@article{351454,
      recid = {351454},
      author = {Dyrness, Andrea.},
      title = {Mothers united : an immigrant struggle for socially just  education /},
      publisher = {University of Minnesota Press,},
      address = {Minneapolis :},
      pages = {xiii, 254 p. ;},
      year = {2011},
      abstract = {"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.},
      url = {http://library.usi.edu/record/351454},
}