Journal Table #1

Column 1: Clinical Site Background and Analysis.

My placement is at Winona High School in Winona Minnesota. The school was built in
the 1960s and has an interesting design to it. The design invites light in to every classroom of
the school with its windows at the tops of the rooms. Also, massive windows in the cafeteria
make the whole school a very naturally sunlit feel. This is supposed to enhance the learning and
boost moral of the students in the school.
The school is unique because it is one of the few high schools in the area, but there are
many elementary schools. This means that there are some students who went to elementary
together, but also some who may not know each other. The school is not very ethnically or
racially diverse and has over 80% Caucasian students. My classroom is similar to that number.
There is one African American student, one Asian American, and one Hispanic student in the
class that I am placed in and the remaining are all white.
For the first two weeks, I have been placed in Mrs. Pfeilsticker’s social studies class for
ninth graders. Because of the way the school’s schedule goes, there will be a new class in her
room at my field experience time for the fourth quarter. This class will be a senior level
government class. I will focus on one of the students in the senior level government class, as I
will be spending more time with them, for my ethnography project.
Column 2: EDFD 461 and EDFD 401 Content

Requirement A or B and thoughts, research, observations, conversations, questions, etc.

I am answering question A) What kinds of Personal/Cultural Knowledge or Popular

Knowledge influence your thinking about the ethnically and racially diverse student(s) you
will be working with in your clinical setting? (You are REQUIRED to Cite the horizontal axis of
the Knowledge Construction Table)
My thoughts about ethnically and racially diverse students while in my field experience
will definitely be impacted by my previous knowledge gained on the topic through both
personal/cultural and popular knowledge ways. I have personally had friends from when I was
younger who were of different ethnicity and race than I am. Having this experience in my past
will influence and hopefully help be interact with all the students in my clinical setting. Not only
will my own personal experiences help me though, knowledge gained from popular culture will
also influence me. I’m not going to always have experiences that I can draw on to help me deal
with students, so I will have to draw on knowledge that I have learned from popular culture and
from reading and watching things. This knowledge will not be as helpful as my own personal
experiences, but will give me some kind of a knowledge to help me.
Specifically, in my class, there is one African American, one Asian American, and one
Hispanic student. I have had personal experience and knowledge from being friends with
African Americans and Hispanics before, but I have not had much personal experience dealing
with Asian American people. Therefore, for the Asian American student in my classroom I will
rely on popular knowledge that I have acquired from TV, Movies, social media, and news found
in column two of the Knowledge Construction Table. Working in this field experience setting
will be very valuable for me because it will be taking the knowledge that I have about ethnically
and racially diverse students and expanding it. I will be adding lots of valuable knowledge to the
first and fourth column of the Knowledge Construction Table.

C) How can the racialization of the student(s) you will be working with be reinforced
or challenged by any of his/her/their other demographic characteristics? (You are REQUIRED
to cite other specific demographic characteristics from the Intersectionality Graphic)

When examining the demographics on the intersectionality graphic, there is one that
stands out to me as a demographic that could challenge the racialization of the students in the
classroom that I am working with. One demographic characteristic in particular, “language
learning”, is one that could challenge the racialization. For example, in my class there is an
Asian American student who, if racialized by popular culture, might be thought to be very
smart. However, the student does not speak as good of English as some other students in the
class, so this is an extra barrier for this student of having to learn a language. Therefore, this
student does not do as well as other students in the class, and does not live up to the
racialization of being a very smart Asian American student.

D) How can the Funds of Knowledge approach help you see a student’s cultural background
as an asset to his or her learning? (You are REQUIRED TO Cite specific author arguments,
examples, and page numbers from any of your content area resources (See the content areas
sources cited at the end of your Funds of Knowledge Self-Investigation in this area D)

In Luis Moll’s work, he argues that all students bring some kind of valuable knowledge to
the classroom that comes from how they were raised. A student who lives on a farm may not
know a lot about economics, but they do have knowledge that could be related to it because of
living on that farm. The student may know that they have to sell corn at a certain price in order
to make a profit. Moll insisted that all students have knowledge like this that is specific to them,
and is very valuable. Taking Luis Moll’s argument can definitely help me in my clinical studies. I
know that each student has their own Funds of Knowledge that is an asset to them and their
learnings that could only come from their cultural background.
One student in my classroom has a disability and is in a wheelchair. This disability should
not be looked at as something that hinders the child, but rather as something that gives him a
very unique perspective and Funds of Knowledge that other students will not have and will
never be able to have. The Asian American student in my class will know more about Asian
culture than any other student in the class. Students different cultural backgrounds are a very
big asset from them and their learning.

E) Discuss the possible Activities to Investigate Funds of Knowledgethat you will possibly use
to identify the Funds of Knowledge (assets, strengths, resources) possessed by your
student(s) you choose to study

Of the Activities to Investigate Funds of Knowledge, I will likely use many of these
different techniques without noticing it. A few of them stuck out though as things that I should
focus in particular on doing. For example, numbers 5, 6, and 7 of the activities stuck out to me,
and I think would be useful to me when exploring and attempting to identify student’s funds of
knowledge.
Number 5 will definitely be useful to me. In the class that I am in there is an Asian
American student who struggles a bit with English, but I’m sure has some very useful funds of
knowledge. Learning more about the literacy practices that the student engages in at home and
with their family would help me identify why the student struggles with English, but could also
show me knowledge that the student has that I do not obviously see.
Number 6 also stood out to me because learning the spiritual practices of a respondent
can be very helpful in understanding that respondent. Spiritual practices can be a major part of
people’s lives, but in some places in society we ignore those practices and the knowledge that is
gained through them. Targeting this activity to investigate students’ funds of knowledge will be
very useful in understanding those students.
 Similar to Number 6, Number 7 in the activities to investigate funds of knowledge is also
something that can be overlooked and ignored in some aspects of society, especially cultures
that are not mainstream cultures in America. Cultural and spiritual practices and traditions of
students in my classroom very much impact their lives, but are not obvious to other people
around them. However, learning about these practices and traditions can help a teacher learn
about the student and their Funds of Knowledge. I will attempt to learn students Funds of
Knowledge using these three Activities in particular.

F) DISCUSS the EDFD 400/401 Developmental and/or Learning theorists who you can use to
give a rationale for your choice of said activities.

The theorist Urie Bronfenbrenner developed the ecological systems theory of

development. In his theory, he said that an individual’s development is directly influenced by
interactions within the environment that they are in. This theory relates to the idea of funds of
knowledge and that every person gains knowledge from the situation that they are in. So
according to Bronfenbrenner, if a child is surrounded by different cultural and spiritual
traditions, that will shape the child’s development. Also, the language(s) that is spoken in the
environment that a child is in will affect the child’s development.
Using Bronfenbrenner’s theory helped me when choosing these activities. I want to
explore the environment that the students in my classroom have grown up in other than in
school, and activities 5, 6, and 7 will give me a good idea of the environment that these
students have grown up in.