Funds of Knowledge and College Ideologies: Lived Experiences among Mexican-American Families

Abstract

There are a number of factors that contribute to the differences in college access rates of under-represented students compared with their white and Asian American counterparts. Families play a role in whether students experience a college-going culture. In an effort to challenge the dominant literature which focuses primarily on familial deficits, the intent of this research is to understand families from a different model, that of funds of knowledge (Moll, Amanti, Neff, & Gonzalez, 1992). Using a qualitative approach of embedded case studies and oral history interviews, this study explored the funds of knowledge present in six Mexican families in a university outreach program and sought to understand how those funds of knowledge contribute to the development of the college ideologies for their families. Participants are represented by the term household clusters, which includes extensions of families beyond the nuclear household (Vélez-Ibáñez & Greenberg, 2005). Three theoretical frameworks were used for this study. The primary framework utilized is funds of knowledge (Gonzalez, Moll & Amanti, 2005), with social capital (Bourdieu 1973, 1977) and cultural capital (Bourdieu, 1986; Bourdieu & Passerson, 1977) serving as supplemental frameworks. Findings illustrate that funds of knowledge in the form of daily educational practices were present in household clusters and influenced children’s academic experiences and college knowledge. Educational ideologies highlighted the ways in which beliefs around the college-going process were formed and manifested as both helpful and limiting. Finally, it was evident that parental involvement was valued; this also included examples of non-traditional involvement, particularly when mothers worked at their children’s schools.