Transforming teacher–family relationships: shifting roles and perceptions of home visits through the Funds of Knowledge approach

Abstract

Education has embraced the idea of an ‘asset approach’ to working with families and children, creating a focus on developing collaborative relationships with families by building on what they bring to the table. In this paper we explore what happened when early childhood teachers entered homes to learn from families and identify their Funds of Knowledge. The findings show how issues of power and perception surfaced when teachers attempted to shift their role from that of teacher to learner. In analyzing teachers’ experience before, during, and after ethnographic home visits we saw their general desire to adopt an asset-based mentality. However, the hegemonic structure of schooling, previous experiences, and traditional teachers’ roles shaped their experience with the Funds of Knowledge framework. We end by discussing the implications for teachers and teacher educators who are interested in using home visits to develop an asset approach to their work with families.

Keywords:

• Home–school relationships
• home visits
• Funds of Knowledge
• early childhood
• family engagement

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Beth Graue, Bethany Wilinski, and Jiwon Kim for their feedback on this article.