Video Resource: Embracing Newcomers’ Funds of Knowledge to Create Relevant and Rigorous Classrooms

What changes when we center what newcomer students already know?

In this recorded workshop with Re-Imagining Migration, Heartwise Learning invites educators to reframe how we see immigrant-origin and newcomer youth—moving from deficit narratives to an asset-based lens rooted in students’ strengths, languages, histories, and lived experiences. Participants explore research behind Funds of Knowledge and learn practical ways to surface and honor students’ “superpowers” through everyday conversations, family stories, arts-based expression, and student-led learning.

The session offers concrete tools—including documentation templates, classroom strategies, and school-wide leadership connections—to help educators design learning environments where students feel seen, valued, and empowered.

View the full recording to dive deeper into strategies that help newcomer students feel seen, valued, and empowered.