Wendy Fox-Turnbull
College of Education, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
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Published in: PATT 26 Conference; Technology Education in the 21st Century; Stockholm; Sweden; 26-30 June; 2012
Linköping Electronic Conference Proceedings 73:21, p. 179-187
Published: 2012-06-18
ISBN: 978-91-7519-849-1
ISSN: 1650-3686 (print), 1650-3740 (online)
When participating in technology education students require a range of academic; social and physical skills in order for them to collaboratively develop technological solutions to meet identified needs or opportunities. This paper reports part of a study that explores the role students’ Funds of Knowledge play in contributing to learning in technology education in the primary classroom.
Funds of Knowledge are the developed bodies of skills and knowledge that are accumulated by a group to ensure that they can function appropriately within their social and community contexts (Lopez; 2010).
The study was undertaken in a primary school with 6 and 10 year old students. The data reveals that students used knowledge from their home and community to assist to make sense of their learning and to assist them in developing technological outcomes. The paper introduces two sub-categories of Funds of Knowledge and compares and the use of Funds of Knowledge within each sub-category between the two year levels and across a unit of work.
This study is significant because it highlights the use of Funds of Knowledge in technology education and examines aspects within Funds of Knowledge that are applicable to technology education.
Technology education; Funds of Knowledge; collaborative learning; participatory enculturation; passive observation
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