Making a Case for a Funds of Knowledge Approach to Teaching and Learning for First-Generation College Students

Abstract

First-generation college (FGC) students compose nearly a third of the total student population in most four-year higher education institutions in the United States. Yet they graduate in drastically lower rates than their non-first-generation peers. To understand how these students can persist with their college learning, faculty need to reconceptualize the framework of how they teach toward these students’ learning of subject matter. This commentary paper argues for a funds of knowledge approach to understanding the learning in college classrooms for FGC students, as well as the important role of faculty in shaping the overall college-learning experiences for these students.

Keywords:

• Faculty
• first-generation college students
• teaching and learning

Notes

1 First-generation college students graduate from four-year higher education institutions at a significantly lower rate (12%) when compared to non-first-generation college students (59%) (National Center for Education Statistics 2015).

2 Such factors include the extent to which first-generation college students find the institution, administrators, faculty, and other students as making their social and cultural transition to campus easier and more welcoming. See for example: Bensimon (2007) and Hurtado et al. (1998).

3 This support, however, is often given through verbal persuasion. See for examples: Bandura (1997) and Dortch (2016).

4 Chávez and Longerbeam (2018) argue that the use of cultural learning frameworks—i.e., the cultural contexts and ways of thinking that shape individuals’ learning experiences—is essential for the teaching and learning of diverse students in college classrooms. Drawing on cognitive and culturally relevant frames, these authors make a case for why such a framework is needed in our current times.

5 Osei-Kofi et al. (2004) argue that culturally inclusive college classrooms requires faculty to think deeply about themselves and their views of the world, and how such views may shape their teaching towards subject matter learning for diverse students. As such, these authors argue that culturally inclusive may require more time and effort than faculty are willing to put in.

6 Tuitt (2003) showcases the work of K–12 and higher education scholars who have argued for and demonstrated ways to incorporate inclusive pedagogy in the classroom.