This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Saggers, S. Articles by Banham, V. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

The Professionalisation of Mothering: Family Day Care

Edith Cowan University

Jan Grant

Edith Cowan University

Maggie Woodhead

Edith Cowan University

Vicki Banham

Edith Cowan University

In family day care, licensed providers care for small groups of children in the carer's own home. The service was established as a low-cost, ideologically acceptable alternative to centre-based care. This article reports on research among family day care providers in Western Australia, specifically the knowledge and skills they use in their work, and their perceptions of their roles as mothers and workers. Results to date indicate that the women believe themselves to be highly skilled child carers whose work is undervalued by society. Although family day care has been seen as supportive of traditional notions of mothering, providers draw upon both this dominant discourse of the always- available mother, and a resistant discourse allowing even mothers the right to fair recognition of their work.

Journal of Sociology, Vol. 30, No. 3, 273-287 (1994)
DOI: 10.1177/144078339403000303


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?