Harrison, L., Angwin, J. & Shacklock, G. (2002) "Having a Baby and Being in School: Researching Pregnant and Parenting Young People and their Educational Transitions". Deakin University.
This paper introduced a study in progress on pregnant and parenting teens and education, and focused on the cultural assumptions made by the researchers in interviewing a sixteen year old mother named Jemma. The paper's researchers seem preoccupied to identify and disclose their own cultural baggage in order to get closer to some intangible, postmodern "Truth" about Jemma's story, but do touch on some issues that I hope to learn more about. Geoff Shacklock identifies what he calls three different storylines or narratives in Jemma's story: that of being a teenage parent, of being a student, and of finding an identity.
It is interesting to consider the 'storylines' in a teen parent's life through this lens, seeing three intertwining narratives that connect and affect one another. Jemma's struggle to come to terms with her pregnancy and her family's adjustments to accommodate her new baby and her live-in boyfriend become one narrative. Alongside this, Jemma's continuing engagement at school is becoming more and more interrupted, despite her evident desire to be just like everyone else. Finally her more complex narrative, that of finding an identity as "a mum, a student, a daughter, a partner, not to mention ... a 16 year old" highlights the intrinsic contradictions in her life. As Shacklock illustrates, these identities clash at times: "how can you be a good student if you miss class ... because you are tired from being up all night being a good mum to your sick child?" (Harrison et al., 2002).
Harrison et al's paper strays to far into self-reflection and postmodern pondering for my purposes, but it has given me a few other sources to follow up which may be of better use.
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