Mothers united [electronic resource] : an immigrant struggle for socially just education / Andrea Dyrness.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dyrness, Andrea.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Children of immigrants--Education--California--Oakland--Case studies.

Children of immigrants.

Children of minorities--Education--California--Oakland--Case studies.

Children of minorities.

Education--Parent participation--California--Oakland--Case studies.

Education.

Community and school--California--Oakland--Case studies.

Community and school.

School improvement programs--California--Oakland--Case studies.

School improvement programs.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (264 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, 2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

"In urban American school systems, the children of recent immigrants and low-income parents of color disproportionately suffer from overcrowded classrooms, lack of access to educational resources, and underqualified teachers. The challenges posed by these problems demand creative solutions that must often begin with parental intervention. But how can parents without college educations, American citizenship, English literacy skills, or economic stability organize to initiate change on behalf of their children and their community? In Mothers United, Andrea Dyrness chronicles the experiences of five Latina immigrant mothers in Oakland, California-one of the most troubled urban school districts in the country as they become informed and engaged advocates for their children's education. These women, who called themselves "Madres Unidas" ("Mothers United"), joined a neighborhood group of teachers and parents to plan a new, small, and autonomous neighborhood-based school to replace the overcrowded Whitman School. Collaborating with the author, among others, to conduct interviews and focus groups with teachers, parents, and students, these mothers moved from isolation and marginality to take on unfamiliar roles as researchers and community activists while facing resistance from within the local school district. Mothers United illuminates the mothers' journey to create their own space-centered around the kitchen table-that enhanced their capacity to improve their children's lives. At the same time, Dyrness critiques how community organizers, teachers, and educational policy makers, despite their democratic rhetoric, repeatedly asserted their right as "experts," reproducing the injustice they hoped to overcome. A powerful, inspiring story about self-learning, consciousness-raising, and empowerment, Mothers United offers important lessons for school reform movements everywhere"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note : Acknowledgments

Introduction : a fragile partnership

1. Separate journeys : the road to new small schools

2. Baudelia's leadership : claiming space for parents in school design

3. Contested community : negotiating admissions in the new small school

4. The good parent, the angry parent, and other controlling images

5. Ofelia's kitchen : a counterspace for resistance

6. En confianza : lessons for educators on working for change with immigrant parents

Conclusion : participatory research and the politics of social change

Appendix : questions for reflection by madres unidas

Notes

References

Index.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0-8166-7710-7

OCLC:

741492684