‘You have to see it to be it’: trying to combine motherhood and a career

By Hannah Duncan   @heduncan

Combining work and motherhood is possible.

It is also possible to thrive and progress in your career.

But often, as mother teachers, we feel these things are not possible for us. Too many teachers leave the classroom after becoming mothers (see the MTPTProject's excellent Light Research project where they delve into this in much more depth). One way of supporting mothers to continue with their career is to share our stories so that we may empower each other to see what is possible and to aim for what we might otherwise have believed was impossible.

Perhaps we also need to re-imagine the career ladder and instead value other forms of success that see us working our way up, along, and sometimes down the career jungle gym (as Pattie Sellers, quoted in Sheryl Sandberg's Lean In, describes it).

I am now a senior lecturer in Primary Initial Teacher Education.

This wasn't my intended career path but I really enjoy the job; it offers a lot of challenge, opportunity for growth and I still get to have an impact on children's education. It is also flexible and part-time which allows me to enjoy family life alongside developing a career. It turns out I have career aspirations and I will continue now to fight for a balance between work and family so that I can keep juggling both.

Balance is something I felt I lacked when returning full time to the primary classroom after my first maternity leave, and I was unable to find a part-time primary teaching position after my second. I will now be working on a 0.6 contract but apart from teaching days the when and where I work is flexible. The juggle is not easy, but it is (mostly) enjoyable. And I think I am happiest now that I work as well as getting to spend time with my young children. I have worked full-time and been at home full-time and I would definitely rather be where I am now, whilst it sometimes brings on mum guilt, stress and imposter syndrome!

I was inspired by the stories of others who had managed to have children and combine family life with flexible work, who had continued to want progression in their working life after becoming a mother. Engaging with communities like #WomenEd and MTPT Project allowed me to believe that I would find a role in education which would enable me to feel as though I was being 'good enough' at work and at home. They also supported me to believe in myself so that I could advocate for what I wanted and needed to do my job well, especially in those vulnerable months directly following the birth of my third child.

These communities and organisations allow us to see what is possible so that we can all dream, aspire and achieve.

Notice from #WomenEd:

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