Home Visits Advancing Equity: In-Service Teachers Discovering Rural Multilingual Families’ Funds of Knowledge
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.57125/FED.2026.03.14Keywords:
home visits, funds of knowledge, literacy, language, advocacy.Abstract
Teachers often hold deficit-oriented views of culturally and linguistically diverse students, which can discourage students from using their cultural and linguistic repertoires. These subtractive views can undermine the development of trusting relationships among students, families, and schools. Implementing home visits can be a powerful strategy for enhancing teachers’ recognition of students’ and families’ assets and advancing equity in instructional practice. A qualitative study was conducted with 24 rural in-service teachers across 11 school districts in Idaho, a Pacific Northwest state in the U.S. In-service teachers visited the homes of 24 emergent multilingual students in grades K-12. The study aimed to investigate the impact of home visits on in-service teachers’ perceptions of families' commitment to education and the benefits of honouring and including funds of knowledge in the curriculum.Twenty-four narratives, each ranging from 10 to 25 pages, were analysed using thematic analysis as outlined by Riessman (2007). The qualitative analysis software, Atlas, supported the thematic analysis. ti. Initial codes were generated from the narratives during the analysis. As a result of the analysis, three final themes emerged: acknowledgement of the existence of funds of knowledge by in-service teachers, a shift in their beliefs, and the intentional utilisation of funds of knowledge to inform the curriculum. The results underscore the importance of home visits in supporting in-service teachers' understanding of families’ views of children and the resources available in the rural communities where they work. These outcomes indicate important implications for teacher preparation.
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