Drop-out, Push-out, or Walk-out?

Drop-out, Push-out, or Walk-out?: (Re)imagining Education for Young Mothers and Pregnant Adolescents delves into the pressing issues of social justice and equity for pregnant learners and school-aged mothers within international contexts. Based on an award-winning dissertation, this book centers on the experiences of pregnant learners and student mothers in southern Malawi, situating in-school pregnancy as a global phenomenon affecting both the 'Global North' and the 'Global South.' Despite re-admission and continuation policies, many young mothers still drop out of primary and secondary schools after pregnancy. Existing research confirms that school climates are often hostile and intolerant towards pregnant learners and student mothers. This book challenges the assumption that these young women are simply dropping out, arguing instead that they are being pushed out by structural forces within schools and society.

To address the existential threats to schooling post-pregnancy and reimagine inclusive, continuation-oriented education for pregnant learners and student mothers, this book amplifies the voices of mothering and pregnant adolescents. Employing a novel methodological approach rooted in Ubuntu, the book challenges conventional paradigms about who belongs in schooling spaces and what education looks like for pregnant and mothering students. It also provides insights into the socio-economic, historical, cultural, and political contexts for schooling and pregnancy, as well as its global implications for women’s and girls’ education.

Key arguments include

• Systemic "push-out": The departure of pregnant and mothering students is both institutionally influenced and a personal decision due to structural inequalities
• Inside-outside schooling supports: Support for schooling post-pregnancy goes beyond the curriculum, drawing connections between home-based and school-based support systems
• Southern-based indigenous knowledges: The book centers on young women's stories, showcasing non-normative ways of navigating schooling post-pregnancy by offering the “Critical Afro-Feminist Education” (CAFE) framework as a unique form of theorizing through African indigenous perspectives
• Continuation-oriented alternative education: Challenging normative approaches to education and utilizing communal structures for alternative education options, such as night schools, to create transformative spaces
• Reconstructing studenthood and belongingness: Redefining what it means to be a student and challenging deficit constructions of student motherhood.

Drop-out, Push-out, or Walk-out?: (Re)imagining Education for Young Mothers and Pregnant Adolescents is a significant contribution to the field of comparative and international education, offering new knowledge and practical recommendations for researchers, educators, policymakers, and advocates supporting pregnant and mothering students.