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Research has shown that international students experience challenges in the United States. This study explored how ten Chinese students drew upon their funds of knowledge to deal with challenges within higher education and analyzed how these students studying abroad positioned themselves within their experiences in the United States. Theoretical perspectives included funds of knowledge and positioning theory. Data sources included twenty interviews with ten participants. Findings showed how participants drew upon their funds of knowledge such as first language and social networks to deal with challenges. Findings also showed (a) how these participants positioned themselves within the storyline of challenges in their early years in college, and (b) how these participants repositioned themselves within the storyline of future plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past several months, public schools across the United States have experienced a surge of migrant students.1 This sudden influx of these students has caught many schools and teachers off-guard as they struggle to find and pull together available resources to meet the newcomers' needs. Although the U.S. has a long history of receiving immigrants from all over the world, the educational response schools provide immigrant students remains a controversial topic. In this column, I would like to briefly introduce the historical context into which public school education is situated in addressing immigrant students. Then I'll share some research-informed advice for teachers to consider as they receive migrant students into their classroom. While I do not intend to be overly theoretical, I do hope that these research-informed ideas will inspire and intrigue teachers to learn from the migrant students and create a welcoming environment that better meets the needs of migrant students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Latinos represent 20% of the more than 1 million gang-associated youth in the United States. This study explores how gang associated Latino males use their funds of gang knowledge to navigate their urban schools and communities. The findings highlight how Latino males build relationships and exchange information with each other, endure and persevere during juvenile incarceration, how youth interact with law enforcement, and how youth advance their status in gangs. Educators must learn how to anticipate and support gang-associated Latino males to understand their social worlds they bring into schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, Stephanie Alvarez, José L. Martínez, Annabel Salamanca, Erika Salamanca, and Roberto C. Reyna share the impacts of Cosecha Voices, a pedagogical approach used with college students from migrant farmworker backgrounds at one of the largest Hispanic-Serving Institutions in the United States. They argue that Cosecha Voices affirms, validates, and humanizes the migrant farmworker experience and can help students not only unpack and document their migrant farmworker experiences but also strengthen their sense of self-empowerment. Utilizing testimonio, students are able to affirm and find strength in their migrant farmworker lifestyle that helps support them through their college journey. This Voices: Reflective Accounts of Education essay centers the voices of former program participants in its analysis of program impact and offers a program description, personal reflections from participants, and future considerations for similar research. [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]

Discipline is one of the most challenging tasks for parents of young children. Parental choices of discipline can vary greatly by race and ethnicity (Coley et al., 2014). Research on Latino families' choices of discipline has been inconsistent and from a deficit lens (Rodriguez, 2008). The current qualitative study uses a Funds of Knowledge framework to understand how Latina mothers from the Western United States with young children make decisions about disciplining their children. A thematic analysis of 42 interviews revealed that discipline choices were grounded in the mothers' upbringing, education, and work history. The results of this study can inform parent educators, family therapists, and pediatricians to recognize that Latina mothers are not a homogeneous group and understand the underlying factors that determine their disciplinary strategies to better support their effort to discipline their children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study looked at the factors Latina mothers want to see in their children's preschool centers, in order to provide a more holistic approach for defining high-quality preschools. A qualitative study was conducted in which 40 Latina mothers from a western region of the United States were interviewed to understand their views about quality preschools and what they look for when selecting a placement for their child or children. The data were analyzed using a Funds of Knowledge framework. Overall, the mothers first chose a preschool based on suggestions from their social networks, proximity, and affordability. Then, the mothers looked for centers that were safe, had trusting and loving staff, welcomed families, had a curriculum they desired, and a low student-teacher ratio. The analysis found that the mothers' preferences for their children's preschool stemmed from their past and present experiences. This study calls for a redefinition of quality that emphasizes the importance of valuing parents' culture, context, and unique desires for their children. In understanding the factors that families look for in their children's preschool, practitioners can better incorporate these factors and, in doing so, value families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite programmes and initiatives intended to enable access to higher education for underrepresented students, higher education in the United States suffers from a persistent social class achievement gap. Although research exists about the social and academic factors that contribute to the social class achievement gap, one ubiquitous practice in higher education has been neglected - the research assignment. In this article, I share a subset of findings from a qualitative study that explores first-generation college students' experiences with research assignments in college. In particular, I present four case studies of participants who relied on their identities and prior knowledge to successfully a complete research assignment. Finally, I introduce the funds of knowledge concept, which honours students' identities and lived experiences, to provide a conceptual approach for engaging underrepresented and minoritised students through research assignments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research shows that early scientific interest is associated with science degree completion and career selection. However, little is known about the conditions that support early scientific interest. Using a "funds of knowledge" theoretical framework, this study examined the role of parents, family, and extended social networks in fostering early interest in science. Using interview narratives from 116 scientists (physicists and chemists) in the United States, we conducted a qualitative thematic content analysis. Findings suggest that children who become scientists in adulthood often received early, informal opportunities to use and manipulate material objects and discover how the world works. Second, families used a wide variety of scientific terms at home and encouraged children to pursue their interests whether in science or other fields. Third, these future scientists were often networked with extended family members or friends to observe and do science when they were quite young. Collectively, these findings highlight the specific ways in which families fostered early scientific interest and aided in supporting a student-directed learning environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the increasing diverse student population in the United States, schools across the country face the challenge of addressing cultural diversity in the classroom. While this topic is not new in the field of music education, researchers argue that voices of minoritized groups remain absent in most music programs. Even if different music cultures are introduced, they often reinforce existing racial/ethnic stereotypes. In this column, I would like to share one concept that I found helpful in addressing diversity in the classroom. Through my own work, I learned that the music with which students engage outside the classroom affords rich potential to discuss issues related to diversity. Inviting students to bring in music that matters to them helps them develop their own voices and to recognize and respect different voices, through which we acknowledge the complexity and multiplicity of how diversity plays out in human experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Youths’ learner-generated designs, instantiated in digital practices, spaces and artifacts, are underutilized in schools. Additionally, digital media tools are often taken up in reductive ways that serve to perpetuate deficit discourses for youth from nondominant communities, rather than reflect the creativity and innovation that youth practice within digital domains. To address these issues, this article shares a funds of knowledge approach to the use of new media in classrooms. Coupled with an emphasis on new literacies and multiliteracies, this approach was instantiated in partnership with Ms Smith and her high school writing classroom. The partnership engaged new media in order to appropriate and develop learner-generated designs in classroom spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Qualitative Research in Education (2014-6418) is the property of Qualitative Research in Education and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study is informed by funds of knowledge and culturally responsive teaching studies that aim to explore and legitimize the cultural knowledge immigrant children bring to their communities and schools. Consequently, this paper specifically addresses issues related to the educational experiences of Karen children and their parents from one American teacher/researcher who has worked with the Karen for the past four years. In aggregate, this paper addresses issues germane to Karen education including; (1) background information on Karen educational experiences prior to resettlement, including a review of their journey from Thailand to the U.S.; (2) important characteristics of Karen culture; (3) Karen names; (4) Sgaw Karen language characteristics; (5) the language divide between parents and children; (6) parental involvement in their children's schooling; (7) American teacher perceptions of Karen students; (8) issues over grading and, finally; (9) gender issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present a study on the experiences of four Korean heritage language teachers in the United States, specifically the challenges they face and the resources they draw upon for their teaching. We situate our work within the conceptual framework of teacher lore () that accentuates the importance of putting teachers at the center of teacher knowledge. Our findings point to the importance of positioning heritage language teachers as bearers of funds of knowledge () and to the importance of listening to their voice. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

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]