Funds of Knowledge and Discourses and Hybrid Space

Charlene Nolan

Barton, A. C., & Tan, E. (2009). Funds of knowledge and discourses and hybrid space. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 46(1), 50-73.

Calabrese Barton and Tan (2009) expand funds of knowledge from what happens at home, to how funds of knowledge can be meaningfully used to guide (or perhaps challenge) learning in the classroom. Of particular importance to these authors is the creation of a hybrid space. Using Moje et al. (2004), the authors describe hybrid space in three dimensions with focus on the last one. Hybrid space is:

• a supportive scaffold that links traditionally marginalized funds of knowledge and Discourse to academic funds and Discourse
•  a “navigational space” in gaining competency and expertise to negotiate differing discourse communities
• where diff funds of Discourses coalesce to destabilize and expand boundaries of official school Discourse (pg. 52). 

My understanding of the difference between the traditional "bridge" between funds of knowledge & school and the hybrid space is the dimension of authorship. In traditional bridges, official school "knowledge" or ways of accessing this knowledge are still privileged while funds of knowledge are hinted at. I think best in examples so I'm giving one as a way of showing my thought process. Perhaps an example would be if a child practices math at home by doing a lot of shopping with a limited budget, a teacher may hint that when doing addition or subtractions it "like what you do at home." This would be an example where a teacher recognizes the mathematical competency of a child and may position that child as an expert; however, there would be little room for a child to transform the pedagogy or unit lesson by bringing that skill/practice. In a hybrid space, a teacher might ask that child to help plan a lesson where they will learn addition and subtraction by pretending to buy food with a limited budget. The child or children would beresponsible for co-authoring the lesson and the learning. Thus hybridity is achieved not only when the figured worlds of "home/community" and "school" coalesce, but when authorship of learning is shared between teacher and classroom.

By way of exploring the idea of hybridity I thought it might be interesting to create a set of practices that a new teacher could use in the first week of (either the school year or a new unit) to elicit funds of knowledge. I am imagining a protocol that would ask teachers to think about not only how they would collect these funds, but how they would allow space for hybridity to occur. There may be danger in operationalizing real and meaningful relationships to elicit and honor funds of knowledge, but it may also be useful to think of strategies that teachers can use without relying on the typical "You're ethically different, tell me all about your culture."