Illiterate Mothers and Their Daughters: “My daughter should be educated, not be like me”

• Published date: 01 December 2021
• Author: Abdullah Atli
• Date: 01 December 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12551

A AInonu University

Illiterate Mothers and Their Daughters:“My

daughter should be educated, not be like me”

Objective: The primary purpose of this qualita-

tive study was to develop a detailed understand-

ing and an insight into the experiences and roles

of illiterate mothers on the educational experi-

ences of their daughters from the perspective of

both mothers and the daughters in Turkey.

Background: Although there are various stud-

ies about the effects of mothers on their children,

there is not a large body of research examining

the experiences of illiterate mothers’ daughters

and how they perceive these experiences.

Method: To this end, 21 illiterate mothers and

their 21 daughters were interviewed. As a result

of the thematic analyses of these interviews, four

major themes emerged based on in vivo codes:

“Mother, let me change,” “Mother, I will not

leave you,” “My daughter,I wish I could do bet-

ter,”and “My daughter should be educated, and

not be like me.” It was understood that partici-

pating mothers made sacrices for their daugh-

ters to attend school despite some conicts and

insufciencies. Expecting their daughters not to

be dependent on their husbands and to stand on

their own feet in the future was the greatest aspi-

ration of participating illiterate mothers.

Conclusion: This study shows that illiterate

mothers are at the forefront of a difcult strug-

gle to change social beliefs and expectations

that prevent women from obtaining education.

Department of Guidance and Psychological Counseling,

˙

Inönü Üniversitesi, E˘

gitim Fakültesi, Battalgazi/Malatya,

44280 Turkey (abdullah.atli@inonu.edu.tr).

Key Words: daughters, illiterate mothers, literacy, thematic

analysis.

Implications: Illiteracy is at the heart of the

problem that some mothers face. An effective

policy would be to open literacy centers in areas

where women’s literacy rates are low. Because

these mothers are illiterate, recruiting them to

programs should be done in ways that do not

include written advertisement. Courses based on

human rights, and on women’s and children’s

rights, should be included in the curriculum at

schools, offering examples of their implementa-

tion and achievements.

After the establishment of the republic in 1923,

the idea of creating a new political culture in

Turkey became a sustained policy. Basic literacy

was considered to be a requirement of the mod-

ern era and a means of keeping up with the mod-

ern world. For this reason, throughout the history

of the republic, the aim has been to expand for-

mal basic education throughout the Turkish pop-

ulation. Thus, literacy courses were provided to

adults, and literacy campaigns were organized

at the national level. According to the Turkish

Statistical Institute (TSI; 2017), the literacy rate

increased from 10% at the establishment of the

republic to approximately 94.6% in 2017. How-

ever, although a high rate of basic literacy has

been achieved, illiteracy is still a major problem

in Turkey, especially among women. In 2017, the

rate of illiteracy in men was 1%, whereas the rate

was 6% among women (TSI, 2017).

This difference in literacy rates may be related

to traditional prejudices. For example, despite

12years of compulsory and free education in

Turkey, girls’ schooling is generally hindered by

Family Relations 70 (December 2021): 1485–14971485

DOI:10.1111/fare.12551