ABSTRACT
The scenarios in Chapters 5 and 6 highlighted how participation in the collaborative groups fostered respectful partnerships and reciprocal relationships among teachers and students. In this chapter, I extend these ideas to include another essential component of the course, connections with families and communities. Within the course, there is the expectation that teachers interact and engage with families and the community in ways that respect the diversity of the lived experiences represented by the members. As the title of this section indicates, it was vital to the success of the collaboration for teachers to recognize and draw upon the funds of knowledge (Moll, Amanti, Neff, & Gonzales, 1992) their students brought from families and the community and use these resources in their teaching. Within the collaborative groups, tapping these valuable sociocultural practices alongside content was an effective way to build off each other’s literacies, yet also learn together.
