Bio
Dr. Megan Reister, a former hearing itinerant and special education teacher in Delaware and Pennsylvania—was responsible for deaf education, transition services, and early intervention services prior to becoming a college professor in North Carolina. Dr. Reister—now an Ohio resident—enjoys conducting research, writing, and teaching as a Special Education and Early Childhood Professor in the Education Department at Franciscan University of Steubenville. She also currently serves as Advisory Council Member for the Outreach Center for Deafness & Blindness in Ohio. Her primary areas of research, when not spending time with her husband, young daughter, and puppy, include self-advocacy and identity in students with and without disabilities, itinerant teaching; functions of behavior, classroom management, and fostering collaboration among parents, general education, and special education teachers. She also has a special interest in researching work-family balance and perceptions of identity within MotherScholars especially since the arrival of the pandemic.
Affiliation: Associate professor of special education and early childhood in the Education Department at Franciscan University of Steubenville
Abstract
This piece describes a study that supplies MotherScholars’ perspectives/experiences of identity and work-family balance during the pandemic. MotherScholars were asked to discuss their intellectual work and how maternal identity impacted academic work during the pandemic. Findings provide a glimpse into how MotherScholars’ perceptions of identity were influenced or affected by the pandemic and how they strove to achieve or maintain work-family balance. Since learning as a Scholar-Practitioner is discursive and deliberative, individuals are encouraged to share their stories with others and to form a Community of Practice in which to nurture their growth and development (Piantanida et al., 2019). The same could be said for MotherScholars – they are stronger together than apart in shared experiences! As MotherScholars who are living, working, and caregiving at this very moment, it is crucial to look at MotherScholars and to come together for solidarity and support as they define themselves and as they attempt to achieve work-family balance. An excerpt from a newly published book, MotherScholars’ Perceptions, Experiences, & the Impact on Work-Family Balance, is shared in this reflective piece that touches upon the findings of the study and also shares personal anecdotes from the researcher of the study who is also the author of the book.
Keywords: MotherScholars, caregiving, mindset, resiliency, supports, passion, work-family balance, experiences
Mother Scholar’s Perceptions, Experiences, and the Impact on Work-Family Balance
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