“This is What My Kids See Every Day”: Bilingual Pre-service Teachers Embracing Funds of Knowledge through Border Thinking Pedagogy

ABSTRACT

The present qualitative case study examines how community-based lessons impacted the practices, perspectives, and internship placement experiences of 16 bilingual pre-service teachers. Grounded in the concepts of funds of knowledge and border thinking pedagogy, the findings revealed that bilingual pre-service teachers drew on local knowledge to create community-based lessons; these lessons supported student engagement and participation, and they helped pre-service teachers develop a sense of belonging and connection. We end with important implications for the field of teacher education regarding the (re)framing of teacher preparation programs so that they center on learning with and from students’ and communities’ funds of knowledge.

KEYWORDS:

• Bilingual
• border pedagogy
• funds of knowledge
• teacher preparation

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Katherine Espinoza

Katherine Espinoza is an Assistant Professor of Bilingual and English as a Second Language Education at Texas A&M University–San Antonio. Her research interests explore issues related to equity and social justice within bilingual education by centering Latinx identity construction of students, preservice and in-service teachers.

Idalia Nuñez

Idalia Nuñez is an Assistant Professor of Language and Literacy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research focuses on addressing linguistic equity in teaching and learning to support the educational experience of emergent bilinguals from Latinx backgrounds.

Enrique David Degollado

Enrique David Degollado is a Post-Doctoral Scholar in Language Education at The University of Iowa. His research focuses on the influence of Latinx bilingual education teachers’ lived experiences on their language and literacy ideologies and pedagogical practices.