The Possibilities of Communal Learning Spaces: Fostering a Sense of Belonging for Asian American Young Children

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

The work selected for this symposium presents communal learning spaces that center the sociocultural and linguistic funds of knowledge of Asian American children from different backgrounds (Korean American, Chinese American, Hmong American, and Vietnamese American), and it highlights how these spaces contribute to fostering Asian American young children’s positive identity development and sense of belonging. This symposium is designed to engage Asian American scholars in critically examining the crucial conditions for teaching and learning in these communal spaces, and by extension, to collectively reimagine how to transfer valuable communal knowledge and practices to school-based settings to create meaningful, relevant, and equitable learning experiences for Asian American young children.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Critical Perspectives on Early Childhood Education

Chair

• Guofang Li, University of British Columbia

Papers

• Recentering Asian American Children’s Voices and Transnational Funds of Knowledge Through Virtual Reality - Jungmin Kwon, Michigan State University

• Funds of Knowledge Used to Support Young Children From Chinese Immigrant Families - Aijuan Cun, University of New Mexico

• A Hmong-English Dual Language Program: Parental Perspectives on Cultivating Cultural Pride and Belonging - Lee Her, Lehigh University

• “Hao, Nobody Calls on You If You Are Not Quiet!” The Silenced (In)visible Child in a Dual Language Classroom - Alisha Nguyen, Lesley University

Discussant

• Zhongfeng Tian, Rutgers University - Newark