Being a mother of children with special needs during educational transitions: positioning when ‘fighting against a superpower’

Abstract

The aim of this article is to study how mothers of children with special needs understand themselves in educational contexts. Using the analytical concepts of positional identities and figured worlds, we study the different positionings of mothers as their children transition between different school levels. Data were collected through recursive interviews conducted over one year as part of a small-scale study of mothers with a high level of education. The data used in this article were obtained from an informant’s reflections on her role as the mother of a child with special needs from the time he was in kindergarten to his final year in upper secondary school. Her case history illustrates how her positional identities in educational contexts were linked to mutual trust with the teachers and schools. The absence of trust had a significant impact on her ability to fully support her son’s schooling.