A narrative inquiry of the experience of a mother with adolescents participating in parental education based on emotional intelligence

Abstract

Objectives This study was conducted to explore in-depth the actual participation experience of a mother with adolescents participating in emotional intelligence-based parent education and the meaning of the experiences. Methods To this end, emotional intelligence-based parent education was conducted from September to November 2023, and data were collected through face-to-face interviews three times by selecting one parent participant with adolescents. It was analyzed in the three-dimensional narrative inquiry’s space proposed by Clandinin & Connelly(2000) to interpret vivid experiences and their meanings in the context of the participant's life stories naturally and spontaneously. Results There were 3 experience domains and 1 semantic domains and 15 lower categories. The first domain were ‘desperate desire to become an expert and be comfortable from a empty heart’ as the motivation. The sec-ond domain were ‘I'm afraid I'm going to be hurt’, ‘I'm desperate to fill my childhood parent position’, ‘the moment when a spark bursts while doing my best to play the role of a parent’, ‘mother constantly cracking down on me for fear of being told that I raised my child wrong’, ‘I'm living a hard life without a break and collapsing because of my emotions,’ and ‘I pretend to be okay outside and I'm acting like a comedian.’ The third domain were ‘the joy of warm support and care toward me’, ‘the courage to experience deep inner fears’, and ‘the person who grows into true self-understanding’. Conclusions In the process of recognizing and understanding oneself, who unilaterally controlled and demanded change in relationships with children, it led to inner growth. The meaning of the participation experience in emo-tional intelligence parental education became an inflection point not only for the relationship with the children but also for the change in one's own growth through true meeting with oneself.