Cultural identities and their relevance to school practice

Abstract

In accordance with Esteban-Guitart and Moll's proposal of the notions of Funds of Knowledge and Funds of Identity as complementary, this paper investigates the notion of identity and its applicability in an educational setting. Our analysis adds a historical developmental dimension to the notion of Funds of Identity without which, the culture as well as the person tends to become fixated and perceivable only as objects in themselves. With a developmental attention, sensitive to the processes of creating novelties and maintenance over time, the exclusive separation is inevitable replaced with an inclusive separation, stressing the interdependent nature of psychological phenomena. In the last section of the paper, we investigate the implications of the proposal, now on an educational methodological level. Drawing on the Italian educational tradition called Sfondo Integratore, our investigations points to potentials beyond using students evolving identities as suitable 'channels' to the individual child's learning in an otherwise unaffected school.

A Synthesis of Funds of Identity Research: Purposes, Tools, Pedagogical Approaches, and Outcomes

“…This is also referred to as making lessons meaningful or contextualizing learning (Ordóñez et al, 2018; Subero et al, 2017; Subero et al, 2018). Drawing on students’ FoI is considered an improved, innovative approach to teaching (Hviid & Villadsen, 2014; Nogueira, 2014).…”

“…Subero et al (2017) explained how in the British Home-School Knowledge Exchange Project, students and families purposefully collected objects that were special to them and displayed them in a decorated shoebox (Hughes & Pollard, 2006). Inspired by the pedagogical methodology ‘The Integrating Background’ (Canevaro et al, 1988), Hviid and Villadsen (2014) proposed searching for “traces” (through observation and interviews with children) that could be considered aspects of children’s evolving personality (with a history and a potential future): “Things children keep in their pockets or bags, books children want to have read again, spaces children go to on the playground, themes children play, toys children prefer, events children refer to or draw, etc.” (p. 66). They also suggested making up stories together, playing, and constructing together as methods to identify FoI.…”

Culture & Psychology: 25 Constructive years

“…This is a viable option—yet what is needed most is a concept that emphasizes flexibility of human action. Efforts to overcome that problem have involved turning away from the essentialist core toward some version of dynamic conceptualization of identity, as Hviid and Villadsen (2014, p. 65) have pointed out, a developmentalconception of identity should enlighten us on the phenomenon of identity, a conceptual premises is that both environment and child does not exist in itself, but only through the other and that this co-existing is treated as a unique case of a general process (added emphasis)There is thus constant fluctuation in the specific relations with the Other—while maintaining some self-sustained core for identity (Mahmoud, 2009). Building identity theories via the notion of multiplicity of “voices” is an option that maintains the richness of this focus on flexibility (Abbey, 2002, 2004).…”

“…How persons make sense of history—of their own (=life course narratives) or of their society (Wagoner and Bresco, 2018)—have been paralleled by the presentations of history in textbooks (Ahonen, 1997). Educational issues are in general prominent in our focus (Hviid and Villadsen, 2014; Matusov and Marjanovic-Shane, 2017; Raval and Kral, 2004), and striving toward elaboration of macro-social cultural psychology is notable (Ratner, 2017). Some new themes have been added in the recent years.…”

Developing Children’s Cultural Identities Through Play

“…From the perspective of cultural psychology, it is important to investigate the link between person and culture, or in other words, self and cultural identities (Hviid & Villadsen, 2014). One's understanding of culture shapes selfconcept and identity, and also impacts on one's learning (Nixon & Comber, 2006).…”