Parven Akhter: PhD Candidate
Email: akhter@sheffield.ac.uk
Supervisor: Dr. Kate Pahl
Working Title of Topic:
An exploration of `funds of knowledge´ and `new literacies´ in diverse family cultures
Details:
Based on `New Literacies´ (Lankshear & Knobel, 2008), Funds of Knowledge (Gonzalez et at, 2005), New Literacy Studies (Barton et al, 2000), syncretic literacies (Gregory et al, 2004), and Family Capital (Rose, 2008), this research will examine how different home variables such as family objects, history and cultural capital affect children's education in the homes of diverse families. The project particularly draws on research on South Asian heritage families in North of England, on the importance of children´s use of cultural texts, artefacts and technology in order to bring about meaning-making. It will employ a collaborative process involving families, community development practitioners and local school teachers. The study will analyse family literacy practices between children from different cultural backgrounds in their home environments. It will also include an investigation into the impact of developing literacy learning resources for local schools and family learning practitioners that are based on established relationships between school and home.
Potential Research Questions
- What is the study of ‘New Literacies’ related to the idea of digital literacy home practices?
- What are the different ‘funds of knowledge’ in diverse family cultures?
- How are different home variables such as family objects, history and culture understood and reinforced in educational contexts?
- What are children and parents’ perceptions about representing different funds of knowledge in the mainstream UK school system