Funds of Identity as a Means of Supporting Students Experiencing Homelessness in Middle-Grades Education

• In Event: Developing Student-Focused Middle Schools

Abstract

In this paper I draw on Paris’ (2011) conceptualization of humanizing research and Esteban-Guitart’s (2012) funds of identity to examine data from an exploratory study conducted with and for students experiencing homelessness in a southeastern United States middle school. Specifically, I explore the funds of identity of one young adolescent experiencing homelessness and how the structures and personnel of his middle school supports, if at all, his specific lived experience. Using one fund of identity, I suggest that middle schools better engage with students experiencing homelessness, seeking an understanding of their funds of identity, in order to develop more equitable and appropriate policies to ensure student success and simultaneously challenge dominant narratives surrounding homelessness and those who experience it.

Author

• Matthew John Moulton, University of Georgia - Athens