Yesterday, I spent the day at a primary school in one of the most deprived areas of Leeds. During the day I spoke with and interviewed a number of mothers. As I reflect after the event, a number of points seem to be highlighted in my mind.
- There seems to be an attitude of self sufficiency with a group of mothers. They state that their problems are their own, and that they have to get on with it. And yet, when things go wrong they blame the authorities who they were dealing with at the time for not helping enough. When probed, they themselves did not or do not seek help from other sources.
- So far, only one father has been interviewed. Does this reflect on the information seeking process as a whole i.e. it is the mother who generally seems to take the lead? It is true that in many cases not all of the parents are together.
- In the school that I was at yesterday I was surprised by the amount of Internet use by parents; maybe it was just who I spoke to yesterday, but it seemed as if the parents in this lower socio group really used the web more than 'middle class' mothers. Determining how successfully they used it is indeterminate at this stage. (Was this as a result of the courses offered through the school for parents which included ECDL, CLAIT, and computer use??)
Certainly, I might be worth using this school and other similar ones as case study examination as part of my research.
