Exploring the Funds of Knowledge and Islamic Practices in Muslim Immigrant Families

Abstract

Teachers and scholars have long discussed the advantages of conducting home visits to discover funds of knowledge present in households as way to better understand and better communicate with their students in order to strengthen academic progress and learning. In Saudi Arabia, there exists a large gap between the societal needs and what and how curriculum is being taught in schools. The system lacks an effective way to integrate students’ funds of knowledge with what is taught in the classroom. The purpose of this study is to understand how home visits can be beneficial to the instructor and to the learner in the classroom based on the studies conducted in Moll, Amanti, and Gonzalez in Funds of Knowledge and in my study, Exploring The Funds of Knowledge in Muslim Immigrant Families. In addition, the study aims to show how Saudi Arabia can implement and benefit from the use of home visits. This study took place in Tucson, Arizona in the homes of three Muslim immigrant families whose children attend Al fajir Islamic School. I worked with 3 families from Egypt, Pakistan, and Somalia, all who had first/second graders attending Al Fajir Islamic School. The general approach in this research design is qualitative and includes observations, ethnographic data collection strategies, and interviews. Each family participated in three or four home visits. Each home visit lasted up to three hours. The data collected from the home visits included my field notes, the audiotapes of the interview questions and responses, and transcriptions from taping. Analysis indicated that the value of education, the significance of family relationships, maintenance of maternal tongue, deference to other cultures, and the continuation of religious practices were all fundamental components of the Muslim immigrants’ funds of knowledge. I learned that they were all rooted in the religion of Islam. In conclusion, the use of the home visit proves highly effective in the discovery of funds of knowledge of students. It is recommended, in order to bridge the gap in education between societal expectations and actuality in the classroom, that the technique of home visits be implemented.