Teachersa?? funds of knowledge: a challenge to evidence-based practice

摘要

The spontaneous nature of much early childhood teaching makes it vital to understand the range of knowledge that teachers draw on in their curricular and pedagogical decision-making. Hammersley argued that teaching practice cannot be based directly on research evidence because it needs to be filtered through teachersa?? experiences and understandings. Models of professional knowledge have rarely highlighted teachersa?? personal knowledge. Drawing on an interpretivist study that investigated childrena??s interests as a foundation for curriculum and pedagogy in New Zealand, this paper supports Hammersleya??s argument and proposes that the concept of teachersa?? funds of knowledge has the potential to explain aspects of teachersa?? knowledge. The paper argues that such informal knowledge, gained from life experience, is a primary influence and likely to be prioritised over theory and research in teachersa?? pedagogical decision-making in early childhood education. Some implications of this argument for teacher education and teachersa?? professional learning are suggested.View full textDownload full textKeywordsfunds of knowledge, teacher knowledge, evidence-based practice, evidence-informed practice, early childhood educationRelated var addthis_config = { ui_cobrand: "Taylor & Francis Online", services_compact: "citeulike,netvibes,twitter,technorati,delicious,linkedin,facebook,stumbleupon,digg,google,more", pubid: "ra-4dff56cd6bb1830b" }; Add to shortlist Link Permalink http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13540602.2011.622548