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Increased datafication of schooling, a common trend in Australia, the UK, Canada, and the USA, involves the use of standardized testing and its associated systems and practices to achieve high-stakes goals. The purpose of this study, set in an urban, low-income, predominately Black neighborhood in the southeast USA, was to better understand the influence of increased datafication on caregiver perceptions of learning. The qualitative study involved one-on-one semi-structured interviews with caregivers of K-8 public school children. Results show that although children learned many new concepts when examined through the lens of funds of knowledge, these caregivers repeatedly returned to ideas of what counts for schooling as it related to test scores. Implications include how the datafication of schooling devalues the families' funds of knowledge in their homes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined how and to what extent a prekindergarten teacher's perceptions of ready children and diversity—which are influenced by broader societal culture—influence their abilities and ways of incorporating children's funds of knowledge into their practice. The methodology used was based on a descriptive case study of a teacher, Linda, who participated in a two-year professional development (PD) program that focused on using funds of knowledge in culturally and developmentally responsive early mathematics pedagogy. How Linda incorporated children's funds of knowledge when teaching mathematics was closely linked with her notions of the prototypical ready children and her essentialized understanding of culture and diversity. Findings suggest the importance of asset-oriented perspectives of each child and family and attention to cultural practices when learning funds of knowledge to raise teachers' sensitivity toward and use of children's funds of knowledge to enrich children's learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing from a qualitative approach and through individual pláticas (processes of co-constructing knowledge through dialogue) as a linguistic and cultural framework, this work explored informal contextual factors valued by Spanish-speaking Latina mothers of children, three to five years of age and enrolled in a nonprofit California preschool. Results revealed that Latina mothers have cultural forms of knowledge which impact their children's educational experiences and engage in direct and indirect numeracy environments. While personal math experiences and home practices differed, Latina mothers experience and navigate their children's learning based on sociocultural aspects, influencing how they support their children's math learning. This study drew from sociocultural learning theories that value learning embedded within meaningful learning experiences. Patterns of family learning have several implications for educational practice, especially for Latine families whose parent participation is typically not as visible as White American English-speaking parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Energy literacy is critical for all undergraduate students, particularly for future teachers, as they will guide the next generation toward more just and equitable energy systems. Many pre-service teachers have funds of knowledge (FoK) about energy that can enhance critical thinking about energy systems and inequities. This qualitative study explored pre-service teachers' funds of knowledge in online discussions about energy. Our students (n = 38) were older than typical undergraduates (mean age = 28), and most (75%) had transferred from community colleges prior to attending Arizona State University. These students were enrolled in an online Sustainability Science for Teachers course. We analyzed student assignments from a 3-week energy unit designed to elicit student perspectives on energy injustices and equitable energy solutions. Overall, we found that many students drew from rich life experiences in their video-based discussions. Students shared FoK in the following content areas: energy sources, energy impacts, agriculture, conservation, energy industry perspectives, and energy consumption. Three exemplary cases are included to illustrate how students conveyed their FoK throughout the energy unit. These students brought pluralistic perspectives to online Flipgrid discussions focused on energy inequities. In the discussion, we highlight the importance of integrating social justice topics when teaching about energy, to bring more relevance to energy education. We also describe how video-based discussion can be utilized to create more equitable and culturally responsive online learning environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The southernmost Thailand insurgency has increased violence since the early 2000s. It is a cause of learning loss and psychological stress among students, primarily Muslims. Having been exposed to unrest for a long time, students lack confidence and lose interest in learning many subjects, including physics. Culturally responsive teaching can provide a solution by searching for and using funds of knowledge embodied in physics concepts to facilitate meaningful learning and to build pride in their cultural identity. The present study aims to search for funds of knowledge that embody physics concepts to exemplify culturally responsive physics education. The study employs ethnography in which provincial culturalists and a curator of a local museum were interviewed in-depth, and the researcher immersed in and conducted observations of the creation of Bulan kites with local experts for an extended period of time. Meanings in the qualitative data were discerned using narrative analysis. The results indicate three assertions, as follows: (1) There are cultural artifacts in the southernmost provinces of Thailand that have the potential to be used in physics education. (2) The outsiders' appreciation of cultural artifacts causes the local community and students to begin to value their own funds of knowledge. (3) Unrest has caused misunderstandings among non-Muslim Thais, which can be resolved using cultural artifacts and the stories behind them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This testimonio examines how a 3rd grade bilingual teacher unpacks the learning process as it relates to her agency in implementing culturally relevant (Ladson-Billings, Am Educ Res J, 32(3):465–491, 1995, Soc Stud Curric Purp Probl Possib, pp 201–215, 2001; Quiocho and Rios, Rev Educ Res, 70(4):485–528, 2000) and culturally sustaining (Paris, Educ Res 41(3):93–97, 2012) lessons with her culturally and linguistically diverse students. Utilizing ethnographic methods, data was collected through oral and written testimonios from Ms. Méndez (pseudonym), a bilingual 3rd grade teacher. Findings reveal how implementing culturally sustaining lessons along with teacher self-reflection supported how Ms. Méndez critically examined her teaching approaches. This article highlights how through testimonio a bilingual teacher can reflect on her pedagogical practices including how she used students' funds of knowledge as a steppingstone into learning, how bilingual teachers use ingeniosidad/ingenuity by taking what students already know and growing new learning possibilities, and ultimately what we stand to learn from the voice of a teacher. This article concludes that when teachers utilize ideological and pedagogical clarity, they are able to make autonomous curricular decisions; and they are able to find innovative approaches that foster meaningful learning experiences for all their students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to explore the funds of knowledge of two Burmese families and how this knowledge might foster their children's learning in the United States. The data used to inform this article included field notes based on observations, artifacts, and interviews with the parents and children of the families. The findings of this study revealed the following four types of funds of knowledge that were shared by these two families: cooking Burmese food, gardening, religious literacy practices, and literacy practices that support the maintenance of the home language. The findings also indicated that these types of funds of knowledge contributed to the children's vocabulary growth and their exploration of scientific knowledge and facilitated their multilingual development. The findings suggest that the funds of knowledge of refugee children should be valued, shared, and incorporated into classrooms in multiple ways. This study also calls for ongoing research to explore the funds of knowledge of refugee children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Situated in New York City, this qualitative case study investigates nontraditional teachers, particularly immigrant women of color, and their diverse pathways into early childhood classrooms. Against the backdrop of the city's expansion of public preschool programs and its efforts to ensure high quality through narrowly defined measures of professionalization for the early childhood workforce, I traced the lived experiences of nontraditional immigrant women of color, their becoming teachers of young children, and the ways in which their funds of knowledge shape their teaching practice. Findings reveal that although nontraditional immigrant women of color enter teaching with unique and valuable life experiences, they face many challenges in the changing landscape of early childhood education. Implications point towards the importance of cultivating a more diverse teaching force and supporting teachers' development through culturally responsive and sustaining ways that honor the wealth of knowledge they bring to the benefit of young children and their families, especially those with diverse cultural backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on a group of mothers of immigrant origin as they engage in explorations and conversations about mathematics. We examine how bringing in tasks that draw on their children's school mathematics, and on the participants' knowledge and experiences, can inform us about their understanding of mathematics and provide opportunities to further enhance this understanding. Our analysis centers on two different types of mathematical tasks, both with rich potential for adult numeracy education. The first type of task engages the mothers in school mathematics through an exploration of addition and subtraction. In the second type of task, we look at mothers as adult learners working on two mathematical problem solving tasks, with different levels of connections to their everyday experiences. The findings point to a relationship between the type of context (everyday based versus school based) and the nature of the adult learners' mathematical sense making and engagement with the tasks. While there was some initial apprehension towards the school based tasks, the direct connection to what their children are learning was a strong motivator. The everyday based tasks bring up the potential tension between everyday mathematics and academic mathematics. The more the task connected to their everyday knowledge, the more the mothers drew on their experience to offer approaches that made sense from a practical point of view. We argue that these different types of tasks can complement each other in working with adult learners to enhance their numeracy skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports the findings of a study using tasks where a family orders and considers sharing the cost of a Fish n Chips meal. Purchasing take-away food is an example of an everyday situation where literacy and numeracy must be applied to make sense of tabulated price information. Originally developed for use in Australia, the tasks were modified so that they might be challenging yet accessible to 10–12-year-old Pāsifika students in New Zealand. Working collaboratively with two teachers in two different schools, we aimed to explore the ways and means by which Pāsifika students drew on social and cultural norms and practices as they applied mathematics to make financial decisions and interacted with each other in justifying solutions that offered what they deemed to be value for money and a fair approach to paying the bill. The students' and teachers' reactions to the lessons revealed that as students worked to reconcile social, cultural and mathematical funds of knowledge, their teachers gained meaningful insights into the values about money being learned within families and communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This multiple case study examines how teachers request students’ use of their content knowledge and conceptual understandings from out-of-school experiences while reasoning about science concepts and the ways in which students perceive and respond to these requests. Three middle school teachers and a total of 57 middle school students participated in this study. The data collection involved classroom observations and multiple interviews with each of the teachers individually and with small groups of students. The findings indicate that the students appreciate the usefulness of making relevant connections between their in-school and out-of-school learning, but seldom do so during science lessons. We also found that teachers’ attempts to facilitate these types of connections during classroom discourse events involved the use of analogies, examples, or questions. Finally, the findings also indicate that students often recognize teachers’ requests but seldom relate to these requests in the way the teacher intends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article aims to describe and illustrate how the curriculum can be contextualised through different educational experiences based on the funds of knowledge approach. Educational contextualisation is understood to be the linking of curricular content (literacy, science, mathematics, social sciences) with students' lives, including prior learning experiences from their homes and communities. The literature review began by surveying 59 articles retrieved from the ERIC database after entering the search terms 'funds of knowledge' and 'teaching methods'. Out of these, 22 peer reviewed papers were selected based on the following criteria: the paper should illustrate how artefacts produced by students (photographs, texts, artistic productions, digital stories) can be put to pedagogical use by turning them into resources to mobilise knowledge and experiences inside and outside school. The results are discussed in light of the CREDE Standards for Effective Pedagogy, as well as the notion of funds of identity, which has been proposed recently within the context of the funds of knowledge approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the concept of 'rural' is difficult to define, rural science education provides the possibility for learning centered upon a strong connection to the local community. Rural American adolescents tend to be more religious than their urban counterparts and less accepting of evolution than their non-rural peers. Because the status and perception of evolutionary theory may be very different within the students' lifeworlds and the subcultures of the science classroom and science itself, a cultural border crossing metaphor can be applied to evolution teaching and learning. This study examines how a teacher may serve as a cultural border crossing tour guide for students at a rural high school as they explore the concept of biological evolution in their high school biology class. Data collection entailed two formal teacher interviews, field note observations of two biology class periods each day for 16 days during the Evolution unit, individual interviews with 14 students, student evolution acceptance surveys, student evolution content tests, and classroom artifacts. The major findings center upon three themes regarding how this teacher and these students had largely positive evolution learning experiences even as some students continued to reject evolution. First, the teacher strategically positioned himself in two ways: using his unique 'local' trusted position in the community and school and taking a position in which he did not personally represent science by instead consistently teaching evolution 'according to scientists.' Second, his instruction honored local 'rural' funds of knowledge with respect to local knowledge of nature and by treating students' religious knowledge as a form of local expertise about one set of answers to questions also addressed by evolution. Third, the teacher served as a border crossing 'tour guide' by helping students identify how the culture of science and the culture of their lifeworlds may differ with respect to evolutionary theory. Students negotiated the cultural borders for learning evolution in several ways, and different types of border crossings are described. The students respected the teacher's apparent neutrality, sensitivity toward multiple positions, explicit attention to religion/evolution, and transparency of purposes for teaching evolution. These findings add to the current literature on rural science education by highlighting local funds of knowledge for evolution learning and how rural teachers may help students navigate seemingly hazardous scientific topics. The study's findings also add to the current evolution education literature by examining how students' religious perspectives may be respected as a form of expertise about questions of origins by allowing students to examine similarities and differences between scientific and religious approaches to questions of biological origins and change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data indicate that females and ethnic/race minority groups are underrepresented in the science and engineering workforce calling for innovative strategies to engage and retain them in science education and careers. This study reports on the development, delivery, and outcomes of a culturally driven science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) program, iSTEM, aimed at increasing engagement in STEM learning among Native American 3rd-8th grade students. A culturally relevant theoretical framework, Funds of Knowledge, informs the iSTEM program, a program based on the contention that the synergistic effect of a hybrid program combining two strategic approaches (1) in-school mentoring and (2) out-of-school informal science education experiences would foster engagement and interest in STEM learning. Students are paired with one of three types of mentors: Native American community members, university students, and STEM professionals. The iSTEM program is theme based with all program activities specifically relevant to Native people living in southern Arizona. Student mentees and mentors complete interactive flash STEM activities at lunch hour and attend approximately six field trips per year. Data from the iSTEM program indicate that the program has been successful in engaging Native American students in iSTEM as well as increasing their interest in STEM and their science beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This participatory action research study used the conceptual framework of social-ecological resilience to explore how Karen (pronounced Ka·rén) refugee parents re-construct cultural resilience in resettlement. The funds of knowledge approach helped to define essential knowledge used by Karen parents within their own community. Framing this study around the concept of resilience situated it within an emancipatory paradigm: refugee parents were actors choosing their own cultural identity and making decisions about what cultural knowledge was important for the science education of their children. Sustainability science with its capacity to absorb indigenous knowledge as legitimate scientific knowledge offered a critical platform for reconciling Karen knowledge with scientific knowledge for science education. Photovoice, participant observation, and semi-structured interviews were used to create visual and written narrative portraits of Karen parents. Narrative analysis revealed that Karen parents had constructed a counter-narrative in Burma and Thailand that enabled them to resist assimilation into the dominant ethnic culture; by contrast, their narrative of life in resettlement in the U.S. focused on the potential for self-determination. Keystone characteristics that contributed to cultural resilience were identified to be the community garden and education as a gateway to a transformed future. Anchored in a cultural tradition of farming, these Karen parents gained perspective and comfort in continuity and the potential of self-determination rooted in the land. Therefore, a cross-cultural learning community for Karen elementary school students that incorporates the Karen language and Karen self-sustaining knowledge of horticulture would be an appropriate venue for building a climate of reciprocity for science learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to critique and develop neo-Vygotskian work in mathematics education from (i) within the Vygotskian and activity theoretic tradition, and where necessary from (ii) a Bourdieusian perspective. First, I critique Roth and Radford's () version of Cultural-historical Activity Theory, suggesting that a classroom episode presented as developmental might be seen as a process of alienation. I trace this to the institutional structure of schooling, in which curriculum and pedagogy are alienated from the learner's everyday sense. Next, I examine and critique the Vygotskian 'Funds of Knowledge' approach to critical mathematics education, which seeks to overcome alienation by subjecting the curriculum to the needs of the poor communities the school serves. Here, the critical point on alienation in the Vygotskian approach is better argued in Bourdieu's perspective on educational institutions as reproductive of class domination. Finally, the paper discusses the extent to which these critiques pertain to Vygotskian activity theory in general or only to these versions in particular and draws implications for the development of a critical mathematics education perspective in a synthesis of perspectives from Vygotsky and Bourdieu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marta Civil's paper 'STEM learning research through a funds of knowledge lens' can be read as a story about her trajectory as a researcher of everyday and school mathematics over time, grounded in sociocultural historical theory. Building on her work, I explore three issues. First, I address the grounding of STEM research in studies of learning and show what this may imply in the context of multilingualism and transculturism. Second, I explore how funds of knowledge can put into question what counts as science. Third, I discuss some of the methodological challenges the article raises. I conclude with some comments to think with for the future of the STEM field and equitable science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines STEM learning as a cultural process with a focus on non-dominant communities. Building on my work in funds of knowledge and mathematics education, I present three vignettes to raise some questions around connections between in-school and out-of-school mathematics. How do we define competence? How do task and environment affect engagement? What is the role of affect, language, and cognition in different settings? These vignettes serve to highlight the complexity of moving across different domains of STEM practice-everyday life, school, and STEM disciplines. Based on findings from occupational interviews I discuss characteristics of learning and engaging in everyday practices and propose several areas for further research, including the nature of everyday STEM practices, valorization of knowledge, language choice, and different forms of engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Classroom conversations are core to establishing successful learning for students. This research explores the nature of conversation in technology education in the primary classroom and the implications for teaching and learning. Over a year, two units of work in technology were taught in two primary classrooms. Most data was gathered in Round 2 during the implementation of the second unit titled 'Props for the School Production'. The study uses qualitative methodology and an ethnographic approach using participant observations, Stimulated Recall interviews with autophotography, semi-structured interviews with participants and their teachers, and students' work samples, to develop a rich description of classroom conversation in technology. The study identified four over-arching elements of conversation across four stages of the unit undertaken by the students. Within each with element various sub-elements, are identified. Defined as sources of conversation which contribute to classroom conversations in technology education, the elements are identified as Funds of Knowledge, Making Connections and Links, Management of Learning, and Technology Knowledge and Skills. The study enhances our understanding of elements of conversation that assist student learning in technology. It also presents new findings on knowledge students bring to technology and challenges existing findings on students' ability to transfer knowledge from one curriculum domain to other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This was an exploratory study that examined high school teachers' perspectives about their early experiences with the English language arts Common Core State Standards. The sources of data for the study included a survey and structured interviews. Twenty-three high school ELA teachers from one unified school district in Southern California participated in the study. The findings suggested that the teachers wanted to acquire more knowledge about many aspects of the CCSS for ELA. In addition, they perceived that their professional development and curricula materials were inadequate to meet the high standards set in the CCSS. Also, the teachers perceived that they were not ready to teach the ELA CCSS even though they believed that the standards would help students have satisfying personal and professional lives. The implications were discussed, including the need for schools to provide ongoing, high-quality professional development, and research-based, aligned curricula materials for high school ELA teachers. In addition, California and school districts have to make adequate financial investment to support implementation of the CCSS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of a larger research project aimed at transforming preK-8 mathematics teacher preparation, the purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which prospective teachers notice children's competencies related to children's mathematical thinking, and children's community, cultural, and linguistic funds of knowledge or what we refer to as children's multiple mathematical knowledge bases. Teachers' noticing supports students' learning in deep and meaningful ways. Researchers designed and enacted a video analysis activity with prospective teachers in their mathematics methods course. The activity served as a decomposition of practice in order to support prospective teachers in engaging in an approximation of the practice of noticing. Our findings showed that prospective teachers evidenced noticing of mathematics teaching and learning as early as the mathematics methods course. We also found that the prompts and structure of the activity supported prospective teachers by increasing their depth of noticing and their foci in noticing, moving from attending primarily to teacher moves (and merely describing what they saw) to becoming aware of significant interactions (and interpreting effects of these interactions on learning). Implications for teacher educators interested in designing and enacting activities to support noticing are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this case study, I use an ethnographic-style approach to understand the funds of knowledge of immigrant families living in colonias on both sides of the US/Mexico border. I focus on how these 'knowledges' and concomitant experiences impact the ways we perceive and treat immigrant students who have all too often been viewed through deficit lenses that relegate them to the lowest expectations and outcomes in the classroom. I find that Mexican and Mexican-American families hold unusually sophisticated and relevant 'knowledges' to mitigate their everyday lives. In this paper, I will refer to citizens of Mexico, whether they reside in Mexico or have crossed to the United States legally or without documentation for purposes of work, as Mexican. People who have crossed the border and are living in the US as legal residents or have gained citizenship are referred to as Mexican-Americans. They live a hybrid identity that is varied and dynamic, an issue that adds to the complexity of the content and contexts of this study. These families know and use these 'knowledges' on a daily basis, yet they are not recognized by teachers in the US as a starting point to affirm and support immigrant children. Instead, immigrant children are relegated to the non-gifted and lower track classes where science is taught from an abstract and non-contextual and therefore less engaged basis. The approach I outline here, based on insights from my case study, can greatly improve teachers' abilities to prepare their curricula for diversity in science education and science literacy as well as for broad expectations for student success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes an exploratory study of an aspect of the technological knowledge of two groups of five-year-old students in their first year at school. Their emerging understandings of the steps required to develop a new product were investigated through a series of interviews. A theoretical framework linking technological knowledge to 'funds of knowledge' from experiences outside the classroom supported the analysis. The data suggest that young children draw on a broad range of experiences and knowledge, often uncritically, in order to explain how things are made. They are able to transfer their understandings of the technological process from one experience to another particularly when they have the language and background experiences to support them. Of particular note however, is that they were often unfamiliar with the properties of materials and therefore unable to anticipate the processes necessary to convert raw materials into a final product. The research also highlighted some key considerations for working with young children in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past, Latino families were often regarded as being uninvolved in their child's education, particularly within the parent involvement literature. More recently, authors are encouraging educational professionals to look at a family's 'funds of knowledge' to encourage their involvement. This expression takes into account the knowledge a teacher can gain from a family and child, including awareness of culture, familial background, and other contributions the family can add to the child's education. This article reviews findings from the analyses of focus groups conducted with Latino family members who have a child(ren) enrolled at a Head Start Center. Findings indicate that Latino families openly communicated strengths, interests, aspirations and learning opportunities for their child and family yet often faced barriers in conveying these to teachers and other staff in their child's life. Implications for using inquiry-based approaches to bridge this gap in family-school communication are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International assessment data paints a complex picture of the engagement and achievement of New Zealand students in science. New Zealand was second only to Finland in the top achievers group in PISA 2006, but it also has one of the widest spreads in student achievement, particularly in relation to Mori and Pasifika students. Thus, the challenges faced by New Zealand students, teachers, schools and policy makers resonate with those from elsewhere. New Zealand has a strong research and development tradition around student ideas in science education, but recently, there has been increased recognition at the policy and practice level of the importance of both engagement and participation linked to student identity. A sociocultural orientation to identity has the potential to generate new ways of thinking about and responding to the challenge of engaging students in science. This orientation involves considering classrooms as sites for students working through the development and performance of science-related identities, or not. In this paper, three suggestions from long-term research studies are made for ways forward in addressing the challenge of increasing student engagement and participation through an expansion of the possibilities for students to express and develop science-related identities. These are reconceptualising assessment, the inclusion of student funds of knowledge and strategies for breaching the classroom walls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the lives of three transnational second-generation immigrant Latinas who reside in urban centers in California and maintain close ties to Mexico. Drawing from a participatory research and ethnographic study, I provide evidence of the out-of-school learning that they experience and how this shapes their notions of global citizenship. Although schools have begun to slowly recognize transnational immigrant students, many urban educators whose cities are palpably transformed by immigrants have not fully connected the promise of such a global lifestyle and its potential for instruction in the classroom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]