Origin and development of the Funds of Knowledge approach: a path yet to be followed / Origen y desarrollo de la aproximación de los Fondos de Conocimiento. Un camino aún por recorrer

This conceptual article argues for the importance of placing creativity at the center of second language (L2) learning and takes music as an illustration of the potential benefits to teachers and learners. The value of music as a resource for L2 education derives from our primary experiences of music as both physical and emotional, thus creating embodied understandings of patterns, rhythms, and words that engage us cognitively and emotionally. Throughout human history, the combination of melody, rhythm, tempo, and structure of each culture’s music has served as a memory tool, a celebration of shared meaning, a space for culturally determined emotional arousal, and a mediator of cooperative physical activity. Following Kozulin’s (1998) analysis of psychological tools as cultural constructions (e.g., numbers, graphic organizers, maps, language, etc.) that allow us to organize our mental functions, music is identified as a unique psychological tool in that it prioritizes and regulates emotive factors along with cognitive factors of development. In this way, music offers possibilities for creating Zones of Proximal Development (ZPD) through activity that advances cognitive goals, such as L2 teaching and learning, and that simultaneously provokes emotional responses and engagement. The paper discusses key features of Vygotskian Sociocultural Theory, including psychological tools (Kozulin, 1998; Lantolf and Thorne, 2006), the ZPD (Vygotsky, 1978), and perezhivanie (Mok, 2015; Vygotsky, 1934/1998), considering how together they lead to a way of approaching L2 teaching and learning that favors creativity and playfulness over grammar rules and that can be advanced through the integration of music into classroom activity.

Research shows that the exclusion of families’ funds of knowledge (FoK) from the curriculum contributes to low levels of school engagement. This study is part of an ongoing research project aiming to promote school engagement among students from immigrant backgrounds through the strategic use of FoK. We provide an overview of the project design and explain how it has been implemented in the specific context of early childhood education in a school in Catalonia. A qualitative approach is used to assess the effect of the process from the teacher perspective, contrasting positive aspects with some of the difficulties experienced. We conclude that including families’ FoK in pedagogical practice can contribute towards improving student engagement and fostering more inclusive educational environments.

Many scholars have found the theoretical, methodological and pedagogical legacy of Luis Moll’s concept of Funds of Knowledge (FK) valuable. In our collaborative research with teachers in early childhood education, we have applied FK to address the power imbalance that can exist between families and teachers. Our research built upon the work of Moll and his colleagues to highlight the importance of teachers finding ways to learn about children’s lives and sustaining reciprocal relationships with families. Focusing on the centrality of children’s interests to curriculum-making in early childhood, we have explored and exemplified how FK can enable teachers to develop deeper understandings of interests being embedded within children’s diverse life experiences. Reporting on research from opposite sides of the globe, we also address how different curricular policy contexts for early childhood education create possibilities and challenges for teachers to enact an FK approach in their practice with children and families.

Focusing on using strength-based practices in special education broadens the perspectives of students with disabilities, their families, and people that provide supports (e.g., educators, counselors) regarding the positive traits that students with disabilities demonstrate and how they can use these attributes to achieve valued life outcomes. Measuring, understanding, and building on strengths are the mission of the field of positive psychology, which can provide a framework for practitioners in the disability field to build on strengths and enhance systems of support and quality of life outcomes. Practitioners, including special and general educators, related service providers, psychologists, and counselors, can use positive psychological assessments and interventions to promote positive student school and postschool outcomes, including well-being, achievement, and leadership. This article (1) provides an overview of how positive psychology can provide a framework for strength-based approaches, (2) highlights specific positive psychological assessment tools and interventions, (3) describes how to implement positive psychological assessment tools and interventions in educational contexts with students with disabilities, and (4) identifies areas for future research to promote positive and meaningful outcomes. Low-cost strength-based assessments and interventions can be used in diverse educational settings to promote positive student school and postschool outcomes. Future research should test hypotheses related to how strength assessments and interventions can promote personal strengths across educational contexts (e.g., inclusive, general education classrooms) with students with diverse personal characteristics and support needs.

The goal of the study on which this article is based was to examine teachers' perspectives on the effectiveness of adopting a Vygotskian sociocultural approach to teaching and learning in the classrooms.The study used focus group interview discussions to gather views from 20 classroom practitioners who had completed a BEd Hons in Education Psychology.The teachers were from five secondary schools in the Gauteng region.Among the key concepts explored in the focus group discussions (FGDs) were the role of scaffolding when linked to mediated learning experiences (MLEs), the use of situated learning experiences in the learners' zones of proximal development (ZPD), and how the approach helped transform the learners' skills from lower to higher psychological functions through the use of material, psychological and semiotic tools in the classroom.The analysis of the data followed a thematic approach, with emerging codes being clustered into code families.Among the key findings of the study was the view of teachers that adopting a multipronged strategy that includes the use of authentic learning conversations, learning tools (material, psychological, and semiotic) and situated learning experiences goes a long way towards fostering useful teaching and learning.The study illustrated that classroom practitioners do need to take into account and adopt the many and varied benefits that can be derived from an authentic sociocultural approach to teaching and learning.

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this conceptual paper is to examine how adopting a social constructivist epistemology enhances equity pedagogy in the classroom. The paper thus adopts a Vygotskian conceptual framework in so far as it serves as an ideal model for improving learning equity among students from diverse socio-cultural backgrounds. As a conceptual as opposed to empirical study, the key concepts explored in this discussion are in relation to how the social constructivist approach to teaching and learning enhances equitable learning, how mediated learning experiences (MLE), situated learning activities in the learners’ zones of proximal development (ZPD) help scaffold students skills from lower to higher psychological functions through the use of learning tools (material, psychological and semiotic tools) as well as through the use of learning conversations (LC) and some forms of indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) in the constructivist classrooms. Among the key findings of this study was the view that adop...

PurposeThe purpose of this contribution is to encourage library and information (LIS) professionals to draw on the initiatives by Carol Kuhlthau to align information seeking with learning theories and new roles for intermediaries. Considering the vast array of developments in information communication technology (ICT), and the challenges and pressures for continuing professional development (CPD) and reflection, it seems timely to encourage experimentation with the ideas of Kuhlthau on Zones of Intervention and Lev Vygotsky on Zones of Proximal Development (ZPD), as means to become au fait with these theories, ideas and related research, and to apply these theories and ideas on a practical level to offer opportunities for the continuing professional development of LIS professionals with specific reference to ICT, and to eventually also impact on the training of users.Design/methodology/approachThis contribution will be written against the background of research from information literacy, information behaviour (including information seeking), the learning theory of Vygotsky on Zones of Proximal Development, and continuing professional development.FindingsAlthough the information seeking process (ISP) model of Kuhlthau is widely cited, the idea of Zones of Intervention which she developed from the work of Vygotsky does unfortunately not feature strongly in the LIS literature. Considering the literature on Zones of Proximal Development, it can, however, hold much potential for LIS professionals to align support with information seeking with professional (optimal) development – especially if using the focus (Zones of Intervention and Zones of Proximal Development) as a means to become au fait, and if initially taking a more practical and relaxed approach as point of departure.Originality/valueRelatively few publications on Zones of Intervention and Zones of Proximal Development appear in the LIS literature. None of these are to the author's knowledge, aligned to the continuing professional development of LIS professionals on a practical level or with regard to fully exploiting ICT developments.

Background Rapid reviews involve a streamlined approach to knowledge synthesis. They are used to identify high-quality evidence for the purpose of informing decisions and initiatives, completed over relatively short timeframes, and have been found to reach conclusions that do not differ extensively from full systematic reviews. Although common in the health sector, rapid reviews are not as widespread in education. Purpose This paper reflects on the experiences of conducting a rapid review that applied review guidance from the health sector to a topic situated within education: effective Professional Learning (PL) for school-based educators. Our purpose is not to share the rapid review’s findings: rather, our interest lies in exploring the process of undertaking the review. We sought to investigate the methodological decisions we made for the education context as we carried out the review. Methods As part of a large-scale investigation focusing on practitioner use of research evidence in education, we undertook a rapid review to understand what is known about effective PL. Drawing on methodological literature from the health and education sectors, we documented the procedure involved in conducting our rapid review in education. At each step, we reflected on methodological issues encountered, decisions taken and the procedural adjustments we made to align the process to the education context. Findings Our reflections identify the key adaptations we made to ensure that review guidance was carefully attuned to the context of the education field and the wider purpose of the review: in our case, to inform an initiative in education. Considerations highlighted by our procedure also included the role of reviewer judgement in quality appraisal and attending to collaborative review team processes. These reflections support the notion that the use of research to inform decisions in education needs to be a dynamic, contextualised, and collaborative process. Conclusion Rapid reviews have a crucial part to play in efforts to strengthen evidence-informed practice in the education sector. Our methodological exploration offers insights for those conducting, using, and commissioning rapid reviews to provide systematic and transparent evidence-based guidance for initiatives in education.

Research SummaryRelatively limited research has been conducted on the evolutionary development of social capital during the internationalization process of small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). We address this issue through a qualitative study of 30 pairs of British and Indian SMEs that have developed international business relations with each other. We provide frameworks that illustrate how microfoundations create, modify, or dissolve network structures to achieve the desired outcomes at different stages of social capital development and internationalization. We identify that entrepreneurial characteristics and intentions influence the development of social capital and internationalization. We suggest that the stages of social capital evolution tend to accompany discrete stages of internationalization, albeit with some exceptions due to the nature of the industrial sectors and actors' dispositions towards business exchange.Managerial SummarySMEs are rapidly internationalizing, competing, and even collaborating with large enterprises across the globe. Studies note that social capital plays an important role in the internationalization process of SMEs. We examine the evolution of social capital and internationalization process of SMEs, finding an association between the phases of social capital development and stages of internationalization, and a cumulative effect in social capital formation as the process of internationalization unfolds once initiated. Common ethnicity can help move the process forward, while the strengthening of social ties based on the accumulation of trust is also an important factor in this evolution. The characteristics and intentions of entrepreneurs influence the speed of social capital development, whereas the type of business and industry in question influences its form.

This critical literature review examined how Luis Moll’s scholarship on Funds of Knowledge (FK) built upon, but also expanded, Vygotskian theoretical concepts. The study also explored how Moll’s novel contributions and the Vygotskian connections he employed inform studies about reading development with bilingual children with disabilities or experiencing reading difficulties. Drawing on a larger meta-synthesis, this study analyzed peer-reviewed articles that addressed language and culture in relation to reading development and that cited Luis Moll. The review explored how Moll’s novel contributions using Vygotsky’s theory had been appropriated, adapted or overlooked in these studies. The findings revealed that while some studies captured and built upon Moll’s novel contributions to Vygotskyan concepts, others failed to engage more robustly with his transformative vision regarding culture/mediated learning, zone of proximal development (ZPD) and everyday and scientific concepts. We argue that there is a need to address culture more consistently, engage with Moll’s expansive interpretations of Vygotsky’s concepts and promote the kinds of collaboration between researchers, teachers and the family and communities that Moll promoted throughout his professional career.

The development of a formative scenario-based computer assisted assessment tool in psychology for teachers: The PePCAA project

The Valuing Voices project (funded by Paul Hamlyn Foundation) offered an opportunity to reconsider the territorial boundaries of learning in the arts by a group of teachers, artists, pupils and university lecturers. This article will consider the importance of the troubling or discomfort exposed within the processes of learning over the life of the project (before it was paused due to the 2020 CO‐VID 19 pandemic). There is considerable interest in defining zones of discomfort as a means of understanding the importance of resilience and determination in learning. Much of this stems from the work of Vygotsky, who described zones of proximal development. His work has subsequently been applied to learning activities in general and his particular interest in learning in art has been overlooked. Paul Hamlyn Foundation recognised the challenges of developing effective teachers of art and wanted to provoke some alternative opportunities by funding a number of projects across the UK. Valuing Voices was one of these which grew from an existing alliance of schools (catering for a range of additional needs), a number of artists (visual, sound and movement) who had previously only worked in mainstream educational settings and university staff specialising in art education. An earlier project had facilitated some dialogue within their traditional roles, but Valuing Voices set out to explore something more challenging as everyone involved became part of a co‐construction team. Much is written about the processes of collaboration, teamwork, communities of practice and related models of multiple learners operating together. This article sets out the additional lessons learned by all Valuing Voices participants occupying the zone of learning originally described by Vygotsky, where there was no ‘knowledgeable other’ to enable and further the learning process and all must deal with feelings of inadequacies and immense uncertainties. This was produced in recognition that little literature has been published on the process of co‐construction itself. The structure adopted here sets out the issues, the development of the two‐year project and the emotional and cognitive aspects explored along the way.

This discussion builds on Vygotsky's description of the zone of proximal development (ZPD) as a "collective way of working together" to present a more radical, complex, and broadly practical ZPD than that of most contemporary research. Presented as both magical and mundane, this ZPD is seen as an activity, not as a zone. It refers to what people create together, rather than to a characteristic of individuals. It is a way to understand the unity of learning and development, rather than learning isolated from development. More specifically, it is seeing and relating to ZPDs as performance stages created by groupings of people who develop along with their stage-making, rather than as a means of assistance to move a child along to the next stage of development. The social-cultural practice of ZPD activity—simultaneously creating the zone and what is created —is deconstructed in both Vygotsky's writings and the tool-and-result methodology of the author. Illustrations of educational projects and practices utilizing this approach from different countries are discussed.

Educational change is a constant reality that is faced by school leaders today. These leaders are held more accountable than ever before for decisions being made. This chapter discusses the strengths in the continuous school improvement approach that develops both leadership and organisational capabilities such as collaboration, communication, and organisational trust within schools and school systems as they continue to deal with the ongoing onslaught of change and complexity present today. In these complex, ever-changing school contexts, leaders have to make multiple decisions on a daily basis. This chapter focuses on making sense of ‘how' and ‘why' data-informed decision-making continues its rising ascent and significance in educational leadership contexts within schools today. Through the accurate use of educational data within schools, a number of these decisions, can through collaborative decision-making processes assist school leaders and teachers in delivering better educational opportunities and outcomes for students.

Legislation prior to 2002 tended to reinforce the alienation, stigmatisation and disempowerment of mentally ill patients in South Africa. In line with international developments in mental health legislation, the Mental Health Care Act (2002) was promulgated in South Africa. Its core principles--human rights for users; decentralisation and integration of mental health care at primary, secondary and tertiary levels of care; and a focus on care, treatment and rehabilitation--are progressive and laudable. However, the task of implementing the requirements of the Act at community and district hospital levels is fraught with problems. Lack of infrastructure, inadequate skills and poor support and training undermine its successful implementation. Health workers already burdened with enormous workloads and inadequate resources struggle to manage mentally ill patients at district hospitals. The 72- hour observation is a particular area of difficulty throughout the country. This paper outlines the rationale and sense behind this legislation, discusses the problems encountered at the 'rock face', and offers solutions to the problem of translating principles into practice.