Compelling Counternarratives to Deficit Discourses: An Investigation into the Funds of Knowledge of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse U.S. Elementary Students’ Households

Abstract

This study focused on household funds of knowledge or “historically accumulated bodies of knowledge and skills essential for household functioning and well-being” (Gonzalez, Andrade, Civil, & Moll, 2001). A Funds of Knowledge approach provides both a methodological and theoretical lens for educators to understand both themselves and their students in more complex ways. Participants included five culturally, economically, and linguistically diverse students and their families. The study setting was a middle- and working-class first-ring suburb in the Midwestern United States. Data collection included visits to home, church, and Sunday school settings; observations in Language Arts classroom settings; and informal conversations and ethnographic semi-structured interviews with students, parents, and teachers. Data sources included interview transcripts; fieldnotes and reflections on those fieldnotes; and data collected from each student’s school cumulative folder. I coded parent and child interview and home visit data to create a multifaceted portrait of each household. Findings reveal that households possess a breadth and variety of resources, skills, bodies of knowledge, and strengths. These findings provide compelling counterevidence to deficit discourses by demonstrating that these households possess valuable knowledge and experiences.