The Dutch society is becoming increasingly more linguistically, culturally, ethnically and racially diverse (CBS, 2022). This trend is reflected in the primary school student population, with more students with varying cultural backgrounds, who differ in their habits and traditions at home or who speak another language at home than at school (CBS, 2022). When teachers are able to respond to varieties in students’ (family) cultures, (language) backgrounds, histories, experiences and educational needs, they can enrich their education through culturally relevant teaching (e.g., Banks, 2004; Delpit, 1995). To do so, teachers need knowledge about the background of their students, also called cultural knowledge. However, it seems to be unclear what is specifically understood by the content of cultural knowledge. The aim of this scoping review is to get more insight in the content and dimensions of cultural knowledge for primary school teachers.

To get an understanding of the knowledge that would count as ‘cultural knowledge’, frameworks such as Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) (Gay, 2010) can be helpful. According to Gay, teachers can use cultural knowledge about students to make learning meaningful. Cultural knowledge can relate to diverse contexts of children’s development. A theory that maps those contexts, is Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory (1977).This theory identifies multiple levels of the surrounding environment, from immediate family settings to broad cultural values. The frameworks of CRT and ecological systems theory guided our search for specific descriptions of what can be meant by the concept of cultural knowledge.

In previous research, cultural knowledge has been described as knowledge of students and their characteristics, which means teacher’s understanding of the specific students they teach and includes their racial, ethnic, socio economic, cultural and linguistic backgrounds (e.g. Bialostok, 2019; Shiver et al., 2020; Lee, 2010), their out-of school experiences (e.g. Dunsmore, Ordoñez-Jasis, & Herrera, 2013), their home lives (e.g. Kenner & Ruby, 2013; Settlage, 2004), their communities (e.g. Ajayi, 2014; Flint & Jaggers, 2012) and their culture (e.g. Jackson, 2013). These descriptions of relevant domains still seem quite abstract and not very  specifically described. This lack of clarity about the concept of cultural knowledge can make it difficult for schools and teachers to use this concept in their approach of students in multicultural settings. Also, there seems a lack of clarity regarding the domains that constitute to the concept of cultural knowledge. Different researchers use different scopes or perspectives of the concept of cultural knowledge, depending on their background and paradigm. As a result, the domains in one study are focused on ethnicity and in another study on out of school experiences or language. This may lead to questions regarding the full capturing of this concept in research and the scope of study findings.

More clarity about the scope as well as further operationalization of the domains that constitute to the concept of cultural knowledge may give teachers opportunities to enrich culturally responsive teaching. Therefore, the present scoping review intends to identify, organize and concretize domains of knowledge that constitute the concept of cultural knowledge and to identify knowledge gaps regarding the concept of cultural knowledge.

We followed the five framework stages that have been outlined for conducting scoping reviews (Arksey & O’Malley, 2005; Levac, Colquhoun, & O’Brien, 2010): (1) articulate the research question, (2) identify relevant studies, (3) select studies, (4) chart the data and (5) collate, summarize and report the results. Stage 1 The present scoping review aims to answer the following two research questions: 1. Which domains of knowledge, according to the literature, are included in the concept of cultural knowledge of students? 2. How are these domains of knowledge organized and operationalized? Stage 2 A literature search was conducted in five databases (Academic Search Premier, ERIC, PsycINFO 1887 – current, Web of Science and SOC Index) to map a range of domains that constitute the concept of cultural knowledge for primary school teachers. The search for studies was conducted in March 2022. Stage 3 Study selection was conducted in two phases: 1) Title-abstract screening and 2) full-text screening of the articles that remained after step 1. Review selection was performed by two independent raters. We employed a key question regarding the quality and trustworthiness of the research methodologies. No studies were excluded based on their quality and trustworthiness. In total, 1399 studies were reviewed, and 33 studies were included for data extraction. Stage 4 Each of the 33 included studies were summarized and we collect information about (1) general characteristics (2) methodological characteristics and (3) thematic characteristics (e.g., examples or domains of cultural knowledge) in a charting form. We extracted all examples or domains of cultural knowledge from the articles that could be identified. Stage 5 The general and methodological characteristics of included studies were summarized. This part of the analysis shed light on the areas of research in terms of country of origin and context, which allowed for a quick grasp of the breadth and scope in the research literature. For the thematic analysis we used a bottom-up research method (inductive analysis), which consists of three steps. Step 1: We analysed the theoretical frameworks, the terms the scientists used for cultural knowledge, and the different domains that constitute the concept of cultural knowledge. Step 2: We further analysed the domains of cultural knowledge. In consultation with the research team, we categorized the domains of cultural knowledge into contexts. Step 3: In consultation with the research team, we concretized the domains of cultural knowledge.

The scoping review indicated that the concept of cultural knowledge is a broad concept. We have identified fifteen domains of cultural knowledge. The identified domains were hobbies/interests, ethnicity, characteristics of a student or characteristics of a family, cultural identity/life, language and communication, school, history, social network, literacy, religion, socio economic status, migration and home (place). The identified domains of cultural knowledge are related to students themselves and their families and communities. The review has resulted in concretizations of each domain. The domain language and communication includes, for example, the different languages that a child speaks and the linguistic needs that a student has; the domain family characteristics includes the number of family members and the division of labor in the home and the domain socio economic status in the community refers to the location and places in the community, such as culturally relevant spaces, parks, neighbourhoods and shops. The overview of the domains, as well as the organization into contexts and the concretization of the domains, can help schools and teachers to delve into the cultural background of students and to enrich their teaching. This study aims to contribute to conceptual clarity of the concept of cultural knowledge. This clarity can contribute to research and educational practice. In a next phase, we want to explore how cultural knowledge can be used to strengthen teachers' culturally responsive teaching.

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