Review: The Power of Parents: A Critical Perspective of Bicultural Parent Involvement in Public Schools by Edward M. Olivos

Abstract

As Paulo Freire reminds u here, the democratization of schools, particularly of those that serve racialized and economically oppressed populations, cannot be achieved without the active participation of parents in shaping the destiny of these schools and communities. Hence, our work with parents must be understood as one of the most significant revolutionary acts that we can carry out as teachers. In carrying out this emanicpatory political project, our faith in the capacity of parents as subjects of history is every bit as improtant as the faith that we extend to their children in the classroom. Without such faith, we risk the danger of objectivfying parent and fallling prey to the infantilizing parent discourse of publich school institutions and the disingenuous manner in which parents are often treated, either by dismising their concerns or coercing their participation in limiting and often repressive ways... (Foreward by Antonia Darder)