Read the 2009 Mary Foote article related to this assignment.  Identify one student in your school environment and discover the student’s “funds of knowledge.” The emphasis should be on listening and learning from the student, family and community and not on what you can teach the child, family or community.  As you write your 9-12 page paper (Times New Roman, 11 point font, 1″ margins), use the headings and subheadings below.

Overview of Project (1-2 pages)

Select a pupil from your own school community and work with him/her for the majority of the semester. You will identify social and/or academic obstacles encountered. Included in the Overview of the Project section should be:

• brief description of the student (age, grade, how long he/she has resided in the school’s community)
• clearly defined problem or question to be investigated
• highlighted theme from the research reviewed related to the defined problem or question
• description of how the topic emerged out of the time spent with the pupil
• description of the history of the school including any demographic shifts.

Student Background (2-3 pages)

Describe the essence of the selected student. Interview, tutor and mentor the student for the majority of the semester.  Get to know the student through observation and casual conversation and, if possible, by speaking with the parent or guardian. The purpose of this section is to use the information gathered to identify the assets and funds of knowledge this student brings with him/her to school each day. Therefore, using the list below, capture what makes the student unique and the cultural capital he/she brings to the classroom from home, including:

• Interests, hobbies, strengths of the student
• Interests, hobbies, activities of the family
• The roles and responsibilities of the student at home
• The roles and responsibilities of each member of the household
• Ways the student use math and reading in the home and community
• Languages used at home
• Anything about the student’s life outside of school that can help make his/her school experience more congruent with his/her home and cultural experiences (Cultural capital), as well as information that may be investigated to described the student’s cultural capital:

NOTE: Tour the student’s neighborhood. Take pictures to document meaningful and interesting places, people, things in the community. If you choose to participate in one non-school community-based activity while on that neighborhood tour and integrate a 1-2 page summary of the experience in this section, you may earn three additional clinical log hours (log them in your Excel Clinical Log).

Literature Review (4-5 pages) – Provide a short literature review related to the culture, socioeconomic level, diversity and school achievement or other topics that outline the social or academic obstacles encountered by the child and/or his/her family.  Briefly summarize and review robust literature (at least 7 sources) related to these social or academic obstacle(s).

Conclusion/Reflection (2 pages) – Reflect on your experiences based on this one-on-one mentoring relationship with this student from your own school environment. Your reflection will address the following questions:

• What did I learn about my student?
• What did I learn from my student?
• What did I learn about myself?
• How will this experience impact my leadership practice?
• How will I share this experience with my peers or promote it in my school?
• How will I ensure that I will be sensitive to all students I encounter?
• How do I plan on continuing my mentor/mentee experience?

The sections of the paper are worth 2 points (intro.), 4 points (background), 10 points (literature review), and 4 points (conclusion), for a total of a possible 20 points.