Investigating Pre-service Teachers' Linguistic Funds of Knowledge

Abstract

This report, details a mixed methods study, of predominately Primary and Early Childhood Pre-Service Teacher (PSTs) ‘Funds of Knowledge’ (Moll et al., 1992) within four metropolitan Australian universities. This study was funded by an Education grant from the Collier Charitable Foundation. The study sought to investigate PSTs across four urban university sites in Sydney, interruptions resulting from the COVID 19 pandemic, restricted access to participants across the four university sites. This report centres on the analysis of data collected from PSTs at predominantly two universities, Western Sydney University and the University of Sydney. Data includes surveys, individual interviews and the visual methodology, language mapping. This study explores Pre-Service Teachers’ views of their own linguistic ‘Funds of Knowledge, how they see their linguistic strengths, knowledge and experience translating into teaching and the relationship between the university’s institutional practices and Pre-Service Teachers’ views of their own linguistic knowledge. Findings reveal a glimpse of participants’ multilingual, multimodal worlds and the ways they used language and literacies to navigate their local and global contexts. Evidence reveals rich linguistic repertoires and wide spread creativity and linguistic flexibility. While PSTs saw their language skills and understandings as assets, they were not at the forefront of their developing identities as teachers. Most often participants’ responses indicated little if any awareness of inherent linguistic or cognitive knowledge derived from their ability to make meaning in two or more languages and few participants revealed an awareness of connections between developing language and literacy in English and their own knowledge of another language or semiotic system. Most common was the view that linguistic knowledge and skill translated into teaching in an ability to be empathic, open and respectful of diversity, participants saw themselves as culturally and linguistically aware and therefore able to support student well-being. Most participants suggested that few if any opportunities were offered for them to reflect on their language knowledge and skill across the university or within their teaching program. This small scale study undertaken in metropolitan teacher education programs, reveals a failure to capitalise on the rich resources of Pre-Service Teachers and as such consolidates a monolingual orientation in Initial Teacher Education.