Abstract:
This presentation presents initial data from a group of Early Childhood and Early Years Primary Educators involved in an action research project on Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Pedagogies (Ladson- Billings, 1995, Lucas & Villegas 2008; Morrison et al, 2019). We were specifically interested in the participants’ preliminary understandings of asset-rich pedagogies with particular focus on funds of knowledge (Moll et al.,1992) and funds of identity (Esteban-Guitart, 2016). Drawing on qualitative data from initial interviews, and teacher reflections collected during professional learning days, we applied an iterative approach to data analysis to explore how these concepts were taken up in their present and future work.
The concept of funds of knowledge is a view of culture that emphasises “strategic knowledge and related activities essential in households’ functioning, development, and well-being” (Moll et al.,1992, p. 139). More recently, the concept of ‘funds of knowledge’ has been elaborated and a new related concept ‘funds of identities’ Esteban-Guitart’s (2016) has grown in prominence. This concept builds on funds of knowledge by recognising each child’s lived experiences as they move beyond home and family. These concepts are “potentially important resources for developing ‘pedagogies of transformation’ aimed at achieving educational justice for non-dominant children (D’warte & Woodrow 2023, p. 4).
Findings revealed that while these concepts are widely known in educational contexts, the ways they are taken up in schools requires more critical application, particularly as they apply to the wider understandings of culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogies (Morrison et al. 2019) in this project.
The concept of funds of knowledge is a view of culture that emphasises “strategic knowledge and related activities essential in households’ functioning, development, and well-being” (Moll et al.,1992, p. 139). More recently, the concept of ‘funds of knowledge’ has been elaborated and a new related concept ‘funds of identities’ Esteban-Guitart’s (2016) has grown in prominence. This concept builds on funds of knowledge by recognising each child’s lived experiences as they move beyond home and family. These concepts are “potentially important resources for developing ‘pedagogies of transformation’ aimed at achieving educational justice for non-dominant children (D’warte & Woodrow 2023, p. 4).
Findings revealed that while these concepts are widely known in educational contexts, the ways they are taken up in schools requires more critical application, particularly as they apply to the wider understandings of culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogies (Morrison et al. 2019) in this project.