Thesis (M. S.)--University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2006. / Title from PDF title page screen. Advisor: Laurne Haldeman ; submitted to the School of Human Environmental Sciences. Includes bibliographical references (p. 57-62).

In training programs designed to help immigrant women adapt to Canada, drop-out rates are frequently high and attendance is often low. Investigating some reasons behind this observation was the motivation for this thesis. A literature review revealed that curricula used in existing programs are often developed from experts' understanding of immigrants' needs; research on immigrant women's curricular needs as perceived by themselves is virtually nonexistent. An objective of this thesis was to address this knowledge gap. This study inquired into what curricular needs immigrant women have, how these needs differ, and what relationship exists between the women's backgrounds and their curricular needs. A questionnaire was developed and validated by an expert panel, and then administered to graduates from an orientational training program. Post-survey interviews were conducted. Data were analyzed using frequency distribution, cluster analysis, multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), factor analysis, and linear discriminant analysis. It was found that the program, although well received, did not reflect the curricular needs perceived by the immigrant women themselves. Life skills instruction was unwanted by many students while English and computer lessons were in demand. A desire to regain higherquality jobs partially explained the women's curricular needs. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate

This dissertation studies how immigrant-origins mother combine their mothering with their civic engagement. Framed from the theoretical lenses of critical motherhood studies, it zooms in into the everyday lives of four migrant mothers looking to get a better sense of how they create and share knowledge about their daily experiences, and of how they build senses of home and community for themselves, their children, and others in their communities. It aims to shed light on ways to be civically engaged that go beyond voting and protesting. While civic life is usually understood in dictionaries as having to do with the rights and duties of citizens, the civics and mothering praxis that emerges from this study is a praxis rooted in love and care. Methodologically, this study combines multimodal, participatory, and poetic tools with Latina and Chicana feminist approaches to testimonio, to co-narrate the portraits of motherhood that are at the heart of this dissertation. Through storytelling that is attentive to ways of knowing and being that are rooted in our communities, these portraits aim to theorize mothering as action and to open space for mothers to express their voices and agency. Therefore, taking the lead from the immigrant-origin mothers with whom I work, this study proposes that the ordinary ways in which they impact the civic life of their communities through their labor of love sets the ground for a conception of citizenship that links transnational communities and exists across borders. What they do also stresses a dialectical praxis of civics that happens between mothers and their children, who are active agents and political beings; a praxis with implications that has political and theoretical implications for how we conceive motherhood, and that can also directly impact early childhood education and research. Throughout, the aim of this dissertation is to make care a central principle of research by creating spaces for support and healing in which mother’s agency and creative is valued. Research as a form of civic engagement that opens spaces to nurture and include our body-mind-soul connection.

No description available.

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning / Master / Master of Science in Urban Planning

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.W.)--University of Hong Kong, 1995. / Includes bibliographical references.