Moll/Gonzalez: Let them Use the Knowledge they Already Have

Luis C. Moll and Norma Gonzalez's Lessons from Research with Language-Minority Children was written to inform the reader about their findings, workings and implications of studies they have done with what they call "funds of knowledge" (158) and "inquiry-based instruction" (163). They define "funds of knowledge" as "those historically accumulated and culturally developed bodies of knowledge and skills essential for household or individual functioning and well-being," (160). They argue in this piece that education for bi- or multi-lingual students needs to include the knowledge that is necessary at home because they then can see themselves fitting in an academic setting. They then discuss the importance of using these funds of knowledge to encourage student-driven research. They obtain research on both of these concepts by implementing several case-studies at both language-minority homes and schools.

They give a couple of examples from their research of both of these goals, as I think of them. While doing their studies on the funds of knowledge there were several researchers (and teachers) who went to the homes of participating students and discussed with the parents or guardians what their family does and what knowledge is necessary to do it. In one case, a researcher found that one family in Tucson, Arizona has rural roots, as many of the men in the family are cowboys. This family owns a ranch, and the researcher found that even though they do not make a living doing cowboy work they still hold great importance in "teach[ing] [the children] the funds of knowledge entailed in these old family traditions," (161). They also found that in most cases in language-minority homes there is more than one household that contributes to the knowledge a child obtains. The implications they express in these studies are to "debunk" the idea that "working-class, language-minority households...[lack] worthwhile knowledge and experiences," (161) and to "[understand] the concept of culture... as the lived practices and knowledge of the students and their families," (162) and not as a sort of myth.

These implications lead to their discussion about inquiry-based instruction and student-driven assignments by using research done by Warren, Rosebery, and Conant (1636). This connection is that teachers can use the knowledge these students are getting from home as a springboard for assignments that the students are interested in. This "knowledge" includes languages they know other than English. In one example they gave, students were encouraged to speak in the language they were most comfortable with. This helped the students to organize their thoughts in the language they are most fluent in. They gave another example of a classroom in New York City with Puerto Rican and African-American sixth graders (165). The teachers asked the students what they would be interested in researching, and the students wanted to research "where and how to obtain resources to help the poor and the homeless, questions about drug and alcohol abuse, the etiology of diseases, crime and child abuse, early pregnancies, women and employment, and the food shortages," (166). The teacher let them organize themselves into groups based on which they would like to research and let them name their group. After the research was finished, a student said it was different from their other school projects because the teachers gave "the idea and let (them) find out the information and say how (they) feel," (167). This study showed that a working social relationship between teachers and students is incredibly useful in helping students take charge of and participate in their education. Moll and Gonzalez conclude that "'language-minority' students have the intellectual capabilities of any other [child]... and... instructional arrangements that capitalize fully on the many strengths they bring into classrooms" should be implemented (171).