RINE Interim Summary: Teenage Pregnancy

The temptation when considering additional needs in education is to focus on diagnosable medical conditions: physical and intellectual disabilities, learning difficulties, behavioural disorders and so on. Attention is also paid to social and cultural needs, particularly for Indigenous students and learners from language backgrounds other than English; and for students from low socio-economic status families. The focus of this research summary is an additional need that hasn’t received very much attention in the Responding to Individual Needs in Education readings and course so far, despite its capacity to completely alter a student’s life and education. That additional need is pregnancy.

Our duty to provide an inclusive education extends to every student in our class, but for the pregnant student, I believe our duty extends even further than our own classroom. In the case of teenage pregnancy, we can provide an inclusive and supportive environment in which a pregnant teenager or young parent can continue their education, which studies have shown is a vital influencing factor on their own child’s education achievement in the future (Bradley and Corwyn, 2002, in Krause et al., 2003, p. 283). Therefore, by extending our students’ education and future career prospects, we can indirect influence their own children’s future as well.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there were 16 live births per 1000 girls between the ages of fifteen and nineteen in 2007. This equates to over 10,000 mothers of secondary school age across Australia (ABS, 2009, from Clayden, 2009, p. 2). Statistics from the United Kingdom and the United States also reflect rises in teen pregnancy rates in those countries during the past few years (Viadero, 2010, & “Education”, 2009). Much of the literature I have seen so far has focused on possible means for prevention, mainly by reviewing the efficacy of sex education in secondary schools. While prevention is better than the cure, for the individual student what matters is not to focus on what should have happened; rather it is what to do from now on. The teacher of a pregnant teen must, as with all their students, cater to the needs of the student, both during the pregnancy and after the birth.

Clearly a teen pregnancy alters a student’s priorities significantly. Their career prospects and their motivation for completing their education may change; their absences will affect their academic achievement; their relationships with family will go through a turbulent and stressful time. Our task as teachers is to strive to continue our students’ engagement with the curriculum, maintain their motivation as much as possible, and “sell” the benefits of keeping up with their education to the student. Practically speaking, we may need to negotiate with the student and their family to implement an Individual Learning Plan, and create a new structure for their learning, such as facilitating flexible learning options such as studying from home after the birth.

I have commenced my research with a consideration of a school known in the ACT for its commendable program for pregnant teens and young parents. The Canberra College runs the “CCCares” program out of its Weston Campus. Currently approximately eighty-five percent of the College’s Weston Campus student population are young parents (www.canberrac.act.edu.au, 2010). The school offers transportation to and from school for the students and their children, on-site childcare, play rooms, sleep rooms, change rooms, a medical suite and play areas designed to accommodate the students’ children in an open-plan and inclusive environment. The students can complete their Year 12 certificates, or work towards achieving goals established in Individual Learning Plans. CCCares is a commendable benchmark program which anticipates the future needs of its parenting students and has created an holistic approach to their education. It incorporates not only traditional educational objectives such as literacy and numeracy, but develops personal skills and attributes to prepare students for the employment market, providing vocational training, and aiming to assist students to become financially independent.

Not all schools have the necessary population of pregnant and parenting students to create such an impressive support framework; nor would they wish to have it so. From an economic perspective, many of the auxiliary supports provided by CCCares are out of reach for the average secondary school. However, its ethos and intentions are absolutely transportable, and aspects of its program can be implemented within other schooling environments. These aspects are to be the focus of this research journal.

Source List

Canberra College, 25 May, 2010, http://www.canberrac.act.edu.au/curriculum/cccares

Clayden, Peter. “Using the power of partnership to address important educational and social welfare needs”, Canberra College, 2009, http://www.canberrac.act.edu.au/__data/assets/word_doc/0019/122239/CCCares_Schools_First_conference_article_2010.doc

Flood, M., Greenspan, S., & Mundorf, N. (1985) School-Based Services for Pregnant and Parenting Adolescents. Special Services in the Schools, 2(1), 27-44. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.1300/J008v02n01_03

Krause, Kerri-Lee, Sandra Bochner, and Sue Duchesne. (2003) Educational Psychology for Learning and Teaching. Victoria: Thomson Learning

Viadero, D. Study Finds Teen Pregnancies On The Rise. Education Week 2010, 29(20), 4. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.canberra.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=48135020&site=ehost-live

Teenage pregnancy rate rises for the first time in ten years. (2009) Education 2009 (345), 1. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.canberra.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=36919545&site=ehost-live