Whiteway, S; (2016) A Narrative Exploration of the Educational Experiences and Aspirations of Teenage Fathers. Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London).

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Abstract

Teenage pregnancy has long been perceived as a ‘problem’ in the United Kingdom as a result of the negative outcomes associated with the phenomenon, for both parent and child. In order to address this, government policy has focused on reducing conception rates and, to a more limited degree, supporting teenage mothers. This thesis argues that providing support for teenage fathers is a crucial aspect pivotal to improving outcomes for teenage parents and children. More specifically, it explores the association of young fathers with poor educational achievement, and further examines how understanding these experiences may be the key to providing effective support and accordingly reducing negative outcomes. Six men who had fathered a child before they were twenty years old participated in a narrative interview, during which they were encouraged to speak about their life history and experiences of education. Interviews were analysed using a combination of Hollway’s (2015) ‘rough verse’, Pheonix’s (2008) key narratives and Bruner’s (1992) canons and personal narratives, alongside consideration of the co-construction of the interview. The findings suggest that these young fathers initially had positive experiences of school. Whilst primary schools featured as containing places, counteracting a lack of belonging at home, at secondary school, on the other hand, the fathers experienced school as a place of further social exclusion. Additionally, hegemonic masculine stereotypes which were established during school, proliferated into fatherhood and further resulted in pressure on fathers to earn money. The fathers generally had experienced fatherhood as a positive turning point in their lives, but this did not motivate fathers to return to education. This thesis discusses how the findings relate to previous literature and how it can be applied to three stages of the fathers’ experiences: pre-conception; during pregnancy; and post-birth. Implications for how the findings might influence the work of EPs are also discussed.

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