Abstract
This descriptive study explored the experiences of teenage mothers in a South African hospital school in order to identify the critical success factors that support their reintegration into mainstream schools and encourage them to complete their basic education. Globally, the available literature, which considers the problem and its accompanying challenges from an ecosystemic perspective, indicates that a lack of support to such mothers constitutes the most important challenge to their school reintegration. Investigating the experiences of these teenagers may enable not only all associated caregivers and teachers, but also the mothers themselves and their peers, to arrive at solutions that may enhance the positive aspects of such experiences and consequently induce these mothers to be reintegrated into the school system. South African research reflects worldwide findings that teenage pregnancy and motherhood are two of the main causes for school dropout and learner failure, which can be viewed as a multigenerational, widespread, and detrimental social phenomenon. A qualitative approach, using semi-structured interviews and personal informational letters, was selected for data collection. Six participants—two black African, two Coloured and two white adolescent mothers—contributed their personal experiences, which were thematically analysed according to the guidelines of interpretative phenomenological analysis in terms of coding and theme identification. The IPA approach will allow persons in the teenagers‘ family, community, and educational social ecosystems to engage with the participants‘ reported experiences and to reconsider their own attitudes to teenage motherhood.
Data analysis revealed three distinct experience themes. Firstly, teenage mothers regarded their education as a priority. Secondly, despite their high regard for the value of education, they experienced difficulties with their schoolwork. Finally, they relied strongly on support from their teachers in the hospital school. These findings are consistent with the literature in that many teenage mothers have a desire to be reintegrated into the schooling system and to complete their secondary education...
M.Ed.