Beyond Cultural Responsiveness: Teacher Candidates' Stories of Relationships and Funds of Knowledge

• In Event: 25.068 - Roundtable Session 8
  In Roundtable Session: 25.068-5 - Broadening Perspectives and Fostering Responsive Approaches to Early Childhood Teacher Education and Professional Learning

Abstract

Many scholars have called for the use of Culturally Responsive Teaching practices in order to best meet the needs of the increasingly diverse student population. Yet this context often assumes that culture is knowable and applicable in universal manners, overlooking individual variances within groups as well as how day-to-day activities of individuals within groups and the interactions amongst individuals from varying groups shape ever-evolving cultures. Funds of knowledge (González, Moll & Amanti, 2005) focus on these lived practices and how families’ unique interactions are cultural elements that children bring with them to the classrooms. In this study teacher candidates’ narratives illustrate their experiences developing relationships with diverse families and incorporating families’ funds of knowledge into classroom life.

Authors

• Sonya Gaches, The University of Otago

• Shelina Nawaz Walli, Aga Khan University Institute of Educational Developmnet