Module 2. Activities
Complete the following activities to mediate your learning on the module topic.
You are expected to turn in these activities right away. Your learning also will help you in completing
the Exit Tickets (Journals) and the Forum Postings.
Activity 1
The Arizona Department of Education, in its web page, lists the following questions used at a
parental involvement workshop to promote discussion. This interactive activity promoted
participants to brainstorm ideas, strategies, and methods regarding parent involvement. Due to
time constraints and number of participants, questions 2, 3, 7 and 10 were the only questions
covered during this interactive session. After reading the material and watching the video for this
module, answer the remaining 6 questions with your own ideas. Keep in mind that you will be
doing only questions 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9. Use the same format used by discussion participants to
answer these six questions, lists.
QUESTIONS: Do the ones in bold.
1. If we were to walk into your school what would be the sights and sounds that would
serve as validating evidence that parents are welcomed and respected? See below for
participants’ responses.
2. Fab & Fizzle: What is one strategy that your school/district has used that was successful
(fabulous) in involving the parents of your English language learners in meaningful events and/or
activities? What was one strategy that you had high hopes for, but that bombed (fizzled)?
3. What is the greatest barrier your school faces with regards to the involvement of parents?
Brainstorm ways to overcome this barrier.
4. When we think of parent involvement, our school is like a
why). See below for participants’ responses.
.... (Name an animal and tell
5. What best practices has your school employed to create a positive school culture that
fosters parental involvement with a focus on communication with the parents of English
language learners? See below for participants’ responses.
6. Share an experience with your colleagues when the involvement of parents surpassed
your expectations. See below for participants’ responses.
7. Outline and discuss the keys to working with parents to involve them in the education of their
own children and school-related events, activities, and committees. Are these different for
elementary, middle, and high schools? Discuss.
8. How do issues of poverty affect parent involvement? What sensitivities and awareness
must educators have, especially if these families are also non-English or limited English
speaking? See below for participants’ responses.
9. Parent involvement at our school is like what household appliance? Why? See below for
participants’ responses.
10. What is the role of the principal in promoting parental involvement that creates a positive
school culture that fosters parent involvement? What about the role of the teachers?
Question #2. Fab & Fizzle: What is one strategy that your school/district has used that was
successful (fabulous) in involving the parents of your English language learners in
meaningful events and/or activities? What was one strategy that you had high hopes for,
but that bombed (fizzled)?
Fabulous:
§ Parent Conferences
§ Topics of Interest (survey)
§ Family carnival with prizes
§ Logistics
§ Location
§ Human support
§ Advertisement
§ Food, travel, drawings
Flops:
§ Breakfast on naturalization
§ PTA meeting
Question #3.What is the greatest barrier your school faces with regards to the involvement
of parents? Brainstorm ways to overcome this barrier.
Barriers
§ Time
§ Relational--too much/too little reframe what this means
§ Language
§ Apathy (real or perceived) --lack of clear communication from school as to how they can help.
§ Staff negativity/resistance
§ Negative past school experiences (parents)
§ Migratory population (homeless - expanded)
§ Students stay with different parents, grandparents, etc.
§ Parents work a great amount--not possible to come to school
§ Belief that it is only the school's job to education
§ Different expectations (school/parents)
§ Immigration laws
Solutions
§ Human or devices
§ Home visits
§ Call later at night
§ Diversity training for teachers PIRC
§ Equal Partners- talk, talk, talk
§ Diversity Fair
§ Food, culture
§ Principal pick up the phone
§ Train parents about teaching philosophy and why we do what we do
Question #7:Outline and discuss the keys to working with parents to involve them in the
education of their own children and school-related events, activities, and committees. Are
these different for elementary, middle, and high schools? Discuss.
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
Flex in scheduling with parents
Provide incentives (food always) plus "gifts" or rewards specific to target population
Interactions/meeting need to be worthwhile and include parental concerns
Include cultural considerations when framing all interaction
Reflect after each "event"
Different approaches with specific age groups, i.e., Elementary, Middle, High School
Survey their knowledge, skills, travel, and experience.
o
Use with lessons
Provide training and ideas to help their kids
Parents train the parents i.e., reading with kids
o
Develop parent skills
- how to handle projects
- how to help with homework
Parents want a place to meet each other
o
Parent workshops
Child Care for PAC
Make the parents comfortable in the school setting
Take parenting classes to community areas like apartment recreational areas.
Driveway meetings or meetings away from school
Fun nights away
Make facilities available
Parent involvement does not have to take place at school--can occur at home
Send parents to training workshops
Encourage more parental involvement at the high school level
Question #10. What is the role of the principal in promoting parental involvement that
creates a positive school culture that fosters parent involvement? What about the role of
the teachers?
▪
Parent friendly office (Environment, where is it--arrows)
▪
Cultural considerations when communicating data
▪
Accessible (personal outreach)
▪
Sets expectations of staff and parents (high expectations)
▪
Good listener - make parents feel respected
▪
Use other languages to mark areas
- $$/resources for translation, etc.
▪
Needs assessment - parent assets map
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
Calendar of events - updated and mailed
Continuing to focus on parental involvement
Mandate teacher accountability
Teachers
▪ Student led conferencing
▪ Open communication
Equal Partners
▪ Express expectation and vision as partners
▪ Informative Newsletters about academics
▪ Positive interaction with parents
Provide opportunities for parents to participate
▪ Teach parents to teach their kids
▪ Have the parent shadow their child if the child's behavior is a concern
▪ Meet the parents where they are (physically, academically)
Activity 2
Use the material in the funds of knowledge project article to conduct the following
activity/scenario: After conducting a series of home visits, you conclude that there is a
communality of interests and experiences dealing with “music”. Provide a skeletal outline for a
thematic unit in the areas of reading/writing, social studies, science, math, music, art and physical
education. For each area provide one content standard from the ADE website to address in your
unit.
Here are some suggestions for building the outline:
Component Parts of a Thematic Unit:
1. Theme. Select an appropriate theme reflecting text topics (curriculum), student interests,
experiences, issues, or problems.
2. Grade Level Appropriateness
3. Focus. Develop a one-sentence focus statement that summarizes the direction and intent of
the unit.
4. Objectives. Identify three or four specific objectives you wish students to master by the
completion of the unit. These can be tied to state and county objectives and competencies.
5. Materials and Resources. It is advantageous to determine all the necessary materials and
resources after the unit has been written. The way, you avoid limiting yourself to a few familiar
items.
Sample thematic units are displayed at the following website:
http://www.okaloosa.k12.fl.us/technology/training/tools/elem/k-2.htm
Module 2. Activities
Complete the following activities to mediate your learning on the module topic.
You are expected to turn in these activities right away. Your learning also will help you in completing
the Exit Tickets (Journals) and the Forum Postings.
Activity 1
The Arizona Department of Education, in its web page, lists the following questions used at a
parental involvement workshop to promote discussion. This interactive activity promoted
participants to brainstorm ideas, strategies, and methods regarding parent involvement. Due to
time constraints and number of participants, questions 2, 3, 7 and 10 were the only questions
covered during this interactive session. After reading the material and watching the video for this
module, answer the remaining 6 questions with your own ideas. Keep in mind that you will be
doing only questions 1, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9. Use the same format used by discussion participants to
answer these six questions, lists.
QUESTIONS: Do the ones in bold.
1. If we were to walk into your school what would be the sights and sounds that would
serve as validating evidence that parents are welcomed and respected? See below for
participants’ responses.
2. Fab & Fizzle: What is one strategy that your school/district has used that was successful
(fabulous) in involving the parents of your English language learners in meaningful events and/or
activities? What was one strategy that you had high hopes for, but that bombed (fizzled)?
3. What is the greatest barrier your school faces with regards to the involvement of parents?
Brainstorm ways to overcome this barrier.
4. When we think of parent involvement, our school is like a
why). See below for participants’ responses.
.... (Name an animal and tell
5. What best practices has your school employed to create a positive school culture that
fosters parental involvement with a focus on communication with the parents of English
language learners? See below for participants’ responses.
6. Share an experience with your colleagues when the involvement of parents surpassed
your expectations. See below for participants’ responses.
7. Outline and discuss the keys to working with parents to involve them in the education of their
own children and school-related events, activities, and committees. Are these different for
elementary, middle, and high schools? Discuss.
8. How do issues of poverty affect parent involvement? What sensitivities and awareness
must educators have, especially if these families are also non-English or limited English
speaking? See below for participants’ responses.
9. Parent involvement at our school is like what household appliance? Why? See below for
participants’ responses.
10. What is the role of the principal in promoting parental involvement that creates a positive
school culture that fosters parent involvement? What about the role of the teachers?
Question #2. Fab & Fizzle: What is one strategy that your school/district has used that was
successful (fabulous) in involving the parents of your English language learners in
meaningful events and/or activities? What was one strategy that you had high hopes for,
but that bombed (fizzled)?
Fabulous:
§ Parent Conferences
§ Topics of Interest (survey)
§ Family carnival with prizes
§ Logistics
§ Location
§ Human support
§ Advertisement
§ Food, travel, drawings
Flops:
§ Breakfast on naturalization
§ PTA meeting
Question #3.What is the greatest barrier your school faces with regards to the involvement
of parents? Brainstorm ways to overcome this barrier.
Barriers
§ Time
§ Relational--too much/too little reframe what this means
§ Language
§ Apathy (real or perceived) --lack of clear communication from school as to how they can help.
§ Staff negativity/resistance
§ Negative past school experiences (parents)
§ Migratory population (homeless - expanded)
§ Students stay with different parents, grandparents, etc.
§ Parents work a great amount--not possible to come to school
§ Belief that it is only the school's job to education
§ Different expectations (school/parents)
§ Immigration laws
Solutions
§ Human or devices
§ Home visits
§ Call later at night
§ Diversity training for teachers PIRC
§ Equal Partners- talk, talk, talk
§ Diversity Fair
§ Food, culture
§ Principal pick up the phone
§ Train parents about teaching philosophy and why we do what we do
Question #7:Outline and discuss the keys to working with parents to involve them in the
education of their own children and school-related events, activities, and committees. Are
these different for elementary, middle, and high schools? Discuss.
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
Flex in scheduling with parents
Provide incentives (food always) plus "gifts" or rewards specific to target population
Interactions/meeting need to be worthwhile and include parental concerns
Include cultural considerations when framing all interaction
Reflect after each "event"
Different approaches with specific age groups, i.e., Elementary, Middle, High School
Survey their knowledge, skills, travel, and experience.
o
Use with lessons
Provide training and ideas to help their kids
Parents train the parents i.e., reading with kids
o
Develop parent skills
- how to handle projects
- how to help with homework
Parents want a place to meet each other
o
Parent workshops
Child Care for PAC
Make the parents comfortable in the school setting
Take parenting classes to community areas like apartment recreational areas.
Driveway meetings or meetings away from school
Fun nights away
Make facilities available
Parent involvement does not have to take place at school--can occur at home
Send parents to training workshops
Encourage more parental involvement at the high school level
Question #10. What is the role of the principal in promoting parental involvement that
creates a positive school culture that fosters parent involvement? What about the role of
the teachers?
▪
Parent friendly office (Environment, where is it--arrows)
▪
Cultural considerations when communicating data
▪
Accessible (personal outreach)
▪
Sets expectations of staff and parents (high expectations)
▪
Good listener - make parents feel respected
▪
Use other languages to mark areas
- $$/resources for translation, etc.
▪
Needs assessment - parent assets map
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
▪
Calendar of events - updated and mailed
Continuing to focus on parental involvement
Mandate teacher accountability
Teachers
▪ Student led conferencing
▪ Open communication
Equal Partners
▪ Express expectation and vision as partners
▪ Informative Newsletters about academics
▪ Positive interaction with parents
Provide opportunities for parents to participate
▪ Teach parents to teach their kids
▪ Have the parent shadow their child if the child's behavior is a concern
▪ Meet the parents where they are (physically, academically)
Activity 2
Use the material in the funds of knowledge project article to conduct the following
activity/scenario: After conducting a series of home visits, you conclude that there is a
communality of interests and experiences dealing with “music”. Provide a skeletal outline for a
thematic unit in the areas of reading/writing, social studies, science, math, music, art and physical
education. For each area provide one content standard from the ADE website to address in your
unit.
Here are some suggestions for building the outline:
Component Parts of a Thematic Unit:
1. Theme. Select an appropriate theme reflecting text topics (curriculum), student interests,
experiences, issues, or problems.
2. Grade Level Appropriateness
3. Focus. Develop a one-sentence focus statement that summarizes the direction and intent of
the unit.
4. Objectives. Identify three or four specific objectives you wish students to master by the
completion of the unit. These can be tied to state and county objectives and competencies.
5. Materials and Resources. It is advantageous to determine all the necessary materials and
resources after the unit has been written. The way, you avoid limiting yourself to a few familiar
items.
Sample thematic units are displayed at the following website:
http://www.okaloosa.k12.fl.us/technology/training/tools/elem/k-2.htm
Genzuk, M. (1999). "Tapping Into Community Funds of Knowledge". In Effective Strategies for English
Lanuage Acquisition: Curriculum Guide for the Professional Development of Teachers Grades Kindergarten
through Eight (pp. 9-21). Los Angeles: Los Angeles Annenberg Metropolitan Project / ARCO Foundation.
FUNDS
OF
KNOWLEDGE
TAPPING INTO COMMUNITY FUNDS OF KNOWLEDGE
Michael Genzuk, Ph.D.
University of Southern California
School of Education
This section will focus on the techniques and theories that teachers can adopt in an
attempt to tap into the “funds of knowledge” that are present within their students’ households and communities. Assuming that the households of students are rich repositories of
accumulated knowledge, teachers will conduct ethnographic school, home and community
visits with the purpose of uncovering local knowledge bases. Rather than learning static
ideas about their students' “culture,” teachers can access firsthand the lived experiences of
household histories and practices. This community-based knowledge can then be transformed by teachers into thematic units within the content areas of the curriculum. By
adopting an anthropological lens in viewing students’ households, teachers are able to
observe social science “up close and personal,” and to enhance their own professional
development through ethnographic analysis. Parents and community members also respond positively to the validation of their own knowledge, and the opportunity to “tell
their story” to an interested listener. This approach utilizes the notion of assisted performance, what a child can do with help, with the support of the environment, of others, and
of the self. Vygotsky referred to this as the zone of proximal development (ZPD), the distance
between the child’s individual capacity and the capacity to perform with assistance is the
ZPD, which is the distance between the actual developmental level of an individual, as
determined by independent problem solving, and the level of potential development as
determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more
capable others (Díaz, Neal, & Amaya-Williams, 1992).
Theoretical Framework
In looking at the question of cultural connections between what teachers and students do in classrooms and what students experience in the community, it is important to
look at investigations on topics such as “funds of knowledge” and the issue of cultural
congruence. This body of research studies households’ social histories, methods of thinking and learning, and practical skills related to community’s everyday life, especially their
labor and language, and attempts to derive instructional innovations and insights from
such an analysis (Moll & Greenberg, 1990). The funds of knowledge concept is that every
household is an educational setting in which the major function is to transmit knowledge
from the elders that enhances the survival of its dependents. The content and manner of
this transmission, the households' “zones of proximal development”, are the central feature
of the ethnographic home study. Ethnographic researchers look at the exchange of “funds
of knowledge” as an operations manual of essential information and strategies households
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THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE
Effective Strategies for English Language Acquisition: Curriculum Guide for the Professional Development of Teachers. Los Angeles: LAAMP/ARCO. (1999)
FUNDS
OF
KNOWLEDGE
need to maintain their well being and perpetuation. In short, households’ funds of knowledge are wide-ranging, diverse and plentiful. These transmitted funds are essential to
home life and to the relationship of the families to others in their community. These bodies
of knowledge have been referred to as the nuts and bolts for survival (Moll & Greenberg,
1990).
This hypothesis states that these social relationships provide a motive and a context
for applying and for acquiring knowledge. The key point is that funds of knowledge are
constituted through events or activities. That is, funds of knowledge are not possessions or
traits of people in the family but characteristics of people in an activity (Moll & Greenberg,
1990). Knowledge is therefore obtained by the children, not imposed by the adults. This
knowledge is clearly content or knowledge based and seldom insignificant. The notion of
culture is a dynamic entity, not simply a collection of foods, clothes, and holidays, but a
way of using social, physical, spiritual, and economic resources to make one’s way in the
world. They (funds) usually matter, that is, they are authentic. It is when the content of the
interactions is significant or necessary that people are motivated to establish the social
contexts for the transfer or utilization of knowledge and other resources. It is this social
relationship that is so intriguing and carries with it the potential hypothesis for the importance of this dynamic cultural match between teacher and student. Without a focus on
these social relationships and persons in activities, it is very easy for outsiders (educators)
to underestimate the wealth of funds of knowledge available in ethnic, or working class
households.
Many educators continue to devalue the household knowledge of non-mainstream
children. Households are often viewed as units from which the student must be rescued,
rather than as reserve of knowledge that can foster the child’s cognitive development. The
National Center for Research on Cultural Diversity and Second Language Learning has
shown that numerous “funds of knowledge,” found within the households, could form the
basis for curriculum units in science, math, language arts, and other subjects (Gonzalez,
Moll, Floyd-Tenery, Rivera, Rendon, Gonzales & Amanti, 1993). Funds of knowledge are
available in these households regardless of the families’ years of formal schooling or prominence assigned to literacy. Yet this knowledge and its forms of transmission, rarely make
their way into classrooms in any substantive way (Moll & Greenberg, 1990). Funds of
knowledge represent a major, undeveloped resource for academic instruction that can be
provided by teachers with cultural congruence, especially ethnic teachers with the same
background and language skills. Greenberg (1989) has referred to classrooms without these
arrangements as “zones of underdevelopment."
Cultural congruence does not mean an attempt to replicate a home or community
environment in the classroom. Research on cultural congruence recognizes that the home
and school are different settings with different functions in students’ lives. Culturally
congruent educational classrooms and practices include features of the students’ home
culture but do not result in activities and environments identical to those of the home. It
recognizes that the home and school are unique environments with different functions in
students’ lives. Nor does culturally responsive instruction entail changes in the purposes
THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE
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FUNDS
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KNOWLEDGE
of education or the goals of schooling. A review of the literature indicates that the research
in cultural congruence has taken a rather moderate position by accepting that the goals of
schooling for students of diverse backgrounds are essentially the same as the goals for
students of mainstream backgrounds (Moll & Greenberg, 1990), that is, to help them acquire the skills and knowledge needed for success in the larger society. This type of instruction, however, need not be associated only with conventional school goals.
A review of the literature suggests that to be an effective teacher, you need an indepth knowledge of the subject matter, a repertoire of teaching strategies and a deep
knowledge of the culture and history of the students you are teaching. The concept of
providing “supportive environments for children (Delgado-Gaitan, 1987, p. 131)”... in
which the validity and integrity of the (home) culture of the student can be confirmed as an
extension of the knowledge base of the teacher is educationally enhancing. Cultural and
linguistic identification between students and teacher is desirable as teachers provide
positive role models that both enhance the self-esteem of their students and provide greater
contextual and interaction opportunities (Walker, 1987). According to Cummins (1996),
these types of interactions are central to the “empowerment of language minority students."
Funds of knowledge for teaching involves five central activities: (1) training teachers
in ethnographic methods of collecting information, (2) conducting ethnographic analysis of
the transmission of knowledge and skills in the home and community, (3) analyzing the
contents and methods of typical school lessons, (4) conducting collaborative study by
teacher/researchers of ethnographic inquiries and classroom practices where teachers can
use community information to experiment with classroom instruction; and (5) developing
instructional units that use the content and methods of home knowledge to inform the
content and methods of school learning.
The strategy of tapping into community funds of knowledge for developing instructional strategies is exemplified by the story of Jacobo, a Latino fourth grader in a South
Central Los Angeles classroom.
1 1
THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE
Effective Strategies for English Language Acquisition: Curriculum Guide for the Professional Development of Teachers. Los Angeles: LAAMP/ARCO. (1999)
FUNDS
OF
KNOWLEDGE
Jacobo’s Story
Concerned that Jacobo was unwilling or unable to engage in literacy activities,
Jacobo’s teacher had all but given up, describing him as “educationally handicapped”.
Two student teachers, both Latinas, noticing that Jacobo had not displayed stereotypic antisocial or rebellious behavior associated with “educationally handicapped” students, decided to explore his home and community environment for clues to his literacy
disposition. They requested and were able to set up a home visit with Jacobo’s parents.
Jacobo was a bright young man who fared well with other students and did not
cause “problems” in the classroom. He was well mannered in class, but refused to participate in any activities that included the use of reading and writing in the lesson. He enthusiastically participated in other activities where he could experience successful outcomes
that did not require the need to communicate using the written word. The student ethnographers reported that Jacobo seemed to respond best when inquiries and instruction were
conducted in Spanish and when the lessons or interactions were embedded in culturally
relevant settings.
The two student teachers, the classroom teacher and the university supervisor participated in the subsequent parent interview at the student’s home.
The meeting took place in a rather small single family dwelling located in what had
once been considered an average middle class neighborhood but was now labeled “innercity.” The ethnic make up of the neighborhood consisted of both lower income AfricanAmerican and Latino families. The front yard which had once sported a well manicured
lawn was now exclusively brown dirt and was enclosed by a chain link fence. Four empty
milk crates supported a rather old, stripped down automobile in the center of the yard.
The four educators were warmly greeted at the front door by Jacobo’s mother and
escorted inside the small, clean home to a small card table that was covered by a plastic red
and white checkerboard patterned tablecloth. She offered the visitors soft drinks as they
were being seated.
Jacobo’s mother was a small woman with dark black hair, warm brown eyes and
was simply but proudly attired. She displayed physical features that are often acquainted
with the Mexican culture. Jacobo’s father entered the room and shook each visitors hand as
he courteously welcomed them. He too was a small man with parted black hair, a moustache and was dressed in a blue denim shirt and khaki slacks. His clothing was typical of
that used by auto mechanics and garage attendants. Jacobo was also present, well groomed
and appearing a bit nervous keeping his head lowered and never really looking directly at
the educators.
After a brief sharing of introductions and small amenities the educators discovered
that Jacobo’s family had come from Guadalajara, Mexico. The father had been trained in
secundaria (high school) in auto mechanics, specializing in hydraulics. As he began to
share his personal history, Jacobo’s demeanor noticeably changed. As the father talked of
cars in general and hydraulics specifically, Jacobo’s posture straightened and his attentiveTHEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE
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FUNDS
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KNOWLEDGE
ness improved. All at once the normally quiet young man started to add to the discussion
displaying a remarkable understanding of automotive discourse. His enthusiasm was
evident to all, but what really was astonishing was his obvious knowledge of the subject. It
was apparent to the educators that they had stumbled onto something important.
Conversation continued and a range of topics were covered including an invitation
to Jacobo’s father to visit the classroom to share his automotive expertise with the rest of
the class. Jacobo displayed obvious pride in the invitation that was extended to his father.
The educators eventually thanked Jacobo’s parents for their hospitality as they left the
house.
After meeting and discussing the home visit with the master teacher and the university supervisor, the two student teachers devised a strategy to bridge Jacobo’s highly developed mechanical knowledge and abilities to the language arts curriculum. As suggested by
the student teachers, the teacher asked Jacobo to develop a journal utilizing the language
experience approach during “reading time." His assignment was to create an automotive/
tool journal to be used as a resource in the classroom for other students interested in building and mechanics. Jacobo took to the task enthusiastically. After several entries in which
Jacobo drew illustrations and described tools and other materials to the student teachers for
their transcription into the student authored journal, Jacobo confidently moved on to writing other journals about topics of importance to him such as his siblings and a recent trip to
an auto show with his father. These journals were utilized as reading material for Jacobo’s
literacy development. Rather than shy away from all things linguistic, he previously had
refused any task requiring reading or writing activity, Jacobo became invested in journal
writing. Indeed, he spontaneously began reading back his entries to the student teachers,
often following them around the room to do so. The teacher felt that this was the first
academic context in which Jacobo had experienced success. In her words, this was “a
major breakthrough.” She also felt that the cultural lens that the student teachers used to
recognize Jacobo’s talents was much the cause. Jacobo eventually was able to transfer the
abilities he developed in journal composing (and reading) to other curricular areas in the
classroom.
This use of the funds of knowledge from the home exemplifies how teachers’ observations and access to community or family knowledge can be used to design and implement successful teaching strategies in which children’s areas of cognitive strength and
interest are used to engage crucial academic areas. In the face of increasing cultural diversity, educators more than ever need new avenues for understanding how children think.
Utilizing existing funds of knowledge provides a lens with which to distinguish the diverse
ways that children are able to solve important problems and fashion valuable products.
Interventions such as Jacobo’s tool journal demonstrate how teachers can use culturally
responsive pedagogy to bolster students’ weaknesses by capitalizing on their strengths and
interests.
1 3
THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE
Effective Strategies for English Language Acquisition: Curriculum Guide for the Professional Development of Teachers. Los Angeles: LAAMP/ARCO. (1999)
FUNDS
OF
KNOWLEDGE
ACTIVITY ONE -- WHAT IS CULTURE?
3hr session - 10hrs outside class reading & group discussions in class
Goal
To become familiar with the concept of
culture.
Procedures
Compose a short paper comparing different
interpretations of what culture is:
(The instructor will become familiar with
the relevant aspects of teachers’
background knowledge and experiences.)
As an opening activity, to be done outside
of the class, read a variety of articles that
conceptualize, somewhat differently, what
culture is. For each reading, answer these
questions:
Materials
Suggested Readings attached (others may
be substituted, instructor may assign as
many or as few readings as desired).
These readings were chosen because they
represent culture within educational
settings. They are key to education. They
were also chosen because their titles them
selves are indicative of the content of
the articles.
• What constitutes culture, according to the
author(s)?
• What dimension of culture, exactly, is the
author analyzing?
• Where does culture come from?
• How is it formed? How does it affect us?
Once you have reviewed a fair sampling of
ideas, write a short paper (no more than 5
pages) comparing and contrasting the main
ideas of these readings. Be prepared to
share your findings with the rest of your
group.
Form a discussion group with two or three
other teacher participants.
Determine the important characteristics of
summary statements in the group.
Designate a spokesperson for the group,
and participate in the large group
discussion.
THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE
1 4
FUNDS
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KNOWLEDGE
SUGGESTED READINGS
Banks, J.A. The Stages of Ethnicity. In: Richard-Amato, & Snow (1992). The
Multicultural Classroom: Readings for Content-Area Teachers. pp. 93-101.
Brown, H.D. Sociocultural Factors in Teaching Language Minority Students. In: Rich
ard-Amato, & Snow (1992). The Multicultural Classroom: Readings for ContentArea Teachers. pp. 73-92.
Forbes, J.D. (1997). “The Native Intellectual Tradition in Relation to Race, Gender and
Class.” pp. 55-65 in Race, Gender, and Class in Sociology: Toward an Inclusive
Curriculum, edited by J. Belkhir and McNair Barnett. Washington, D.C.: American
Sociological Association.
Grant, C. A. & Sleeter C.E. (1988). “Race, Class, and Gender and Abandoned Dreams.”
Teachers College Record 90(1, Fall). pp. 19-40.
Heath, S.B. Sociocultural Contexts of Language Development: Implications for the
Classroom. In: Richard-Amato, & Snow (1992). The Multicultural Classroom:
Readings for Content-Area Teachers. pp. 102-125.
Moll, L., & Greenberg, J. (1990). Creating Zones of Possibilities: Coming Social
Contexts for Instruction. In L. Moll (Ed.), Vygotsky and Education: Instructional
Implications and Applications of Socio-Historical Psychology. pp 319-348.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ogbu, J. & Matute-Bianchi, M.E. (1986). Understanding Sociocultural Factors:
Knowledge, Identity, and School Adjustment. In California State Department of
Education (Ed.), Beyond Language: Social and Cultural Factors in Schooling
Language Minority Students. pp. 73-142. Los Angeles: California State University,
Los Angeles.
1 5
THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE
Effective Strategies for English Language Acquisition: Curriculum Guide for the Professional Development of Teachers. Los Angeles: LAAMP/ARCO. (1999)
FUNDS
OF
KNOWLEDGE
ACTIVITY TWO -- CULTURE IN YOUR HOME
3hr session - Group discussions in class
Goal
To explore the concept of the culture of
your own home and to discover differences
among individuals.
Procedures
Most households are governed by a set of
unwritten “rules” or norms. Since children
grow up with these rules, they don’t think of
them as rules at all, but simply as the way
things are. Most of us take these norms for
granted until we encounter people with very
different norms. In this activity you are to
examine who you are as a cultural being.
Materials
Handout:
Activity Worksheet 2 (Appendix B.1)
Individually complete Activity Worksheet 2
(Appendix B.1). Consider the different
cultural elements in the first column and
think about how they were addressed in
your childhood household and how you
have established them in your own adult
household. Compare the two columns and
determine the extent to which your own
adult household is similar to that in which
you were raised.
Form discussion groups with two or three
other teacher participants, and compare
your responses to the items on the
worksheet. Identify any points of
significant difference.
Participate in the general discussion about
culture at home.
• What experiences have you had in which you
were placed in a situation where you did not
know the “rules”? How did you cope with it?
• Have you known students in a school setting
whose home cultures were quite different from
your own? How did you discover that?
• How did you help those students cope?
THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE
1 6
FUNDS
OF
KNOWLEDGE
ACTIVITY THREE -- CLASSROOM CULTURE
3hr session - Group discussions in class
Goal
To recognize how the concept of culture can
be applied to classrooms and the
consequences for some students of being
placed in an unfamiliar setting.
Procedures
Classrooms, like households, have cultures. That
is, they have unspoken “rules” and norms that
determine how people act and relate to one
another. Most teachers are not fully aware of the
cultures of their own classrooms, particularly if
they are similar to those in which they were
students. In addition, many teachers tend to
create classroom cultures with norms similar to
those in their own households.
Materials
Handout:
Activity Worksheet 3 (Appendix B.2)
In the same groups used for Activity
Worksheet 2 (Culture in Your Home),
complete Activity Worksheet 3 (Appendix
B.2). You will have to determine ways in
which different aspects of classroom culture
are established in the classroom setting. You
may have to make some educated guesses
for some of the items.
Participate in the group discussion about
classroom culture.
• In your own teaching, what kind of classroom
culture do (or did) you establish? Do you think
that there are some students for whom
elements of that culture might be
uncomfortable? If yes, why?
• What patterns can you identify in school
settings with which you are familiar in which
certain students are at a systematic
disadvantage because of cultural mismatch
between their homes and the norms of the
school?
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THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE
Effective Strategies for English Language Acquisition: Curriculum Guide for the Professional Development of Teachers. Los Angeles: LAAMP/ARCO. (1999)
FUNDS
OF
KNOWLEDGE
ACTIVITY FOUR -- ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY
Timeframe to be determined by instructor.* Group discussions in class. Fieldwork
observations in students' classrooms and homes.
Goal
Procedures
The case study is designed to develop the
Each teacher participant in the training will be
teacher as a researcher as well as to assist
responsible for conducting an ethnographic case
the teacher in better understanding the
study of a K-12 student whose race, ethnicity or
intersection of culture and schooling
language differs from his or her own. The
through the eyes of an individual student.
student to be studied may be a member of the
This research endeavor will allow teachers
participating staff member’s own class but need
to examine how issues such as language,
not be.
culture, and social class effect students’ life
*The ethnographic assignment should be introduced
chances. It also provides a framework
and reviewed at the beginning of the workshop
within which teachers define and shape the
sessions by the instructor, with an understanding
way they think about the role that
that it is both the primary focus and culminating
schooling and culture plays in these
activity of the workshop.
students’ lives. Teachers in essence become
mini-anthropologists, or ethnographers.
Review “A Synthesis of Ethnographic
Case study analysis can be extremely useful
Research” (Appendix B.4)) by Michael
not only in providing background
Genzuk.
information for the teacher to utilize in
planning and implementing their
Each teacher participant will choose one Kinstructional programs, but also to illustrate
12 student whose race, ethnicity or
the multidimensional facets of this type of
language differs from his/her own.
instruction.
Materials
Handouts:
Activity Worksheet 4 (Appendix B.3)
“A Synthesis of Ethnographic Research" by
Michael Genzuk (Appendix B.4)
Multimedia needed for group presentation.
THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE
1 8
Collect ethnographic data.
By means of participant observation, you
will observe the activities of your selected
student. The physical characteristics of the
school and social settings where your
student resides, and what it feels like to be
part of the scene. During the course of
fieldwork the types of observation will
change. You will begin by making broad
descriptive observations, trying to get an
overview of the social/academic situation
and what goes on there. Then, after
recording and analyzing your initial data,
you will narrow your research and begin to
make focused observations. Finally, after
more analysis and repeated observations in
the field, you will be able to narrow your
FUNDS
OF
KNOWLEDGE
ACTIVITY FOUR -- ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY (Continued)
3hr session - Group discussions in class
Procedures (Continued)
investigation still further to make selective observations. However, even as your
observations become more focused, you will continue making general descriptive
observations until the end of your field study.
Conduct ethnographic interviews.
There are many different forms of interviewing. Ethnographic interviewing is a special
kind that employs questions designed to discover the cultural meanings people have
learned. Such interviews make use of different kinds of questions. Participant observers
most often formulate specific ethnographic questions and then ask themselves these
questions. They come up with answers from field notes or new observations. When
conducting ethnographic interviews, you can simply make use of the same questions with
one or more of the informants, such as classroom teachers, parents, administrators, etc. It is
useful to distinguish between two types of interviews: informal and formal. An informal
interview occurs whenever you ask someone a question during the course of participant
observation. A formal interview usually occurs at an appointed time and results from a
specific request to hold the interview. Activity Worksheet 4 (Culture at Student’s Home)
will get you started.
Analyze ethnographic data.
The next step in the cycle cannot wait until you have collected a large amount of data. In
ethnographic inquiry, analysis is a process of question-discovery. Instead of coming into
the field with specific questions, the ethnographer analyzes the field data compiled from
participant observation to discover questions. You need to analyze your field notes after
each period of fieldwork and interviews in order to know what to look for during your
next period of participant observation.
Write/Present your ethnography.
The last task in the cycle occurs toward the end of the project -- writing the case study and
presenting the case study. For this exercise, two steps will be conducted-- (1) writing the
individual case study, and (2) making a multimedia presentation based on what you have
learned.
1. Writing the case study.
The first step to writing your ethnography is to choose an audience. Because the audience
will influence every aspect of your ethnography, selecting an audience is one of the first
things to be done. All writing is an act of communication between human beings and in
that sense it is similar to talking. This will be your opportunity to “tell the story” in a
manner that is both informative and interesting to your audience. The second step is to
1 9
THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE
Effective Strategies for English Language Acquisition: Curriculum Guide for the Professional Development of Teachers. Los Angeles: LAAMP/ARCO. (1999)
FUNDS
OF
KNOWLEDGE
ACTIVITY FOUR -- ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY (Continued)
3hr session - Group discussions in class
Procedures (Continued)
select a thesis. In order to communicate with your audience, you need to have something
to say. A simple way to visualize this endeavor is to think of it as a recipe for behavior.
Culture can be viewed as a set of instructions for carrying out life’s ordinary activities. Your
paper will try and show the recipe for being your observed student in the described
environments. Once this description has taken on a meaningful form you can write both
the introduction and the conclusion in an effective manner. You can write a rough
introduction early, but save the conclusion until the end. Finally, review your manuscript
and write the final draft.
2. Multimedia presentation based on what you learned. Throughout the staff development
you will be working in collaborative/cooperative groups to get to know the community in
which you are doing your study. As a finale to the effort, groups will present what they
learned. Utilizing the activities above, and additional literature and experiences the group
will provide a “multimedia” presentation on your findings and conclusions. You should
do more than just stand up and talk. You do not have to turn in separate papers, a group
paper is encouraged.
THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE
2 0
FUNDS
OF
KNOWLEDGE
REFERENCES
Cummins, J. (1996). Negotiating Identities: Education for Empowerment in a Diverse
Society. California Association for Bilingual Education. Sacramento, CA.
Delgado-Gaitán, C. (1987). Parent Perceptions of School: Supportive Environment for
Children. In H. Trueba (Ed.), Success or Failure? Learning and the Language
Minority Student. Newbury House Publishers. Cambridge, MA.
Díaz, R.M., Neal, C.J. & Amaya-Williams, M. (1992). The Social Origins of SelfRegulation, in Moll, L.C. (Ed.), Vygotsky and Education: Instructional Implications
and Applications of Sociohistorical Psychology, 127-154. Cambridge University
Press. New York, NY.
Gonzalez, N, Moll, L.C., Floyd-Tenery, M., Rivera, A., Rendón, P., Gonzales, R., &
Amanti, C. (1993). Teacher Research on Funds of Knowledge: Learning from
Households. Educational Practice Report: 6. National Center for Research on
Cultural Diversity and Second Language Learning, University of California,
Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz, CA.
Greenberg, J.B. (1989). Funds of Knowledge: Historical Constitution, Social
Distribution, and Transmission. Paper presented at the annual meetings of
the Society for Applied Anthropology, Santa Fe, NM.
Moll, L.C. & Greenberg, J.B. (1990). Creating Zones of Possibilities: Combining Social
Contexts for Instruction, in Moll, L.C. (Ed.), Vygotsky and Education: Instructional
Implications and Applications of Sociohistorical Psychology, 319-348. Cambridge
University Press. New York, NY.
Walker, C. (1987). Hispanic Achievement: Old Views and New Perspectives. In H.
Trueba (Ed.), Success or Failure? Learning and the Language Minority Student.
Newbury House Publishers. Cambridge, MA.
2 1
THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE
Effective Strategies for English Language Acquisition: Curriculum Guide for the Professional Development of Teachers. Los Angeles: LAAMP/ARCO. (1999)
Effective Strategies for English Language Acquisition: Curriculum Guide for the Professional Development of Teachers. Los Angeles: LAAMP/ARCO. (1999)
Appendix B.4
A SYNTHESIS OF ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH
BY: MICHAEL GENZUK, PH.D.
University of Southern California
Center for Multilingual, Multicultural Research
AN ETHNOGRAPHY
"When used as a method, ethnography typically refers to fieldwork
(alternatively, participant-observation) conducted by a single investigator who
'lives with and lives like' those who are studied, usually for a year or more." -John Van Maanen, 1996.
"Ethnography literally means 'a portrait of a people.' An ethnography is a
written description of a particular culture - the customs, beliefs, and behavior
- based on information collected through fieldwork." --Marvin Harris and Orna
Johnson, 2000.
"Ethnography is the art and science of describing a group or culture. The
description may be of a small tribal group in an exotic land or a classroom in
middle-class suburbia." --David M. Fetterman, 1998.
Ethnography is a social science research method. It relies heavily on up-close,
personal experience and possible participation, not just observation, by researchers
trained in the art of ethnography. These ethnographers often work in
multidisciplinary teams. The ethnographic focal point may include intensive language
and culture learning, intensive study of a single field or domain, and a blend of
historical, observational, and interview methods. Typical ethnographic research
employs three kinds of data collection: interviews, observation, and documents. This
in turn produces three kinds of data: quotations, descriptions, and excerpts of
documents, resulting in one product: narrative description. This narrative often
includes charts, diagrams and additional artifacts that help to tell “the story“
(Hammersley, 1990). Ethnographic methods can give shape to new constructs or
paradigms, and new variables, for further empirical testing in the field or through
traditional, quantitative social science methods.
Ethnography has it roots planted in the fields of anthropology and sociology.
Present-day practitioners conduct ethnographies in organizations and communities of
all kinds. Ethnographers study schooling, public health, rural and urban
development, consumers and consumer goods, any human arena. While particularly
suited to exploratory research, ethnography draws on a wide range of both
qualitative and quantitative methodologies, moving from "learning" to "testing"
(Agar, 1996) while research problems, perspectives, and theories emerge and shift.
2
Ethnographic methods are a means of tapping local points of view,
households and community “funds of knowledge” (Moll & Greenberg, 1990), a means
of identifying significant categories of human experience up close and personal.
Ethnography enhances and widens top down views and enriches the inquiry process,
taps both bottom-up insights and perspectives of powerful policy-makers "at the
top," and generates new analytic insights by engaging in interactive, team
exploration of often subtle arenas of human difference and similarity. Through such
findings ethnographers may inform others of their findings with an attempt to derive,
for example, policy decisions or instructional innovations from such an analysis.
VARIATIONS IN OBSERVATIONAL METHODS
Observational research is not a single thing. The decision to employ field
methods in gathering informational data is only the first step in a decision process
that involves a large number of options and possibilities. Making the choice to
employ field methods involves a commitment to get close to the subject being
observed in its natural setting, to be factual and descriptive in reporting what is
observed, and to find out the points of view of participants in the domain observed.
Once these fundamental commitments have been made, it is necessary to make
additional decisions about which particular observational approaches are appropriate
for the research situation at hand.
VARIATIONS IN OBSERVER INVOLVEMENT: PARTICIPANT OR ONLOOKER?
The first and most fundamental distinction among observational strategies
concerns the extent to which the observer is also a participant in the program
activities being studied. This is not really a simple choice between participation and
nonparticipation. The extent of participation is a continuum which varies from
complete immersion in the program as full participant to complete separation from
the activities observed, taking on a role as spectator; there is a great deal of
variation along the continuum between these two extremes.
Participant observation is an omnibus field strategy in that it
"simultaneously combines document analysis, interviewing of respondents and
informants, direct participation and observation, and introspection. In participant
observation the researcher shares as intimately as possible in the life and activities
of the people in the observed setting. The purpose of such participation is to develop
an insider's view of what is happening. This means that the researcher not only sees
what is happening but "feels" what it is like to be part of the group.
Experiencing an environment as an insider is what necessitates the
participant part of participant observation. At the same time, however, there is
clearly an observer side to this process. The challenge is to combine participation
and observation so as to become capable of understanding the experience as an
insider while describing the experience for outsiders.
3
The extent to which it is possible for a researcher to become a full participant
in an experience will depend partly on the nature of the setting being observed. For
example, in human service and education programs that serve children, it is not
possible for the researcher to become a student and therefore experience the setting
as a child; it may be possible, however, for the research observer to participate as a
volunteer, parent, or staff person in such a setting and thereby develop the
perspective of an insider in one of these adult roles.
It should be said, though, that many ethnographers do not believe that
understanding requires that they become full members of the group(s) being
studied. Indeed, many believe that this must not occur if a valid and useful account
is to be produced. These researchers believe the ethnographer must try to be both
outsider and insider, staying on the margins of the group both socially and
intellectually. This is because what is required is both an outside and an inside view.
For this reason it is sometimes emphasized that, besides seeking to "understand",
the ethnographer must also try to see familiar settings as "anthropologically
strange", as they would be seen by someone from another society, adopting what we
might call the Martian perspective.
METHODOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES
Following are three methodological principles that are used to provide the
rationale for the specific features of the ethnographic method. They are also the
basis for much of the criticism of quantitative research for failing to capture the true
nature of human social behavior; because it relies on the study of artificial settings
and/or on what people say rather than what they do; because it seeks to reduce
meanings to what is observable; and because it reifies social phenomena by treating
them as more clearly defined and static than they are, and as mechanical products of
social and psychological factors (M. Hammersley, 1990). The three principles can be
summarized under the headings of naturalism, understanding and discovery:
1. Naturalism. This is the view that the aim of social research is to capture
the character of naturally occurring human behavior, and that this can only be
achieved by first-hand contact with it, not by inferences from what people do
in artificial settings like experiments or from what they say in interviews
about what they do elsewhere. This is the reason that ethnographers carry
out their research in "natural" settings, settings that exist independently of
the research process, rather than in those set up specifically for the purposes
of research. Another important implication of naturalism is that in studying
natural settings the researcher should seek to minimize her or his effects on
the behavior of the people being studied. The aim of this is to increase the
chances that what is discovered in the setting will be generalizable to other
similar settings that have not been researched. Finally, the notion of
naturalism implies that social events and processes must be explained in
terms of their relationship to the context in which they occur.
2. Understanding. Central here is the argument that human actions differ
from the behavior of physical objects, and even from that of other animals:
they do not consist simply of fixed responses or even of learned responses to
stimuli, but involve interpretation of stimuli and the construction of
responses. Sometimes this argument reflects a complete rejection of the
concept of causality as inapplicable to the social world, and an insistence on
4
the freely constructed character of human actions and institutions. Others
argue that causal relations are to be found in the social world, but that they
differ from the "mechanical" causality typical of physical phenomena. From
this point of view, if we are to be able to explain human actions effectively we
must gain an understanding of the cultural perspectives on which they are
based. That this is necessary is obvious when we are studying a society that
is alien to us, since we shall find much of what we see and hear puzzling.
However, ethnographers argue that it is just as important when we are
studying more familiar settings. Indeed, when a setting is familiar the danger
of misunderstanding is especially great. It is argued that we cannot assume
that we already know others' perspectives, even in our own society, because
particular groups and individuals develop distinctive worldviews. This is
especially true in large complex societies. Ethnic, occupational, and small
informal groups (even individual families or school classes) develop distinctive
ways of orienting to the world that may need to be understood if their
behavior is to be explained. Ethnographers argue, then, that it is necessary to
learn the culture of the group one is studying before one can produce valid
explanations for the behavior of its members. This is the reason for the
centrality of participant observation and unstructured interviewing to
ethnographic method.
3. Discovery. Another feature of ethnographic thinking is a conception of the
research process as inductive or discovery-based; rather than as being limited
to the testing of explicit hypotheses. It is argued that if one approaches a
phenomenon with a set of hypotheses one may fail to discover the true
nature of that phenomenon, being blinded by the assumptions built into the
hypotheses. Rather, they have a general interest in some types of social
phenomena and/or in some theoretical issue or practical problem. The focus
of the research is narrowed and sharpened, and perhaps even changed
substantially, as it proceeds. Similarly, and in parallel, theoretical ideas that
frame descriptions and explanations of what is observed are developed over
the course of the research. Such ideas are regarded as a valuable outcome of,
not a precondition for, research.
ETHNOGRAPHY AS METHOD
In terms of method, generally speaking, the term "ethnography" refers to
social research that has most of the following features (M. Hammersley, 1990).
(a) People's behavior is studied in everyday contexts, rather than under
experimental conditions created by the researcher.
(b) Data are gathered from a range of sources, but observation and/or
relatively informal conversations are usually the main ones.
(c) The approach to data collection is "unstructured in the sense that it does
not involve following through a detailed plan set up at the beginning; nor are
the categories used for interpreting what people say and do pre-given or
fixed. This does not mean that the research is unsystematic; simply that
initially the data are collected in as raw a form, and on as wide a front, as
feasible.
5
(d) The focus is usually a single setting or group, of relatively small scale. In
life history research the focus may even be a single individual.
(e) The analysis of the data involves interpretation of the meanings and
functions of human actions and mainly takes the form of verbal descriptions
and explanations, with quantification and statistical analysis playing a
subordinate role at most.
As a set of methods, ethnography is not far removed from the sort of
approach that we all use in everyday life to make sense of our surroundings. It is
less specialized and less technically sophisticated than approaches like the
experiment or the social survey; though all social research methods have their
historical origins in the ways in which human beings gain information about their
world in everyday life.
SUMMARY GUIDELINES FOR FIELDWORK
It is difficult, if not impossible, to provide a precise set of rules and
procedures for conducting fieldwork. What you do depends on the situation, the
purpose of the study, the nature of the setting, and the skills, interests, needs, and
point of view of the observer. Following are some generic guidelines for conducting
fieldwork:
1. Be descriptive in taking field notes.
2. Gather a variety of information from different perspectives.
3. Cross-validate and triangulate by gathering different kinds of data. Example:
observations, interviews, program documentation, recordings, and photographs.
4. Use quotations; represent program participants in their own terms. Capture
participants' views of their own experiences in their own words.
5. Select key informants wisely and use them carefully. Draw on the wisdom of their
informed perspectives, but keep in mind that their perspectives are limited.
6. Be aware of and sensitive to the different stages of fieldwork.
(a) Build trust and rapport at the entry stage. Remember that the researcherobserver is also being observed and evaluated.
(b) Stay alert and disciplined during the more routine middle-phase of
fieldwork.
(c) Focus on pulling together a useful synthesis as fieldwork draws to a close.
(d) Be disciplined and conscientious in taking detailed field notes at all stages
of fieldwork.
(e) Be as involved as possible in experiencing the observed setting as fully as
possible while maintaining an analytical perspective grounded in the purpose
of the fieldwork: to conduct research.
6
(f) Clearly separate description from interpretation and judgment.
(g) Provide formative feedback as part of the verification process of fieldwork.
Time that feedback carefully. Observe its impact.
(h) Include in your field notes and observations reports of your own
experiences, thoughts, and feelings. These are also field data.
Fieldwork is a highly personal experience. The meshing of fieldwork
procedures with individual capabilities and situational variation is what makes
fieldwork a highly personal experience. The validity and meaningfulness of the
results obtained depend directly on the observer's skill, discipline, and perspective.
This is both the strength and weakness of observational methods.
SUMMARY GUIDELINES FOR INTERVIEWING
There is no one right way of interviewing, no single correct format that is
appropriate for all situations, and no single way of wording questions that will always
work. The particular evaluation situation, the needs of the interviewee, and the
personal style of the interviewer all come together to create a unique situation for
each interview. Therein lie the challenges of depth interviewing: situational
responsiveness and sensitivity to get the best data possible.
There is no recipe for effective interviewing, but there are some useful
guidelines that can be considered. These guidelines are summarized below (Patton,
1987).
1. Throughout all phases of interviewing, from planning through data
collection to analysis, keep centered on the purpose of the research endeavor.
Let that purpose guide the interviewing process.
2. The fundamental principle of qualitative interviewing is to provide a
framework within which respondents can express their own understandings in
their own terms.
3. Understand the strengths and weaknesses of different types of interviews:
the informal conversational interview; the interview guide approach; and the
standardized open-ended interview.
4. Select the type of interview (or combination of types) that is most
appropriate to the purposes of the research effort.
5. Understand the different kinds of information one can collect through
interviews: behavioral data; opinions; feelings; knowledge; sensory data; and
background information.
6. Think about and plan how these different kinds of questions can be most
appropriately sequenced for each interview topic, including past, present, and
future questions.
7. Ask truly open-ended questions.
7
8. Ask clear questions, using understandable and appropriate language.
9. Ask one question at a time.
10. Use probes and follow-up questions to solicit depth and detail.
11. Communicate clearly what information is desired, why that information is
important, and let the interviewee know how the interview is progressing.
12. Listen attentively and respond appropriately to let the person know he or
she is being heard.
13. Avoid leading questions.
14. Understand the difference between a depth interview and an
interrogation. Qualitative evaluators conduct depth interviews; police
investigators and tax auditors conduct interrogations.
15. Establish personal rapport and a sense of mutual interest.
16. Maintain neutrality toward the specific content of responses. You are
there to collect information not to make judgments about that person.
17. Observe while interviewing. Be aware of and sensitive to how the person
is affected by and responds to different questions.
18. Maintain control of the interview.
19. Tape record whenever possible to capture full and exact quotations for
analysis and reporting.
20. Take notes to capture and highlight major points as the interview
progresses.
21. As soon as possible after the interview check the recording for
malfunctions; review notes for clarity; elaborate where necessary; and record
observations.
22. Take whatever steps are appropriate and necessary to gather valid and
reliable information.
23. Treat the person being interviewed with respect. Keep in mind that it is a
privilege and responsibility to peer into another person's experience.
24. Practice interviewing. Develop your skills.
25. Enjoy interviewing. Take the time along the way to stop and "hear" the
roses.
8
SITE DOCUMENTS
In addition to participant observation and interviews, ethnographers may also
make use of various documents in answering guiding questions. When available,
these documents can add additional insight or information to projects. Because
ethnographic attention has been and continues to be focused on both literate and
non-literate peoples, not all research projects will have site documents available. It is
also possible that even research among a literate group will not have relevant site
documents to consider; this could vary depending on the focus of the research.
Thinking carefully about your participants and how they function and asking
questions of your informants helps to decide what kinds of documents might be
available.
Possible documents include: budgets, advertisements, work descriptions,
annual reports, memos, school records, correspondence, informational brochures,
teaching materials, newsletters, websites, recruitment or orientation packets,
contracts, records of court proceedings, posters, minutes of meetings, menus, and
many other kinds of written items.
For example, an ethnographer studying how limited-English proficient
elementary school students learn to acquire English in a classroom setting might
want to collect such things as the state or school mandated Bilingual/ESL curriculum
for students in the school(s) where he or she does research, and examples of
student work. Local school budget allocations to language minority education,
specific teachers' lesson plans, and copies of age-appropriate ESL textbooks could
also be relevant. It might also be useful to try finding subgroups of professional
educators organizations which focus on teaching elementary school language arts
and join their listservs, attend their meetings, or get copies of their newsletters.
Review cumulative student records and school district policies for language minority
education. All of these things could greatly enrich the participant observation and the
interviews that an ethnographer does.
Privacy or copyright issues may apply to the documents gathered, so it is
important to inquire about this when you find or are given documents. If you are
given permission to include what you learn from these documents in your final
paper, the documents should be cited appropriately and included in the bibliography
of the final paper. If you are not given permission, do not use them in any way.
ETHICS IN ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH
Since ethnographic research takes place among real human beings, there are
a number of special ethical concerns to be aware of before beginning. In a nutshell,
researchers must make their research goals clear to the members of the community
where they undertake their research and gain the informed consent of their
consultants to the research beforehand. It is also important to learn whether the
group would prefer to be named in the written report of the research or given a
pseudonym and to offer the results of the research if informants would like to read
it. Most of all, researchers must be sure that the research does not harm or exploit
those among whom the research is done.
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ANALYZING, INTERPRETING AND REPORTING FINDINGS
Remember that the researcher is the detective looking for trends and patterns
that occur across the various groups or within individuals (Krueger, 1994). The
process of analysis and interpretation involve disciplined examination, creative
insight, and careful attention to the purposes of the research study. Analysis and
interpretation are conceptually separate processes. The analysis process begins with
assembling the raw materials and getting an overview or total picture of the entire
process. The researcher’s role in analysis covers a continuum with assembly of raw
data on one extreme and interpretative comments on the other. Analysis is the
process of bringing order to the data, organizing what is there into patterns,
categories, and basic descriptive units. The analysis process involves consideration of
words, tone, context, non-verbals, internal consistency, frequency, extensiveness,
intensity, specificity of responses and big ideas. Data reduction strategies are
essential in the analysis (Krueger, 1994).
Interpretation involves attaching meaning and significance to the analysis,
explaining descriptive patterns, and looking for relationships and linkages among
descriptive dimensions. Once these processes have been completed the researcher
must report his or her interpretations and conclusions
QUALITATIVE DESCRIPTION
Reports based on qualitative methods will include a great deal of pure
description of the program and/or the experiences of people in the research
environment. The purpose of this description is to let the reader know what
happened in the environment under observation, what it was like from the
participants' point of view to be in the setting, and what particular events or
activities in the setting were like. In reading through field notes and interviews the
researcher begins to look for those parts of the data that will be polished for
presentation as pure description in the research report. What is included by way of
description will depend on what questions the researcher is attempting to answer.
Often an entire activity will be reported in detail and depth because it represents a
typical experience. These descriptions are written in narrative form to provide a
holistic picture of what has happened in the reported activity or event.
REPORTING FINDINGS
The actual content and format of a qualitative report will depend on the
information needs of primary stakeholders and the purpose of the research. Even a
comprehensive report will have to omit a great deal of the data collected by the
researcher. Focus is essential. Analysts who try to include everything risk losing their
readers in the sheer volume of the presentation. This process has been referred to as
"the agony of omitting". The agony of omitting on the part of the researcher is
matched only by the readers' agony in having to read those things that were not
omitted, but should have been.
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BALANCE BETWEEN DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS
In considering what to omit, a decision has to be made about how much
description to include. Detailed description and in-depth quotations are the essential
qualities of qualitative accounts. Sufficient description and direct quotations should
be included to allow readers to understand fully the research setting and the
thoughts of the people represented in the narrative. Description should stop short,
however, of becoming trivial and mundane. The reader does not have to know
absolutely everything that was done or said. Again the problem of focus arises.
Description is balanced by analysis and interpretation. Endless description
becomes its own muddle. The purpose of analysis is to organize the description in a
way that makes it manageable. Description is balanced by analysis and leads into
interpretation. An interesting and readable final account provides sufficient
description to allow the reader to understand the analysis and sufficient analysis to
allow the reader to understand the interpretations and explanations presented.
REFERENCES AND SUGGESTED READINGS
Agar, M. (1996). Professional Stranger: An Informal Introduction To Ethnography,
(2nd ed.). Academic Press.
Fetterman, (1998). Ethnography, 2nd ed., Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Hammersley, M. (1990). Reading Ethnographic Research: A Critical Guide. London:
Longman.
Harris, M. & Johnson, O. (2000). Cultural Anthropology, (5th ed.), Needham Heights,
MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Krueger, A. R. (1994). Focus Groups: A Practical guide for Applied Research,
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Moll, L.C. & Greenberg, J.M. (1990). Creating Zones of Possibilities: Combining Social
Constructs for Instruction. In: L.C. Moll (ed.) Vygotsky and Education: Instructional
Implications and Applications of Sociohistorical Psychology, New York, NY:
Cambridge University Press.
Patton, M.Q. (1987). How to Use Qualitative Methods in Evaluation. Newberry Park,
CA: Sage Publications.
Spradley, J. (1980). Participant Observation. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Spradley, J. (1979). The Ethnographic Interview. New York: Holt, Rinehart and
Winston.
Van Maanen, J. (1996). Ethnography. In: A. Kuper and J. Kuper (eds.) The Social
Science Encyclopedia, 2nd ed., pages 263-265. London: Routledge.
Yin, R.K. (1989). Case Study Research: Design and Methods. Newberry Park, CA:
Sage Publications.
Genzuk, M. (1999). "Tapping Into Community Funds of Knowledge". In Effective Strategies for English
Lanuage Acquisition: Curriculum Guide for the Professional Development of Teachers Grades Kindergarten
through Eight (pp. 9-21). Los Angeles: Los Angeles Annenberg Metropolitan Project / ARCO Foundation.
Genzuk, M. (1999). "Tapping Into Community Funds of Knowledge". In Effective Strategies for English
Lanuage Acquisition: Curriculum Guide for the Professional Development of Teachers Grades Kindergarten
through Eight (pp. 9-21). Los Angeles: Los Angeles Annenberg Metropolitan Project / ARCO Foundation.
FUNDS
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KNOWLEDGE
TAPPING INTO COMMUNITY FUNDS OF KNOWLEDGE
Michael Genzuk, Ph.D.
University of Southern California
School of Education
This section will focus on the techniques and theories that teachers can adopt in an
attempt to tap into the “funds of knowledge” that are present within their students’ households and communities. Assuming that the households of students are rich repositories of
accumulated knowledge, teachers will conduct ethnographic school, home and community
visits with the purpose of uncovering local knowledge bases. Rather than learning static
ideas about their students' “culture,” teachers can access firsthand the lived experiences of
household histories and practices. This community-based knowledge can then be transformed by teachers into thematic units within the content areas of the curriculum. By
adopting an anthropological lens in viewing students’ households, teachers are able to
observe social science “up close and personal,” and to enhance their own professional
development through ethnographic analysis. Parents and community members also respond positively to the validation of their own knowledge, and the opportunity to “tell
their story” to an interested listener. This approach utilizes the notion of assisted performance, what a child can do with help, with the support of the environment, of others, and
of the self. Vygotsky referred to this as the zone of proximal development (ZPD), the distance
between the child’s individual capacity and the capacity to perform with assistance is the
ZPD, which is the distance between the actual developmental level of an individual, as
determined by independent problem solving, and the level of potential development as
determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more
capable others (Díaz, Neal, & Amaya-Williams, 1992).
Theoretical Framework
In looking at the question of cultural connections between what teachers and students do in classrooms and what students experience in the community, it is important to
look at investigations on topics such as “funds of knowledge” and the issue of cultural
congruence. This body of research studies households’ social histories, methods of thinking and learning, and practical skills related to community’s everyday life, especially their
labor and language, and attempts to derive instructional innovations and insights from
such an analysis (Moll & Greenberg, 1990). The funds of knowledge concept is that every
household is an educational setting in which the major function is to transmit knowledge
from the elders that enhances the survival of its dependents. The content and manner of
this transmission, the households' “zones of proximal development”, are the central feature
of the ethnographic home study. Ethnographic researchers look at the exchange of “funds
of knowledge” as an operations manual of essential information and strategies households
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need to maintain their well being and perpetuation. In short, households’ funds of knowledge are wide-ranging, diverse and plentiful. These transmitted funds are essential to
home life and to the relationship of the families to others in their community. These bodies
of knowledge have been referred to as the nuts and bolts for survival (Moll & Greenberg,
1990).
This hypothesis states that these social relationships provide a motive and a context
for applying and for acquiring knowledge. The key point is that funds of knowledge are
constituted through events or activities. That is, funds of knowledge are not possessions or
traits of people in the family but characteristics of people in an activity (Moll & Greenberg,
1990). Knowledge is therefore obtained by the children, not imposed by the adults. This
knowledge is clearly content or knowledge based and seldom insignificant. The notion of
culture is a dynamic entity, not simply a collection of foods, clothes, and holidays, but a
way of using social, physical, spiritual, and economic resources to make one’s way in the
world. They (funds) usually matter, that is, they are authentic. It is when the content of the
interactions is significant or necessary that people are motivated to establish the social
contexts for the transfer or utilization of knowledge and other resources. It is this social
relationship that is so intriguing and carries with it the potential hypothesis for the importance of this dynamic cultural match between teacher and student. Without a focus on
these social relationships and persons in activities, it is very easy for outsiders (educators)
to underestimate the wealth of funds of knowledge available in ethnic, or working class
households.
Many educators continue to devalue the household knowledge of non-mainstream
children. Households are often viewed as units from which the student must be rescued,
rather than as reserve of knowledge that can foster the child’s cognitive development. The
National Center for Research on Cultural Diversity and Second Language Learning has
shown that numerous “funds of knowledge,” found within the households, could form the
basis for curriculum units in science, math, language arts, and other subjects (Gonzalez,
Moll, Floyd-Tenery, Rivera, Rendon, Gonzales & Amanti, 1993). Funds of knowledge are
available in these households regardless of the families’ years of formal schooling or prominence assigned to literacy. Yet this knowledge and its forms of transmission, rarely make
their way into classrooms in any substantive way (Moll & Greenberg, 1990). Funds of
knowledge represent a major, undeveloped resource for academic instruction that can be
provided by teachers with cultural congruence, especially ethnic teachers with the same
background and language skills. Greenberg (1989) has referred to classrooms without these
arrangements as “zones of underdevelopment."
Cultural congruence does not mean an attempt to replicate a home or community
environment in the classroom. Research on cultural congruence recognizes that the home
and school are different settings with different functions in students’ lives. Culturally
congruent educational classrooms and practices include features of the students’ home
culture but do not result in activities and environments identical to those of the home. It
recognizes that the home and school are unique environments with different functions in
students’ lives. Nor does culturally responsive instruction entail changes in the purposes
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of education or the goals of schooling. A review of the literature indicates that the research
in cultural congruence has taken a rather moderate position by accepting that the goals of
schooling for students of diverse backgrounds are essentially the same as the goals for
students of mainstream backgrounds (Moll & Greenberg, 1990), that is, to help them acquire the skills and knowledge needed for success in the larger society. This type of instruction, however, need not be associated only with conventional school goals.
A review of the literature suggests that to be an effective teacher, you need an indepth knowledge of the subject matter, a repertoire of teaching strategies and a deep
knowledge of the culture and history of the students you are teaching. The concept of
providing “supportive environments for children (Delgado-Gaitan, 1987, p. 131)”... in
which the validity and integrity of the (home) culture of the student can be confirmed as an
extension of the knowledge base of the teacher is educationally enhancing. Cultural and
linguistic identification between students and teacher is desirable as teachers provide
positive role models that both enhance the self-esteem of their students and provide greater
contextual and interaction opportunities (Walker, 1987). According to Cummins (1996),
these types of interactions are central to the “empowerment of language minority students."
Funds of knowledge for teaching involves five central activities: (1) training teachers
in ethnographic methods of collecting information, (2) conducting ethnographic analysis of
the transmission of knowledge and skills in the home and community, (3) analyzing the
contents and methods of typical school lessons, (4) conducting collaborative study by
teacher/researchers of ethnographic inquiries and classroom practices where teachers can
use community information to experiment with classroom instruction; and (5) developing
instructional units that use the content and methods of home knowledge to inform the
content and methods of school learning.
The strategy of tapping into community funds of knowledge for developing instructional strategies is exemplified by the story of Jacobo, a Latino fourth grader in a South
Central Los Angeles classroom.
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Jacobo’s Story
Concerned that Jacobo was unwilling or unable to engage in literacy activities,
Jacobo’s teacher had all but given up, describing him as “educationally handicapped”.
Two student teachers, both Latinas, noticing that Jacobo had not displayed stereotypic antisocial or rebellious behavior associated with “educationally handicapped” students, decided to explore his home and community environment for clues to his literacy
disposition. They requested and were able to set up a home visit with Jacobo’s parents.
Jacobo was a bright young man who fared well with other students and did not
cause “problems” in the classroom. He was well mannered in class, but refused to participate in any activities that included the use of reading and writing in the lesson. He enthusiastically participated in other activities where he could experience successful outcomes
that did not require the need to communicate using the written word. The student ethnographers reported that Jacobo seemed to respond best when inquiries and instruction were
conducted in Spanish and when the lessons or interactions were embedded in culturally
relevant settings.
The two student teachers, the classroom teacher and the university supervisor participated in the subsequent parent interview at the student’s home.
The meeting took place in a rather small single family dwelling located in what had
once been considered an average middle class neighborhood but was now labeled “innercity.” The ethnic make up of the neighborhood consisted of both lower income AfricanAmerican and Latino families. The front yard which had once sported a well manicured
lawn was now exclusively brown dirt and was enclosed by a chain link fence. Four empty
milk crates supported a rather old, stripped down automobile in the center of the yard.
The four educators were warmly greeted at the front door by Jacobo’s mother and
escorted inside the small, clean home to a small card table that was covered by a plastic red
and white checkerboard patterned tablecloth. She offered the visitors soft drinks as they
were being seated.
Jacobo’s mother was a small woman with dark black hair, warm brown eyes and
was simply but proudly attired. She displayed physical features that are often acquainted
with the Mexican culture. Jacobo’s father entered the room and shook each visitors hand as
he courteously welcomed them. He too was a small man with parted black hair, a moustache and was dressed in a blue denim shirt and khaki slacks. His clothing was typical of
that used by auto mechanics and garage attendants. Jacobo was also present, well groomed
and appearing a bit nervous keeping his head lowered and never really looking directly at
the educators.
After a brief sharing of introductions and small amenities the educators discovered
that Jacobo’s family had come from Guadalajara, Mexico. The father had been trained in
secundaria (high school) in auto mechanics, specializing in hydraulics. As he began to
share his personal history, Jacobo’s demeanor noticeably changed. As the father talked of
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ness improved. All at once the normally quiet young man started to add to the discussion
displaying a remarkable understanding of automotive discourse. His enthusiasm was
evident to all, but what really was astonishing was his obvious knowledge of the subject. It
was apparent to the educators that they had stumbled onto something important.
Conversation continued and a range of topics were covered including an invitation
to Jacobo’s father to visit the classroom to share his automotive expertise with the rest of
the class. Jacobo displayed obvious pride in the invitation that was extended to his father.
The educators eventually thanked Jacobo’s parents for their hospitality as they left the
house.
After meeting and discussing the home visit with the master teacher and the university supervisor, the two student teachers devised a strategy to bridge Jacobo’s highly developed mechanical knowledge and abilities to the language arts curriculum. As suggested by
the student teachers, the teacher asked Jacobo to develop a journal utilizing the language
experience approach during “reading time." His assignment was to create an automotive/
tool journal to be used as a resource in the classroom for other students interested in building and mechanics. Jacobo took to the task enthusiastically. After several entries in which
Jacobo drew illustrations and described tools and other materials to the student teachers for
their transcription into the student authored journal, Jacobo confidently moved on to writing other journals about topics of importance to him such as his siblings and a recent trip to
an auto show with his father. These journals were utilized as reading material for Jacobo’s
literacy development. Rather than shy away from all things linguistic, he previously had
refused any task requiring reading or writing activity, Jacobo became invested in journal
writing. Indeed, he spontaneously began reading back his entries to the student teachers,
often following them around the room to do so. The teacher felt that this was the first
academic context in which Jacobo had experienced success. In her words, this was “a
major breakthrough.” She also felt that the cultural lens that the student teachers used to
recognize Jacobo’s talents was much the cause. Jacobo eventually was able to transfer the
abilities he developed in journal composing (and reading) to other curricular areas in the
classroom.
This use of the funds of knowledge from the home exemplifies how teachers’ observations and access to community or family knowledge can be used to design and implement successful teaching strategies in which children’s areas of cognitive strength and
interest are used to engage crucial academic areas. In the face of increasing cultural diversity, educators more than ever need new avenues for understanding how children think.
Utilizing existing funds of knowledge provides a lens with which to distinguish the diverse
ways that children are able to solve important problems and fashion valuable products.
Interventions such as Jacobo’s tool journal demonstrate how teachers can use culturally
responsive pedagogy to bolster students’ weaknesses by capitalizing on their strengths and
interests.
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ACTIVITY ONE -- WHAT IS CULTURE?
3hr session - 10hrs outside class reading & group discussions in class
Goal
To become familiar with the concept of
culture.
Procedures
Compose a short paper comparing different
interpretations of what culture is:
(The instructor will become familiar with
the relevant aspects of teachers’
background knowledge and experiences.)
As an opening activity, to be done outside
of the class, read a variety of articles that
conceptualize, somewhat differently, what
culture is. For each reading, answer these
questions:
Materials
Suggested Readings attached (others may
be substituted, instructor may assign as
many or as few readings as desired).
These readings were chosen because they
represent culture within educational
settings. They are key to education. They
were also chosen because their titles them
selves are indicative of the content of
the articles.
• What constitutes culture, according to the
author(s)?
• What dimension of culture, exactly, is the
author analyzing?
• Where does culture come from?
• How is it formed? How does it affect us?
Once you have reviewed a fair sampling of
ideas, write a short paper (no more than 5
pages) comparing and contrasting the main
ideas of these readings. Be prepared to
share your findings with the rest of your
group.
Form a discussion group with two or three
other teacher participants.
Determine the important characteristics of
summary statements in the group.
Designate a spokesperson for the group,
and participate in the large group
discussion.
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SUGGESTED READINGS
Banks, J.A. The Stages of Ethnicity. In: Richard-Amato, & Snow (1992). The
Multicultural Classroom: Readings for Content-Area Teachers. pp. 93-101.
Brown, H.D. Sociocultural Factors in Teaching Language Minority Students. In: Rich
ard-Amato, & Snow (1992). The Multicultural Classroom: Readings for ContentArea Teachers. pp. 73-92.
Forbes, J.D. (1997). “The Native Intellectual Tradition in Relation to Race, Gender and
Class.” pp. 55-65 in Race, Gender, and Class in Sociology: Toward an Inclusive
Curriculum, edited by J. Belkhir and McNair Barnett. Washington, D.C.: American
Sociological Association.
Grant, C. A. & Sleeter C.E. (1988). “Race, Class, and Gender and Abandoned Dreams.”
Teachers College Record 90(1, Fall). pp. 19-40.
Heath, S.B. Sociocultural Contexts of Language Development: Implications for the
Classroom. In: Richard-Amato, & Snow (1992). The Multicultural Classroom:
Readings for Content-Area Teachers. pp. 102-125.
Moll, L., & Greenberg, J. (1990). Creating Zones of Possibilities: Coming Social
Contexts for Instruction. In L. Moll (Ed.), Vygotsky and Education: Instructional
Implications and Applications of Socio-Historical Psychology. pp 319-348.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ogbu, J. & Matute-Bianchi, M.E. (1986). Understanding Sociocultural Factors:
Knowledge, Identity, and School Adjustment. In California State Department of
Education (Ed.), Beyond Language: Social and Cultural Factors in Schooling
Language Minority Students. pp. 73-142. Los Angeles: California State University,
Los Angeles.
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Effective Strategies for English Language Acquisition: Curriculum Guide for the Professional Development of Teachers. Los Angeles: LAAMP/ARCO. (1999)
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ACTIVITY TWO -- CULTURE IN YOUR HOME
3hr session - Group discussions in class
Goal
To explore the concept of the culture of
your own home and to discover differences
among individuals.
Procedures
Most households are governed by a set of
unwritten “rules” or norms. Since children
grow up with these rules, they don’t think of
them as rules at all, but simply as the way
things are. Most of us take these norms for
granted until we encounter people with very
different norms. In this activity you are to
examine who you are as a cultural being.
Materials
Handout:
Activity Worksheet 2 (Appendix B.1)
Individually complete Activity Worksheet 2
(Appendix B.1). Consider the different
cultural elements in the first column and
think about how they were addressed in
your childhood household and how you
have established them in your own adult
household. Compare the two columns and
determine the extent to which your own
adult household is similar to that in which
you were raised.
Form discussion groups with two or three
other teacher participants, and compare
your responses to the items on the
worksheet. Identify any points of
significant difference.
Participate in the general discussion about
culture at home.
• What experiences have you had in which you
were placed in a situation where you did not
know the “rules”? How did you cope with it?
• Have you known students in a school setting
whose home cultures were quite different from
your own? How did you discover that?
• How did you help those students cope?
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ACTIVITY THREE -- CLASSROOM CULTURE
3hr session - Group discussions in class
Goal
To recognize how the concept of culture can
be applied to classrooms and the
consequences for some students of being
placed in an unfamiliar setting.
Procedures
Classrooms, like households, have cultures. That
is, they have unspoken “rules” and norms that
determine how people act and relate to one
another. Most teachers are not fully aware of the
cultures of their own classrooms, particularly if
they are similar to those in which they were
students. In addition, many teachers tend to
create classroom cultures with norms similar to
those in their own households.
Materials
Handout:
Activity Worksheet 3 (Appendix B.2)
In the same groups used for Activity
Worksheet 2 (Culture in Your Home),
complete Activity Worksheet 3 (Appendix
B.2). You will have to determine ways in
which different aspects of classroom culture
are established in the classroom setting. You
may have to make some educated guesses
for some of the items.
Participate in the group discussion about
classroom culture.
• In your own teaching, what kind of classroom
culture do (or did) you establish? Do you think
that there are some students for whom
elements of that culture might be
uncomfortable? If yes, why?
• What patterns can you identify in school
settings with which you are familiar in which
certain students are at a systematic
disadvantage because of cultural mismatch
between their homes and the norms of the
school?
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ACTIVITY FOUR -- ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY
Timeframe to be determined by instructor.* Group discussions in class. Fieldwork
observations in students' classrooms and homes.
Goal
Procedures
The case study is designed to develop the
Each teacher participant in the training will be
teacher as a researcher as well as to assist
responsible for conducting an ethnographic case
the teacher in better understanding the
study of a K-12 student whose race, ethnicity or
intersection of culture and schooling
language differs from his or her own. The
through the eyes of an individual student.
student to be studied may be a member of the
This research endeavor will allow teachers
participating staff member’s own class but need
to examine how issues such as language,
not be.
culture, and social class effect students’ life
*The ethnographic assignment should be introduced
chances. It also provides a framework
and reviewed at the beginning of the workshop
within which teachers define and shape the
sessions by the instructor, with an understanding
way they think about the role that
that it is both the primary focus and culmi...
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