Funds of knowledge and identity in language learning and teaching

ABSTRACT

Funds of knowledge and identity approaches emerged to combat deficit perspectives and address the achievement gap and exclusion of underrepresented students in border contexts in the late 1980s. The initial aims of such approaches find a renewed sense of purpose in the super-diverse contexts of twenty-first century societies, which compel us to rethink current approaches to language education. This paper provides a brief introduction to funds of knowledge and identity theories and shows how they can be harnessed within language education to promote more culturally responsive and decolonial pedagogies. The paper introduces a collection of innovative approaches to language learning and teaching from different contexts across the globe. In addition to showcasing innovative approaches to language learning and teaching, the experiences reported advance original research methodologies which make valuable contributions to the funds of knowledge and identity literature.

KEYWORDS:

• Funds of knowledge
• Funds of identity
• Decolonial pedagogies
• Inclusive language education
• Social justice

The funds of knowledge approach emerged during the late 1980s and early 1990s out of collaborative work conducted by researchers from education, psychology, and anthropology in the borderline context of Tucson, Arizona (Moll et al. 1992). Their joint efforts were driven by concerns about the worrying imbalances in the education system which saw students from minoritized or disenfranchised communities consistently performing poorly in comparison to their white American peers, or simply dropping out of school altogether. One of the most important contributions that emerged from this work was their exposure of deficit views that situate problems or failures within students themselves, or within their family backgrounds (Llopart and Esteban-Guitart 2018). Reflecting critically on her own views, one of the researchers reveals how her own beliefs had been formulated and reinforced during teacher training, with her being

led to believe that low-income and minority students were more likely to experience failure in school because their home experiences had not provided them with the prerequisite skills for school success in the same way as the home experiences of middle- and upper-class students. (González, Moll, and Amanti 2005, 7)

Cathy Amanti’s personal reflections on her initial training and early teaching experience are highly relevant since they expose the way in which she came to believe that her job as a teacher was to remedy deficiencies or limitations in students.

Interpreted through the lens of contemporary critical race theory and decolonial pedagogies, this idea of ‘teacher as saviour’ resonates strongly with the concept of ‘white saviourism’ which has been exposed as a form of microaggression that reinforces unequal power relations and perpetuates racist views of ‘helpless’ students in need of saving (Emdin 2016; Gorski 2008; Miller and Harris 2018). Such views are interrogated at length in recent work aiming to ‘decolonize’ foreign language education (Macedo 2019) by reflecting critically on school/classroom language policies and approaches to language teaching. Macedo argues that critical reflection needs to be incorporated within teacher education programs ‘to accelerate the decolonization of foreign language education through a process that denounces the dehumanization involved in linguicism’ (2019, 42). Understood as an implicit feature of linguistic imperialism Phillipson (1992), linguicism entails ‘the killing of indigenous, minoritized or non-colonial languages through the teaching of imperial languages’ (Macedo 2019, 10). Initial theorizing on funds of knowledge (FoK) prompted researchers like Cathy Amanti to shift their own perspectives, moving beyond deficit views of students and locating the problem in an educational system that overlooked the wealth of linguistic and cultural knowledge that students brought with them from home to school. The basic premise of FoK work is that, no matter what their background, all students and their families have ‘historically accumulated and culturally developed bodies of knowledge and skills essential for household or individual functioning and well-being’ (Moll et al. 1992, 133), that provide meaning and sense to their lives (Esteban-Guitart and Moll 2014). Nevertheless, these FoK are often overlooked or rendered invisible within formal educational settings, generating a disconnection between in-school and out-of-school experiences which impacts negatively on student motivation (Esteban-Guitart 2016; 2023a), and engagement in school life (Waddington et al. 2020).

Early FoK work alerted educational practitioners and policymakers to the need to learn more about students’ households. The initial methodology involved ethnographic visits to students’ homes to identify their unique FoK and build creative relations between teachers and families. As Moll and Gonzalez argued, ‘classroom learning can be greatly enhanced when teachers learn more about their students’ households’ (1997, 90). One of the overarching themes of conversation during such visits centered around language usage, with teachers often reporting findings which challenged their assumptions about home language usage and transformed their views of students and their families. The benefits of such an approach have been highlighted in recent work continuing this ethnographic approach with mixed Pasifika heritage families in early childhood education settings in Aotearoa/New Zealand (Hedges, Cooper, and Weisz-Koves 2019). The ultimate goal of such experiences is not only to learn more about students, but to transform educational practice by incorporating knowledge about students’ out-of-school practices and lives into curricular design and classroom activities (Llopart and Esteban-Guitart 2017).

While family visits have continued in contemporary contexts across diverse locations such as New Zealand (Hedges, Cooper, and Weisz-Koves 2019) and Catalonia (Waddington et al. 2020; Zhang-Yu et al. 2023), theoretical advances have expanded the initial pedagogical model further. The concept of funds of identity (FoI) was developed (Alvarez et al. 2023; Esteban-Guitart and Moll 2014; Esteban-Guitart 2012; 2016; 2021; 2023b; Saubich and Esteban-Guitart 2011) to take into account the extent to which young people create their own FoK in dynamic and highly contextualized ways, and in ways which may differ from their families. Esteban-Guitart (2016) proposes different strategies for detecting students’ FoI and advances practical ideas for fostering more meaningful learning by connecting in-school and out-of-school experiences. While differing in focus – with FoK initially focusing on households and FoI focusing directly on learners – the underlying principle remains the same: to recognize forms of knowledge and experience that have been excluded from formal education and to propose strategies to detect, acknowledge, sustain, and legitimize them. The compound term funds of knowledge and identity (FoK/I) has been proposed to advance further within this critical tradition (Esteban-Guitart 2023b), building on the work carried out since the late 1980s, and adapting it to twenty-first century contexts. The term has been defined as ‘a complete inventory of meaningful social knowledge, cultural competences, and subjective productions that students, families, and communities develop in order to live their lives’ (Esteban-Guitart 2023b, 11). Taking stock of these inventories, and designing strategies to incorporate them appreciatively in formal education, is what characterizes FoK/I approaches and makes them suited to the urgent task of developing more socially just and inclusive educational practice.

Researchers and practitioners across the globe have applied (FoK/I) approaches in their own contexts, adapting strategies to the needs and specificities of these settings (Esteban-Guitart 2021; 2023a; Hogg and Volman 2020). The initial drive to address the achievement gap and exclusion of underrepresented students in border contexts has found renewed sense and purpose in the ‘super-diverse’ (Vertovec 2007) settings characteristic of twenty-first century societies: contexts in which populations have become increasingly diverse while teacher groups have remained relatively homogeneous (Llopart and Esteban-Guitart 2018). The cultural and linguistic diversity found in such contexts compels us to rethink some of the foundations upon which current language education is based (Cenoz 2015; Waddington 2022). Although varying significantly in terms of approaches and rationales, the innovations carried out under the banner of FoK/I share an overriding goal to develop educational practice and policies that respond to and represent the cultural and linguistic diversity present in today’s classrooms. Attending to this diversity can sometimes mean addressing what Zipin (2009) refers to as dark pedagogies, or dark funds of knowledge (e.g. mental health problems, discrimination, bullying). While such funds may constitute a fundamental source of learning for students, teachers may be reluctant to acknowledge or address them in the same way they might when detecting more ‘positive’ learning assets (Zipin 2009, 322).

The innovative approaches showcased in this Special Issue demonstrate work being carried out across the globe to address the questions raised above and to advance culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogy (Ladson-Billings 2021; Paris 2012) committed to social justice and inclusive educational practice in language learning and teaching.

Contributions of this special issue

While initial FoK work was directed particularly at literacy development in bilingual contexts, this focus was gradually extended, covering a wide range of curriculum areas across educational and geographical contexts (Esteban-Guitart 2023b; Hogg 2011; Hogg and Volman 2020; Llopart and Esteban-Guitart 2018; Moll 2019). This special issue homes back in on language education, showcasing recent FoK/I work developing innovations in language learning and teaching across diverse contexts. According to reviews carried out by Hogg (2011), Hogg and Volman (2020), and Llopart and Esteban-Guitart (2018), the vast majority of FoK/I theorizing and research has been carried out by Northern American scholars. This special issue includes contributions from such diverse locations as Argentina, Israel, the UK, and the US, thus illustrating the growing and vibrant applications of FoK/I theories beyond their source of origin. The scope of these contributions extends beyond the focus on literacy development in bilingual settings which characterized early studies, exploring digital literacies, multimodality, and multilingual practices. By bringing this collection of articles together, we hope to illustrate the potential benefits of applying FoK/I theories and approaches in twenty-first century educational settings, including complex contexts such as the youth detention center discussed in the third article.

In addition to showcasing innovative approaches to language learning and teaching, the articles in this issue also advance original research methodologies. In the case of studies with learners, methods include the use of mediagrams supported by family interviews and parent-recorded interviews; ethnographic studies in the home setting; and a four-way duoethnography that juxtaposes the perspectives of multiple learning experiences. In the case of studies with teachers, data were collected in a pre-service training context through class discussions, dioramas (teachoramas), and pre-recorded presentations. In the context of in-service teaching, multiple data sources were used, including interviews, focus groups, classroom observations, and reflective journals. This represents a methodological contribution to the funds of knowledge and identity literature.

As indicated above, the special issue includes contributions which explore funds of knowledge and identity theories and praxis from both the learner and teacher perspective. In total, the issue comprises five original research articles. The first three articles focus on learners, exploring funds of knowledge and identity work with children (pre-school and primary age) and adolescents/young adults. The two remaining articles focus on teachers, exploring issues related to pre-service teacher training, and questions concerning language education policy and practice in linguistically and culturally diverse classrooms.

In the case study reported by Little and Cheng, we see how a 3-year-old trilingual girl (English, Mandarin, and Bahasa Indonesia) uses digital resources (i.e. touchscreens) across settings and time to support her language development. Her multilingual skills can be considered a fund of knowledge embedded in parental practices. The study contributes to the concept of digital funds of identity (Poole 2017), literature on multilingual development in the early years with technology (Little 2019), education across settings and time (Esteban-Guitart and Gee 2023), as well as methodological strategies to identify funds of identity by using mediagrams.

Oikonomidoy and Karam explore the role of social funds of identity (i.e. meaningful others) in the development of language learning, challenging deficit views on young refugee-background children. This longitudinal study illustrates some activities that promote language learning (from those initiated by others, her teacher, parents, siblings, peers, tutor, to those self-initiated), artifacts that symbolized achievement in language learning (i.e. homework assignments, tests, grades, books, videos), and discourses that promoted a multilingual learner identity (the figured world of a multilingual learner). In this case, the main contribution lies in analyzing the dialogical-social spaces of funds of identity production, with cultural funds of identity (artifacts and discourses) and practical funds of identities (i.e. school assignments, YouTube videos), to identify how these spaces facilitate the particular figured world of the multilingual learner.

Harrison et al. argue that polyphonic-collaborative ethnography is both an appropriate strategy to research in an ethically and culturally responsive way, and a powerful pedagogical strategy to foster language learning in a secondary carceral setting. The main contributions are combining a funds of knowledge and identity approach with translanguaging literature, and recognizing the voices and agency of carceral students, in a choral study that expands researcher frontiers, challenging the barriers between researchers and participants by considering both as co-researchers.

Banegas explores the role of spatiality (geographical funds of identity) in pre-service English language teachers’ professional identity construction, using an ecological-qualitative approach. The reflexive work on present-future professional selves involves an epistemic exercise to envision particular learning pathways (Membrive et al. 2022). In other words, to become a particular kind of teacher means envisioning actions to support, materialize and sustain this vision-horizon. This contributes to understandings of how geographical funds of identity work, and to designing teacher education programs based on the importance of space. In that regard, the diorama (teachorama) artifact is a powerful methodological and pedagogical resource.

Finally, Schwartz and Dror use a classroom- and teachers’ lived experience- based study to examine how education policy is implemented in the multilingual classroom. The study shows the importance of teachers’ life experiences, collective agency, and the role of teachers as models. We see how migrant teachers’ pathways can facilitate the establishment of mutual understandings, trust and cooperation with students. It alerts us to the need to diversify teacher workforces in terms of cultural and social diversity, to fully understand and connect with the super-diversity of multicultural schools. This is particularly urgent in view of the need to advance decolonial, antiracist pedagogies (Garcia 2019; Gorski 2008; Macedo 2019). The diversity of the teacher workforce is not enough in itself, but a critical understanding of it can contribute to expanding and sustaining culturally congruent pedagogies.

Closing remarks

Overall, the inspiring articles in this special issue provide an illustration of the breadth and variability of research on funds of knowledge and identity in language learning and teaching. In that regard, they illustrate how applications of FoK/I pedagogies can promote more inclusive and culturally responsive-sustaining research and educational practice in different contexts across the globe, thus challenging deficit views that reproduce racist and colonial ideologies.

Applied specifically in language learning and teaching, funds of identity theory and praxis invites us to consider the importance of social interactions (Oikonomidoy and Karam), geographical-spatial areas (Banegas), cultural artifacts such as digital devices (Little and Cheng), participants as co-researchers (Harrison et al.), and multicultural teachers as collective agents (Schwartz and Dror), to better understand how language development and learning occurs. Funds of identity can be understood as subjective productions which are geographically and culturally mediated, and which are immensely relevant for language development and teaching. We would like to encourage teachers and researchers to attend more closely to their students’ everyday language practices, connecting learning in and out of school and going beyond the constraints of school-based encapsulated discourses that devaluate the rich funds of knowledge and identity repertories of skills, ideas, practices, and lived experiences that learners develop, regardless of their cultural, social, economic, linguistic, or religious circumstances. As well as attending to these practices more closely, we also recommend developing strategies to make them more visible in classrooms and schools. To advance towards culturally responsive and sustaining pedagogies, multilingual students, families, and teachers must be recognized as intellectual resources. This involves creating community-engaged projects in which the lived experiences, sociocultural practices, and agencies of participants are deeply legitimized and considered. The purpose is not only to appreciate or understand, but also to harness cultural and linguistic heritages as a powerful vehicle to improve learning processes in our multilingual world. Establishing community relationships (Liu 2023), mutual trust and reciprocity, both in research and educational practice, facilitates a more authentic and humanizing education. We hope this special issue inspires us to develop more sensitive research and education, decolonizing all forms of language education (Garcia 2019; Macedo 2019) and adapting it to our rich and increasingly super-diverse contemporary societies (Vertovec 2007).

Acknowledgement

This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIN), the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) and The European Regional Development Fund (European Union) [PID2021-127143NB-100]. M. Esteban-Guitart was supported by the 2021 ICREA Academia Research Award (Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats) from the Catalan Government.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Julie Waddington

Julie Waddington is Lecturer (Serra Húnter Fellow) and Researcher in Language Education at the University of Girona. She coordinates the minor in foreign language teaching on the teacher education degree programmes. She leads a core area of the Research Group in Culture, Education & Human Development, focusing on linguistic and cultural diversity, and is an active member of the international Funds of Knowledge Alliance. Her main research interests are language teacher education, social justice and learner and teacher identity.

Moisès Esteban-Guitart

Moises Esteban-Guitart is Professor at the Department of Psychology and Director of the Institute of Educational Research at the University of Girona. He coordinates the Research Group in Culture, Education & Human Development, and the international Funds of Knowledge Alliance to promote equity and social justice in education. His main research interests are the intersections between identity, culture and education, in particular from a funds of knowledge and identity approach.