TEACHERS' FUNDS OF KNOWLEDGE
Teachers become more reflective practitioners when they recognise how their actions and decisions … are grounded in the multiplicity of life experiences they bring to it (Yelland & Grieshaber, 2000, p. 1).
Christine - …. it was fascinating for me to watch my own personal and professional development because of the questions that you asked and the way I put it all together …. I can see how I have become the person that I have become. (COI/17)
Introduction
Throughout their lives, teachers' knowledge has been built incrementally in their own families, centres and communities. Building on teachers' professional knowledge during the research continued this learning process. The present study examined how children, teachers and a researcher might co-construct a community of inquiry
investigating interests-based curriculum and pedagogy. This chapter specifically addresses the third and fourth sub-questions of the study:
• What professional knowledge do teachers use to assess and respond meaningfully to children's interests and inquiry and generate authentic teaching and learning programmes?
• How might a researcher utilise research partnerships to blur the boundaries between research, practice and professional learning?
Findings reveal the range of evidence types that informed teacher knowledge and decision-making about co-constructing a curriculum on children's interests. In analysing data to interpret the third question, a range of formal and informal knowledge was apparent in the complexities of teacher action and decision-making. The literature that suggested teachers' personal and professional lives have a
symbiotic relationship as teaching involves personal and professional investment (Day, 2004; Nieto et al., 2002) was influential in developing interpretation of teacher understanding and practice in the present study. This chapter argues that while
engaging in curriculum decision-making and implementation, teachers drew primarily on funds of knowledge gained from their personal and professional experiences in their families and communities, supporting the notions of social, family and
community capital as central to learning. Further, consistent with Moll et al.'s (1992) notion that funds of knowledge are not static but dynamic, ways in which they are developed, enhanced and stimulated through participation in social and cultural activities are identified.
In the first part of this chapter the notion of funds of knowledge explains categories of teachers' informal knowledge. Extending Moll et al.'s definition, these form the bodies of knowledge (including information, skills and strategies), that underlie the functioning, development and well-being of teachers and learners in educational settings. Further, it is argued that funds of knowledge commonly complement, reinforce and filter formal knowledge in teachers' decision-making.
The second part of the chapter addresses ways participation in the research extended teacher knowledge and understanding. Much professional development for teachers in the past has adopted a transmission model of information sharing (e.g., see Falk, 2001; Liebermann & Miller, 2001; Little, 1999). Instead, drawing on the thinking of various writers (e.g., Buysse, Wesley & Able-Boone, 2001; Cullen, 2004; Timperley, 2004; Wells, 1999, 2001a, 2002), my model for professional learning was to co- construct a community of inquiry with the teachers for the purpose of improving practice. My aim was, in part, to have teachers create more coherent working theories with theoretical underpinnings that they could employ. This notion is supported by the concept of a spiral of knowing, and consistent with the ongoing improvement in teachers' working theories through action research spirals discussed by Haworth et al. (2006). Research data about the children's interests and inquiries triggered the
teachers' reflective dialogue and inquiry, supported by my provocations, in a spiral manner.
Teachers' funds of knowledge
The contested nature of knowledge has become a source of wide debate (e.g., see Bereiter, 2002). Recent research evidence about the importance of professional knowledge and qualified teachers supports present policy moves in NZ to increase the number of qualified teachers in early childhood education (Ministry of Education, 2002). However, many teachers are likely to bring to their teaching practice a range of formal and informal knowledge and evidence that impact on their curriculum
decision-making and interpretation. Drawing on Claxton's (1990) thinking, this knowledge is likely to inform teachers' own implicit or working theories. Acting on working theories about constructing curriculum built on children's interests may rely on practical knowledge, rather than deeper understanding at a theoretical level. Claxton also notes that such practical or working knowledge often continues to influence decision-making, even after teachers have been exposed to and accepted some form of intellectual knowledge. The interplay of teachers' professional knowledge, whether the knowledge is formal or informal, demonstrated the
complexity of evidence brought to teacher decision-making. Understanding teacher knowledge was especially significant because co-construction of interests-based curriculum most commonly occurred when children's and teachers' interests and knowledge coincided.
As discussed earlier, some researchers have recently developed the notion of teachers' funds of knowledge (Andrews et al., 2005; Gupta, 2006). The following
interpretation extends these analyses further. In short, I consider the mix of informal knowledge that teachers bring to bear on curriculum decision-making. This is undertaken from a funds of knowledge perspective consistent with the notion that González et al. (2005) and Moll et al. (1992) applied to understanding children's learning, and my interpretation in the previous chapter that other social and cultural experiences can also be viewed as additional funds of knowledge.
These funds of knowledge interconnect in teacher decision making and are not mutually exclusive. Like the previous chapter, teachers' funds of knowledge are categorised in three ways: family-based funds of knowledge, centre-based funds of knowledge and community-based funds of knowledge. This analysis highlights, as with the children in chapter six, that parents form a key pedagogical relationship in which teachers access funds of knowledge. Further, people who teachers have worked with during their careers form centre-based pedagogical relationships and sources of funds of knowledge. Teachers' age, maturity and experience means they have been exposed to many more pedagogical relationships than children in their communities and, therefore unlike chapter six, this section has the most categories. All categories of teachers' funds of knowledge are derived from the data. The categories discussed are:
Family-based funds of knowledge: • personal and family experiences • relationships with children
Centre-based funds of knowledge: • relationships with children • teacher beliefs and values • influential role models
Community-based funds of knowledge: • teacher education influences • professional learning programmes • other study
• professional and academic reading • networking
Family-based funds of knowledge Personal and family experiences
The socio-historical impact of teachers' families' funds of knowledge was evident. As an example of a working theory, personal and professional qualities were identified by teachers as important to the way they recognised and responded to children's interests. Qualities and dispositions such as patience (Angela, Claire, Louise and Wendy), flexibility, spontaneity (Angela), empathy and ability to interpret body language (Barbara), being respectful, caring and trustworthy (Claire), and kindness (Wendy) were mentioned alongside others such as risk taking, being proactive and making the most of opportunities, having personal motivation (Christine), being a good listener and communicator with children and adults (Kylie and Louise), being passionate, enthusiastic and excited about teaching, having stamina and being reflective (Louise), being interested and open to new ideas, and having empathy and affinity with people from diverse backgrounds (Theresia). Those that each teacher identified were also evident in their practice, indicating congruence between working theories and action.
Two extracts of data are provided, followed by further findings about their influence on teachers in their curriculum provision.
Table 7.1 Personal and family experiences
Interview data Funds of knowledge identified in practice in fieldnotes Angela - … and my family
and friends [have influenced me] too. Like Mum, she's very similar to the way I am, like very caring my Mum is and very understanding and things like that. I look at myself now and I do things that Mum would have done … just different little values and Mum never really raised her voice. She's always really calm and
understanding towards mistakes you might have made because we learn from them. (TI/3)
Barbara - I used to take my kids walking through the forest and I think that comes through from my Dad as well. He used to know a lot of native trees and the names and it's like if we don't pass down that knowledge a lot of parents aren't interested in a lot of nature stuff, I am. (TI/26)
[Angela is at the playdough with Immy, Billie, Safiya and Marcella.] [Some playdough] falls on the floor and Immy stands on it accidentally. "Ooh, squashy squishy." She adds more to the dough pile and stamps and slides on it. … She then gathers it into a big lump and stands on it again. She is excited to notice it squishing through her toes and tells me "slippery." Her feet then begin to slide from underneath her and she tells me with a huge grin "going on slide ….” … Marcella has been watching all of this quite intently for a while. Billie now moves back to the collage table so Marcella uses this opportunity to get Billie's pile of dough, put it on the floor and stamps in it too. She also clearly enjoys the feel on her feet and the effects she can have on it. … Safiya is now also standing on dough "Look at me Helen." It is becoming quite a mess and I am curious that the teachers have let it happen. They seem to let messy play go further than I would personally; they are much more accepting and relaxed about children's exploration. (1K/221)
After Barbara has laid fresh paper and got fresh food for the mice, she suggests getting dandelion flowers for them to eat. I ask her how she knows they like these. She thinks and says she had mice when she was younger, she probably read it
somewhere and the only fresh things they like are dandelion flowers and winter grass. (1K/171)
They have rescued a baby bird [at home]. Barbara asks her if they are feeding it worms and [Name] says "bread with milk on it." Barbara says she will have to tell Mum not to do that as that will kill it. I ask her why and she tells me that birds can't drink milk, it gives them diarrhoea. I ask her how she knows all these things and she can't explain it - it's clearly personal life
experience coupled with an interest in these things. (1K/195- 196)
Angela's values and practice were influenced by her mother's personal qualities and parenting style. In the first example, Angela's warm demeanour, patience and understanding helped children feel safe engaging in interests involving spontaneous exploration and messy play when she was responsible for them, particularly in the art room or sandpit. In the second example, Barbara's father stimulated her childhood interests and experiences in nature. These experiences provide funds of knowledge she acts on intuitively in her teaching alongside her formal knowledge of biology, a subject of interest, and her interest in nature and gardening. Louise also
acknowledged her father's funds of knowledge as influencing her interest in art and music.