of students who are also stay-at-home mothers who are trying to balance the demands of their personal and professional lives and to adjust to the differing expectations for each. This study was designed to explore the experiences of 10 stay-at-home mothers who decided to return to school to become teachers. Results indicate that the students felt that motherhood helped them to be more tolerant and understanding, but that it was often difficult to balance their dual roles of mother and student. Implications for graduate teacher education programs and recommendations for future research are discussed.