Towards a textural sociological approach to single mothers’ voices: a study of Hong Kong mothers

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article explores single-mothers’ experiences regarding the schooling of their children. Because most research on home-school relations has been derived from samples of two-parent families, little is known about single parents’ perspectives on their children’s education. Drawing on in-depth interviews with eight single mothers in Hong Kong using a textural sociological approach, this article illuminates the essential, hard-to-capture qualities of single-mothers’ everyday lives focusing on how they manage childrearing priorities, how they rationalize their childrearing beliefs and practices, and how they navigate relationships with their children’s teachers, schools and the wider community. The implications include identifying ways for schools and teachers to support single-mother families in their children’s education. The study also extends the existing literature on home-school relations providing a textural understanding of diverse family lives.