Expanding Funds of Identity : male, Latino bilingual teacher candidates lived experiences &amp; bilingualism
Creators: name: Ynostroza Ochoa, Adelmira
name: 0000-0003-4104-4002
Publisher: name: The University of Texas at Austin
Year: 2023
Subjects: Identity
Funds of Identity
Funds of knowledge
Pre-service bilingual teacher
Teacher education

description: The premise underlying my dissertation research is that male, Latino pre-service teachers in a bilingual teacher education program construct Funds of Identity from everyday experiences (Esteban-Guitart &amp; Moll, 2014a). Funds of Identity are shaped by interpreting how race, ethnicity, class, gender, citizenship, religion, and other individual characteristics traverse with one another (Crenshaw, 1989). Intersectionality is not simply the concept of a crisscrossing of multiple identities. When considering the social context of male, Latino pre-service teachers, one must explore the ways in which sociocultural and lived experiences affect their identity and pedagogical decisions. From a Vygotskian perspective, Funds of Identity “are essential for people’s self-definition, self-expression, and self-understanding” (Esteban-Guitart &amp; Moll, 2014a, p. 752). This qualitative study seeks to understand the multifaceted identities of male, Latino pre-service teachers, their Funds of Knowledge (González, Moll, &amp; Amanti, 2006), the influence of past and present relationships, and the impact of memberships in diverse spaces. Additionally, studying their cultural and linguistic resources used in and out of bilingual classrooms will provide an additional level into understanding the pedagogical approaches used by male, Latino pre-service teachers. This additional layer of inquiry will assist in interpreting how the purposeful selection of materials play in the construction of inviting Funds of Identity. This dissertation also seeks to understand how male, Latino pre-service teachers learn and apply culturally relevant (Ladson-Billings, 1994) and sustaining instruction (Paris &amp; Alim, 2017) to support Funds of Identity around “social, cultural, political, spiritual, or economic” themes (Tatum, 2006, p. 46) during their field experiences throughout placements in K-5th grade. Qualitative research methods included semi-structured interviews, field notes, university course products, audio and video recordings of classroom observations, and artifacts. The findings revealed how male, Latino bilingual pre-service teachers’ identity drew from both their Funds of Knowledge and Funds of Identity; 1) Intersectionality: Engaging Institutional Funds of Identity in a Teacher Education Program, and 2) Intersectionality: Enacting a Bilingual Teacher Identity. In the first finding, the male, Latino bilingual pre-service teachers demonstrated how they ‘Engaged Institutional Funds of Identity’ while attending Central Hills University by 1) Augmenting Institutional Funds of Identity and 2) Foregrounding Geographical Funds of Identity. The second finding disclosed how the male, Latino bilingual pre-service teachers in a bilingual teacher education program ‘Enacted a Bilingual Teacher Identity’ by displaying, 1) Unsettling Digital Funds of Identity during the Covid-19 Pandemic and 2) Accentuating Existential Funds of Identity.