Chapter 2: Finding—and Seeing—Third Spaces in a School-University Partnership

This preservice teacher reflection was written at the end of a semester-long practicum experience that took place in an elementary school close to her university. This experience occurred during a semester in which this preservice teacher and 24 of her peers were enrolled in a K-3 literacy methods course and a K-5 mathematics methods course. The focus of the university-elementary school practicum partnership was on learning to identify family and community “funds of knowledge” (Gonzalez, Moll, & Amanti, 2005) and using those funds of knowledge as resources for elementary literacy and mathematics instruction. Research suggests that teachers who develop practices that allow them to access and build on funds of knowledge are better able to support their students’ learning and achievement, particularly in diverse classrooms (Rodriguez & Kitchen, 2005; Turner et al., in press; Villegas & Lucas, 2002).