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- Convenors:
-
Carlos Velez-Ibanez
(Arizona State University)
Moises Esteban-Guitart (University of Girona)
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- Format:
- Panel
- Location:
- G22
- Sessions:
- Friday 28 June, -, -
Time zone: Europe/London
Short Abstract:
The purpose of this panel is to discuss common theoretical and methodological approaches from the diverse advances and implementations of Funds of Knowledge programs and projects conducted cross-culturally including Australia, China, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Spain and the U.S.
Long Abstract:
The Funds of Knowledge (FoK) construct was first introduced in the 1980s to dismantle deficit thinking, racist and assimilationist discourses and praxis that accentuates values, practices, and behaviors of historically, socially and culturally ignored or suppressed communities. It is based on a simple premise: people are competent. Students and families accumulated resources, skills and knowledges from their active involvement in sociocultural practices. In that regard, by funds of knowledge it means the rural and urban skills, knowledge, experience that households have developed for survival. In other words, it consist in those historically developed, culturally accumulated and socially distributed bodies of knowledge and capacities essential for household functioning and well-being. The challenge is to recognize, legitimate, and sustain these rich legacies. In doing so, teachers identity these rich repositories of lived experiences and practices to link them with curriculum and schooling sociocultural practice. Scholars have developed and applied FoK across a variety of contexts and circumstances. The purpose of this panel is to discuss common theoretical and methodological approaches from the diverse advances and implementations of Funds of Knowledge programs and projects conducted cross-culturally including Australia, China, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Spain and the U.S.
Accepted papers:
Session 1 Friday 28 June, 2024, -Paper short abstract:
The purpose I discuss the various forms in which the funds of identity are visible in Luis C. Moll's social concerns and guided his intelectual contribution to education for social justice through his career.
Paper long abstract:
The purpose of this paper is to examine the ways in which Luis Moll’s contribution to educational psychology, mainly the concepts of funds of knowledge and its elaborations, are rooted in his identity as a Puerto Rican and his life experiences as an immigrant to the United States as a young age. I will also discuss other influences on his career development and achievements in research and practices to promote social justice through education. In this examine I will use the funds of identity theoretical framework to analyze his contribution from a historical, cultural, and social perspective. I will also share reflections and concerns about why his work has had limited scope in educational research in Puerto Rico, other Caribbean countries, and Latin America.
Paper short abstract:
A Necessity of the Funds of Knowledge Paradigm to Dual Language Instruction: Ending class structures is an analysis of the imperative integration of Funds of Knowledge architctures to Dual Language instruction to remove the influence of class factors in instruction and student-teacher interaction..
Paper long abstract:
Clearly the literature shows that in dual language programs and especially those populated by middle class dominant language students, not only supersede partners from other class and ethnic sectors, but teachers have a tendeny to focus on the former's language needs to the detriment of the latter. By experimenting with a variety of linguistic excercises to offset such a condition but more importantly by introducing "Funds of Knoweldge and Identity" measures and practices and especially those learned ethnographically by teacher observations in parental homes, the class and ethnic biases will be offset by the changing relations between parents and teachers as a consequence. Teachers will become acquainted with the amazing resources of many non-dominant households and the manner in which these households not only survive but excell in their daily lives. They will become familiar with patterns of social exchange of density and reciprocity often missing from nucleated household but importantly with the entire range of knowledge and practices used to sustain and support households often regarded as "marginal." A new class and ethnic knowledge base unknown and unfamiliar will shift many asssumptions and premesis as to the cultural resources children bring to the classroom. In this manner, the issues of class and ethnic bias in dual langauge settings will be reduced and language itself becomes less a carrier of negative values of one over another but an equalizing social mechanism recognizing the wealth of funds of knowledge regardless of class.
Paper short abstract:
This paper illustrates how incorporating multimodality, agency, and imagination within pedagogical approaches that center and integrate students’ funds of knowledge and identity in classroom learning concomitantly serve as means to advance a social justice orientation in praxis and methodology.
Paper long abstract:
This paper illustrates how incorporating multimodality, agency, and imagination within pedagogical approaches that center and integrate students’ funds of knowledge and identity in classroom learning, concomitantly serve as means to advance a social justice orientation in praxis and methodology. This paper explores the specific elements, processes, and results of classroom-based approaches that invited students’ funds of knowledge and identity in alternative multimodal ways, beyond print and oral narratives, which also created a safe space for students to enact agency and choice in their own learning while encouraging imaginative future visioning that reconstructed current realities of inequity. A group of four educators in a rural school district in the U.S., which serves a large population of Latinx/e families from immigrant backgrounds, and three researchers co-designed an established culminating project that all 5th graders complete to intentionally integrate multimodality, agency, and imagination. This case presents insights that illustrate the connections between theory, methodology, and praxis of these elements within a Funds of Knowledge/Identity approach. The purpose of this analysis is to gain better understandings of the practical implications and ways that educators and school leaders can leverage such approaches to be most effective and disrupt inequities in their contexts based on their own students’ voices and creations.
Paper short abstract:
Funds of Computations: Learning the Mathematical and Social Knolwedge to Compete in the Market of Pink Gold is an analysis of the manner in which the offspring of Mexican market traders learn a wide array of computational and social skills imperative for the trade and sale of "pink gold" : shrimp.
Paper long abstract:
Many offspring of women seafood traders from childhood through young adulthood are introduced to a wide array of computational skills and measurements of great utility in the sale of "pink gold": the sale of shrimp and other fresh seafood in the markets of Northwest of Mexico. As well, early on they must learn a number of related social skils such as bartering, negotiating, compromising, and creating positive interactions with an array of persons that make up the entire network and composition of a complex market place. These include customers from many parts of Mexico and the world, visitors and tourists, wholesalers who provide the "pink gold" on credit, helpers who assist in the daily set up and the complexity of operational items like ice, plastic bags, and sundry other items. As well, some children are introduced to operate rotating savings and credit associations termed as "tandas" with the special roles as managers and collectors of the weekly sums for their operations. At almost every turn, children must learn the myraid computational operations that include not only the weighing and bagging of products but must gauge in negotiating exchanges with customers, wholesalers, and the public simultaneously calculating the cost-benefits to each transaction. Such an experience has prepared a number of off spring for later professional engagements in finance and banking as well as taking over from their mothers upon their retirement. These in fact are the consequence of learning of "Funds of Computations" of great complexity .
Paper short abstract:
This presentation introduces the concept of ‘community funds of knowledge and identity’. We share highlights from the ‘Comms4Learning’ project which generates and analyses socio-educational ecosystems to strengthen ties between community agents and foster contextualised and meaningful learning.
Paper long abstract:
Funds of knowledge theories emerged in the 1980s to combat deficit perspectives of certain groups of students and under-represented communities, with a view to promoting more socially just educational practice (universal participation under conditions of equality) (Moll et al., 1992). Focused initially on detecting funds within families and households, the funds of knowledge approach was later complemented by funds of identity theories (Esteban-Guitart & Moll, 2014) which turned their attention to individual learners. In recent developments, a third stage has been proposed in which attention is shifted from households and learners to the communities they inhabit. Understood as ‘the historically accumulated and culturally developed bodies of knowledge, skills, and personal/social identifications embedded in particular geographical spaces, social institutions, or any educational resource available in any community’ (Esteban-Guitart et al., 2022, p. 307), the concept of ‘community funds of knowledge and identity’ shifts the unit of analysis from households or individual learners to communities. This concept has been explored in depth in the project ‘Comms4Learning’ which aims to i) strengthen ties between different community agents to promote collaborative action in educational settings; ii) foster contextualized learning processes which harness community resources as educational opportunities and have personal and social value; iii) identify the conditions needed to advance such actions as well as the impact of educational projects involving processes of co-creation and co-design within the framework of a socio-educational ecosystem. In this presentation, we will share initial results from one of the distinctive socio-educational ecosytems generated and analyzed within this project.
Paper short abstract:
Drawing from our work with community college STEM faculty, we articulate a funds of labor knowledge (FoLK) framework. FoLK sees labor histories as sources of funds of knowledge and funds of identity that colleges can leverage to connect student experiences to their college journeys and careers.
Paper long abstract:
Funds of knowledge (FK) recognizes the rich cultural knowledge households utilize for survival and functioning. Early FK scholars articulated how labor histories and workplace skills provide important knowledge for household well-being. Similarly, recent FK scholarship in higher education has discussed how FK can be used to understand college students’ labor experiences and college/career aspirations. Building on previous scholarship, we conceptualize funds of labor knowledge (FoLK) to understand work as a source of FK and a component of students’ funds of identity. Work plays an essential role in college life, informing students’ knowledge, skills, and self-understanding. Drawing upon FK’s anthropology, education, and sociology origins, we extend FK work and praxis to higher education. FoLK operationalizes work beyond a traditional 9-5 pm job and sees work as a labor history that teaches skills and an understanding of positionality in society. FoLK includes labor knowledge learned from experiences with jobs/careers, households, and communities. Given that many community college students spend significant time in the workplace, we contextualize FoLK utilizing our work with a local community college. In our partnership, we work with STEM faculty to develop pedagogical strategies that identify and leverage students’ labor histories. FoLK is useful for (re)imagining pedagogical practices and success in higher education, but it also challenges deficit thinking concerning the career decision-making processes and persistence of racially/ethnically minoritized and underserved students. By identifying and leveraging FoLK, colleges will be better equipped to connect labor skills and knowledge to students’ educational learning and career paths.
Paper short abstract:
Educators’ personal beliefs and prior knowledge influence decisions. Findings in this paper argue preservice teachers’ personal Funds of Knowledge are the main catalyst to make decisions about curriculum even after rethinking and reimagining hegemonic schooling practices and curriculum in courses.
Paper long abstract:
The advent of reforms in the United States holds new opportunities to engage in transforming education. Teachers may recognize the need to critique the neoliberal underpinnings of curriculum and schooling yet do so in a state of fear. The purpose of this instrumental case study was to explore (1) what funds of knowledge (FoK) are leveraged to transform perspectives on professional knowledge and skills? and (2) what ways do preservice teachers (PSTs) think critically and act to reframe, reimagine, or abolish historically held notions of pedagogy and curriculum? The study took place in a sixteen-week, six-credit general teaching methods course at a metropolitan university in a Midwestern state of USA. 18 participants provided consent for their course assignments and discussions to be collected after course grades were posted. Key data sources include course discussions and written assignments in which PSTs conveyed their understanding and perceptions of culture and their personal experiences. Two subtheme findings were concluded from this investigation: (a) personal FoK serve as a main catalyst for PSTs’ pedagogical decisions and (b) PSTs grapple with being agentive across contexts. Even with exposure to thinking critically about educational contexts, curriculum, and pedagogy, PSTs continue to view teaching, learning, and schooling through their personal experience FoK lens. The result is a sense of “othering” the new contexts against what they knew as a “truth” of schooling. Educator preparation programs must engage PSTs to think critically and recognize how their personal beliefs, prior knowledge, and classroom contexts influence their pedagogical decisions.
Paper short abstract:
This research analyzes the educational practices of Venezuelan migrant families in southern Chile as well as describes the continuities/discontinuities between family and school, with the purpose of generating proposals to incorporate classroom curricular activities with cultural pertinence
Paper long abstract:
Chile has experienced an increase in the number of migrant children enrolled in the educational system, a situation that has become a structural phenomenon. The school's response to this diversity continues to be uncertain and varied, constituting a space that requires research and intervention proposals to understand and improve its current state. This research analyzes the relevant educational practices of Venezuelan migrant families in southern Chile, as well as describes the continuities/discontinuities between family and school, with the purpose of generating joint proposals between researchers, family and schools, to incorporate classroom curricular activities that consider the cultural and identity resources of the families.We have done it from the Funds of Knowledge (FoKs) approach, which offers an appropriate theoretical framework and a rigorous methodological perspective to understand these educational practices. We conducted a qualitative research of multiple case design and purposive sampling that considered five families of Venezuelan origin belonging to a public school. Ethnographic visits were made to the families' homes. The information was subjected to thematic content analysis.The findings challenge the perspective of social and educational deficit with which migrant families are associated, as well as point to a high continuity between the goals, practices and tools used by these families and schools for the teaching and socialization of children. The knowledge and wisdom of these families can be used not only in pedagogical experiences, but also for critical reflection with teachers on the creation of categories that differentiate, stereotypes and prejudices that generate dynamics of exclusion in schools.
Paper short abstract:
The paper analyses the results of the applied research carried out in 5 Chilean multicultural schools in both indigenous and migrant contexts which were involved in the state funded project “Pedagogical practices to address cultural diversity: what can we learn from funds of knowledge approach?”.
Paper long abstract:
The paper analyses the results of the applied research carried out in 5 Chilean multicultural schools in both indigenous and migrant contexts which were involved in the state funded project “Pedagogical practices to address cultural diversity: what can we learn from funds of knowledge approach?”. Based on one school year ethnographic research, the results shows the opportunities offered by the implementation of simple activities that challenge the traditional school routines and that allows students engage with different forms of participation in the classroom with adults as with peers. Difficulties related to institutional and organizational constrictions such as the rigid school time schedule are also analysed. Despite them, the "strategy" had positive effects wich could be caught from the role of "observer participant" taken by ethnographers-facilitators and on the basis of students and teachers interviews.