ABSTRACT
In this chapter I will explore how working-class mothers handle the formal, institutional areas of their children’s lives. More specifically the focus is on interactions with teachers, and other middle-class professionals who exert power over the day-to-day lives of families. I begin by examining classed understandings of public private boundaries. I show how the concept of home holds a particular significance for working-class mothers, given their experience of external and institutional spaces as hostile, ruthless environments populated by dangerous people. Home life in middle-class families more often than not blends with school and other formal activities. In contrast, working-class families are more likely to view children as inhabiting very separate worlds inside and outside of school. Working class mothering is primarily situated in the home and is often misinterpreted and devalued in professional arenas, particularly in the context of education. Using case study examples I will show how such institutional interactions are interpreted and managed by the mothers in this book.
