Discourse and power: Implementation of a funds of knowledge curriculum

Abstract

A curriculum redesign rooted in a funds of knowledge framework breaks down the power dynamics among all participants, creating a flow of information and value for parents, students, and teachers. This research is centered on a teacher educator who is part of a curriculum redesign for a teacher education program, and examines how she navigates her identity through the second year of involvement in the redesign. The Communities as Resources in Early Childhood Teacher Education Project, in which this research is situated, has four principles that guide all coursework and fieldwork. Traditional teacher education programs struggle with bridging the gap between students and their mentor teachers, and developing strong cooperative relationships with teacher educators in the classroom. The results suggest that some teacher educators seek to maintain the existing divisions between the classroom and the university, thus affecting the teacher candidates' ability to embody new teaching strategies and redirect the larger macro-level discourse regarding teaching and teacher education.