Children's literacy funds of knowledge in an urban Mexican elementary school: changing the approach

In this article, we share the vernacular literacy practices of a sixth grade students in Mexico City. From a sociocultural, ethnographic perspective and based on the contributions of the sociolinguistics of mobility and funds of knowledge, we describe the experiences and knowledge that children bring with them from home and the community to school, to write and read texts on their own during class. The findings show how they appropriate literacy practices to provide meaning to their reading and writing through the relationship between school and everyday literacy and the continuum between their oralities and literacies. Children construct literacy according to their day-to-day experiences, in and out of the classroom, and embed their literacy practices within their funds of knowledge developed at home with their families. Based on these findings, we question the significance and quintessential role that has been attributed to the school in the teaching of reading and writing, as well as the prevalence of individualistic and rigid approaches to the teaching of reading and writing.     

Process Mapping: Tools,Techniques, & Critical Success Factors

Process mapping is both an analytical tool and a process intervention that performance technologists can use to improve human performance by reducing error variance. In contrast to reengineering, process mapping is used for both incremental and radical change. The benefits of process mapping include simplified work flow, reduced cycle time, lowered costs, and improved job satisfaction. Process mapping involves constructing a macro‐map, identifying and prioritizing bottlenecks in the existing process, constructing a micro‐map to identify the root causes of the bottlenecks, and iterative redesign. Several critical success factors include organizational readiness, time commitment by participants, and the availability of a qualified facilitator. HPT practitioners add value to organizations by providing unique competence in task and needs analysis. To succeed in process mapping, however, the HPT professional must also possess sophisticated skills in facilitation as well as business knowledge, self‐confidence, and interpersonal skills for interacting with senior management.