Education Engagement of Young Namibian Mothers: Culturally Grounded Sources of Vulnerability and Resilience

Background:

We examined the educational engagement of young mothers in southern Afrika. Most research on young mothers’ educational engagement is conducted from a western perspective within western contexts. Generally, educational engagement refers to the everyday behavioral, psychosocial, and cognitive orientations necessary for school success. We consider the sociocultural contexts that facilitate or impede educational engagement from the perspectives of young Namibian mothers. Births to adolescent girls aged 15-19 were highest in sub-Saharan Afrika. In 2019, there were 103 births per 1,000 girls relative to 44 births per 1000 girls globally. Namibia rank amongst the highest with 67 births per 1,000 girls. Approximately 33% of these young women leave school prior to high school graduation. Without a school leaving certificate, they face a life of poverty, and some will turn to transactional sex to survive, which increases their risks of HIV infection and intimate partner violence. Using a postcolonial, indigenous research design our research question is: How do young Aawambo mothers in rural Namibia describe the challenges and facilitators to their educational engagement within family, school, and broader cultural contexts?

Methods:

The study was conducted in the Oshikoto region of Namibia where 87% of residents live in rural areas, and 86% identify as Aawambo. Thirteen young mothers, ages 17-23 who returned to school following childbirth were recruited using purposive sampling. Participant were in grades 8-12 and depended on financial support from relatives and the babies’ fathers. They completed a personal history questionnaire, and then participated in talking circles and individual, semi-structured, audio recorded, conversational interviews elaborating their responses in the talking circles. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and managed in NVivo 12. Transcripts were read and re-read and salient themes identified using analytic induction. The emerging coding framework was discussed bi-weekly with a retired, high school teacher who is an Aawambo. Peer debriefing and member checking enhanced the credibility of our interpretation.

Results:

Interviews revealed culturally distinct barriers and facilitators to school engagement. Family level challenges included the loss of ohungi (evening-talk), a traditional context in which elders provide guidance. Family level facilitators included psychosocial-economic support from the baby's father and extended family. At the school level, barriers included stigmatization by educators, and othering by peers. Resources included the DREAMS program, which provides psychosocial and educational support. Cultural level challenges permeating multiple contexts included adults’ “scolding-without-guidance,” a practice that shames the young person without providing instruction. Girls also drew on distinct cultural resources including “truth-telling-talk,” frank discussions with elders that provide guidance, and omayeletumbulo [wisdom sayings], proverbs that can be applied to understand complex life challenges.

Conclusions:

The descriptions of existing indigenous wellbeing approaches by young mothers across school, family, and culturally contexts point to the need to explore community solutions that work specifically to expand educational opportunities for adolescent girls who become mothers and avert intergenerational poverty. Such sources of resilience can reveal a great deal about the sociocultural contexts and can help Namibian and western-based educators and professionals to examine their own understandings and practices from a new perspective.