Mothers’ duties and rights when positioned as remote education tutors in Australian distance schooling

Mothers’ duties and rights when positioned as remote education tutors in Australian distance schooling

Remote education tutors (RETs) conduct the vital but undervalued work of delivering distance schooling to geographically isolated students in Australian rural and remote settings. Part of a broader research project, this paper reports the findings of extended, semi-structured interviews with four women who discharged dual roles as mothers and RETs of their child/ren. Conceptually and methodologically, the study draws on positioning theory to construct dynamic storylines for the participants that explicated how each mother navigated her respective self-reported duties and rights with reference to distance education, as manifested in the particular ways that they positioned themselves and others and in how they were positioned by others. The findings demonstrated both continuities and divergences among the participants’ experiences and perceptions of their duties and rights, as well as diverse strategies and varied self-confidence in their work as RETs, all of which were framed and enacted in the specific contexts of their separate home-based schoolrooms. These findings affirm the crucial value of the mother RETs in facilitating their child/ren’s successful learning outcomes, and also underscore the importance of financial compensation if their work is to be equitable and sustainable in the long term.