Mobilising funds of identity in and out of school

Abstract

Learning happens through participation in formal community events and informal community activities. However, learning activities that take place in and out of school are often not mutually recognised. Funds of knowledge projects foster new ways of exchanging learning experiences in and out of school. Funds of identity can be uncovered by teachers through the collection of artefacts, interests and practices that are valuable to children. Specifically, videos, photographs, self-portraits, bilingual texts, diaries or ‘shoeboxes of significant items’ are some of the resources that can be used to make a learner’s funds of identity more visible and tangible in the classroom. The main aim of this paper is to illustrate a number of resources and strategies that help to identify and mobilise funds of identity. These funds of identity are integral for educators in order to develop meaningful and contextualised lessons.

Keywords:

• Funds of knowledge
• funds of identity
• sociocultural approach
• culture-based teaching
• arts-based research

Funding

This work was supported by La Caixa Foundation [grant number RecerCaixa program, call 2013]; Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation [grant number EDU2009-08891].