Migration experiences are often discussed in terms of the challenges people face when leaving their home country and starting again somewhere new. But these experiences can also involve learning, adaptation and the development of new knowledge and competences.
A recent paper by Yecid Ortega and Rebecca Oxford, Immigrants’ and refugees’ ‘funds of knowledge(s)’ on the path to intercultural competence, published in the Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, explores this idea through the concept of “funds of knowledge(s)” — the intellectual, social, cultural and linguistic knowledge people build through their life experiences.
The authors highlight that immigrants and refugees often navigate complex emotional, material, linguistic, cultural and legal situations. While these experiences can involve significant difficulties, they can also contribute to the development of new skills, perspectives and forms of knowledge that are not always formally recognised.
This perspective is closely connected to the work of EmpowerHer, which encourages migrant women to recognise and value the competences they have gained throughout their lives — through employment and education, but also through family responsibilities, community involvement, migration and everyday experiences.
The paper also reflects on how recognising and sharing these different forms of knowledge can support confidence, intercultural understanding and participation. In educational contexts, the authors argue that people’s previous experiences should be seen as strengths and resources rather than approached from a deficit perspective.
For professionals working with migrant and refugee women, educators and anyone interested in competence recognition and intercultural learning, this open-access publication offers an interesting perspective on how migration experiences can contribute to personal learning and the development of competences.
Bibliography
“Immigrants’ and refugees’ ‘funds of knowledge(s)’ on the path to intercultural competence
Yecid Ortega & Rebecca Oxford (2023), Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development.”