Early+Years+Learners+and+Funds+of+Knowledge

=**Early Years Learners and Funds of Knowledge**= A student’s fund of knowledge is one of the most important things when it comes to teaching. Establishing a student’s fund of knowledge allows many things, the main thing being you get to understand the students and learn more about them. A student's fund of knowledge can be drawn from many things, such as their life at home as well as their school life. It includes knowledge they previously have on certain topics.



This is critical in firstly understanding the students as it tells the teacher what the students like to do inside and outside school such as if they prefer to be outside over inside, they love animals etc. Secondly it is highly important in understanding how best they learn and what it is they like to learn and how they learn. This is gained through understanding the student as a person inside and outside school. A student’s fund of knowledge allows for a teacher to better engage the students as they are able to plan lessons that would better engage each student individually rather than planning a lesson that they won’t be engaged in. For example, during rounds my supervising teacher told me that there was a very shy girl in his class, but he knew that she loved animals. So in order to engage this student more in class room discussions he would relate the questions he asked her to animals, which she would be right into. For example, students are sometimes asked to choose topics to research which they had a close affinity with and one which they have previous knowledge on in order for them to be better engaged. This works well in a class room, as because they were choosing subjects which they enjoyed, they get more engaged as they were actually interested in what they were learning. This all relates to a student’s fund of knowledge, as it shows that students become more engaged and focused on their learning when they are doing things based and related around things they are interested in, rather than subjects that they aren’t interested in. These interests are found through learning the funds of knowledge. If a student is highly engaged in their learning, then they are bound to learn more as they actually take an interest in what they are being taught, instead of sitting in class room bored.

Learning the fund’s of knowledge about all the student’s in your class room is critical in being able to engage the class better in the work they are involved in, and also in order to understand the students better. Funds of knowledge are a great way in finding out how better to teach students, as it tells teachers what they are interested in, and how to better teach them so that they retain more of the information being taught.

An early learner’s profile is a way of using a student’s funds of knowledge and put them together in a report based form that sums up all of their interests and activities they enjoy doing, both inside and outside of school and the prior knowledge they have learnt at home, or other places. Early learner profiles are good to use in a classroom setting as they allow for a teacher to gain as much information on a student as possible in order to better engage them in their learning.