Shaping Education through Diverse Funds of Knowledge: A Look at One Latina Paraeducator's Lived Experiences, Beliefs, and Teaching Practice

We examine the experiences of one Mexican immigrant paraeducator and how these translate into beliefs and teaching. Generally, the concept of "funds of knowledge" has been used with respect to students. We use this concept more broadly to consider the experiences of teachers as critical to their teaching and as resources for instruction. This paraeducator had markedly different experiences from those of the mainstream teaching force yet numerous factors mitigated against using these for instruction. Our work documents how the multiple sociocultural contexts of teachers' lives and their later beliefs and practices interact in particular institutional settings to impact teaching practices. Increased attention to the study of teachers' cultural beliefs and practices has important implications for the study of schooling and teacher education.