The Future of Education

Assessment of the U.S. current educational landscape, spots a distance between the cultural, economic, and linguistic experiences of teachers and students. More specifically, because our nation’s teaching force is predominantly white, female, and middle-classed, decisions, values, and perceptions are likely to be derived from lived experiences very different from those of the increasingly diverse student population. The ways in which this negatively impacts the education of diverse populations has been well document (Katz, 1999; Rodriguez, 1993). Research also highlights the need to prepare educators to effectively teach in areas across socioeconomic, cultural, linguistic, and gender differences is further complicated by a lack of familiarity with or valuing of the cultures, learning styles, and communication patterns of diverse groups (Bohn & Sleeter, 2000). Building teachers’ capacity to understand the importance of learning about the strengths and resources that exist in home communities involves awareness and reflectiveness (Fairbairn & Jones-Vo, 2016). The purpose of the study is to examine the attitudes of teachers toward their students, families and communities after engaging in a Child and Community Context Study (CCCS), a modified funds of knowledge assignment. Two main questions guided the study: How did CCCS inform educators’ understanding of multilingual families and how did this influence their interaction with students and families? To what extent did teachers develop confidence in engaging with culturally and linguistically diverse families after participating in CCCS?