Running head: STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS

Statement of Informed Beliefs

Taj Howard
College of Southern Idaho
Dr. Fox
Education 204
Fall 2014

STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS

Statement of Informed Beliefs

Introduction
The ability to learn is based on both developmental and environmental considerations. The
environment that a child develops in has been shown repeatedly to tremendously affect the child's future.
Erikson defined different age groups as progressive stages in which developmental conflicts would be
resolved so the child could move on to the next stage (Parson, 2008). There are children that do not
follow the normal developmental path and are considered impaired, which needs to be considered
through all phases of the teaching process. Most importantly, learning needs to be tailored to the child.
Student's Ability to Learn
The child's environment (a nurture component) is very crucial to a child's learning ability. At
school this means that a child needs to be in an environment that is conducive to learning, has minimal
distractions, presents material in the child's preferred learning style, and motivates. At home this means
that the child should be in an environment in which he or she feels supported, secure, nurtured, and
provided for. Being in an environment that does not have these elements means that the child will have
obstacles to overcome in their education and may need outside intervention.
Developmental level is very important in a student's ability to learn. Piaget did significant work
in this field and found that developmental level was directly tied to the type of material a student could
learn at a specific age. For example, a child in Piaget's preoperational stage cannot be expected to
learn abstract algebra because they are not developmentally ready (Parsons, 2008).
As a teacher, I will have full responsibility for facilitating the child's education. There are rules to
follow and curriculum standards like in any organization, but the teacher is the decision making CEO of
the classroom with the responsibility to ensure student learning. The teacher cannot make students work

STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS

but they can put every effort into motivating the students, creating an environment conducive to
learning, and tailoring the educational experience to meet each student's individual needs.
Expectations are the standards that the teacher requires students to meet. The more stringent the
expectations, the more some students will arise to the challenge and improve his or her performance, but
in contrast, the more discouraged and unmotivated others will become. It is a fine line and since
education is hard to customize with large teacher-student ratios, a compromise needs to be found that
will do the greatest good for the greatest number. The extreme outliers on the gifted and the impaired
side need to be provided for, something that is mandated by law for impaired individuals.
Educational goals are specific objectives that need to be met in a student's education. These goals
can be specific to the individual like in the case of a customized plan for a cognitively impaired
individual, or apply to an entire class. Any endeavor needs a goal to stay on task and to guide the
direction of effort, and education is no different. These objectives guide what is taught, at what pace
material is taught, and through assessment are used to assess whether a specific subject area has been
mastered.
Students Social Ecology Theory
The social ecology of a student is directly tied to the child's learning. The child starts learning
earliest from those that have the most influence on them, their family of orientation (Berns, 2010).
Children learn by imitation and exploration so as they get older, their peer group, community, school,
and other groups that are directly involved with the child socialize that child and provide learning
experiences. Even the media has a significant impact on the child. The child's unique combination of
socialization and genetic makeup produce a young individual with a combination of attributes that are
not found anywhere else. To ideally adapt to this uniqueness, each child should have a customized
learning plan and would not have to adapt to a mean approach.

STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS

The child absorbs values and behavior from the family first and foremost so those experiences
will have more effect on the child's ability to learn than any other. If the parents do not value education
and treat it like its just an obstacle in the way of adulthood and freedom, the child can model that and
not treat school seriously. If the family is of a low socioeconomic status, that can bring additional stress
to the child's life. The family may even insist the child have a job at a young age for additional financial
support and at that point the chance of graduation and success can be significantly lowered.
The child's community is the microsystem that provides a sense of belonging and the facilities
that host a child's learning. The values, economic resources, location, cultural composition, and groups
within a community mold the child's learning experiences. If the child grown up in the inner city, for
example, lower socioeconomic experience presents few opportunities and a poor environment for
learning.
Culture is the beliefs, customs, and orientations of a society. Culture can be ethnic, regional, or
national. Culture is very important to a child's learning because culture influences the way the
microsystems functions. Local and ethnic culture is influenced by the national culture, and they all
influence the family culture. I believe the U.S. is suffering from a very low rank internationally in the
math's and sciences partially because for a long time our culture downgraded math and science in the
media. Our culture has glorified artists far beyond those who truly change and make a positive
difference in our life. The trend is somewhat reversed now as the nation is realizing that they need
scientists more than anything. The Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, Extant, and Grey's Anatomy are
all examples of that.
In the culture of much of the Middle East women have far fewer rights than men and a women
achieving beyond the men in her family is looked at as offensive. As a consequence, when people from
those cultures immigrate to the United States, this can have an effect on the way that one of their young

STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS

girls behaves in school. As teachers, we need to try viewing things from a student's cultural perspective
before making judgments and before giving unique help to a child.
Cultural Diversity Instruction
Students around the Twin Falls, ID area come from all over the world. Our local community
college has a refugee program that brings in diverse ethnicities, and we have extensive immigration from
Mexico due to jobs created by our agricultural industries. As a result children from 6 different nations
can be packed into a Harrison classroom where I work as a paraprofessional. Ethnic backgrounds have a
large effect on the way children see things, especially if they are within 2 generations of immigrating to
the U.S. We need to make accommodations for children with backgrounds that are different from ours.
If Mexican Americans want to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, and the Day of the Dead, they need time off to
do that.
Most students come from similar backgrounds due to the law of averages, but there are
exceptions. There are children in the Twin Falls area who have been through war or genocide. There are
children from families so poor they barely have the means to feed them. There are children that have
been sexually, emotionally, and physically abused. There are also children that have been raised with
every advantage since birth. All these different backgrounds come together in our classrooms, all wait to
be taught the same curriculum with the same standards at the same time. We cannot change a student's
life history, but we can affect his or her future. We can look for signs of abuse and neglect while fighting
to have the greatest positive impact on the child that we possibly can. We can teach children in spite of
their backgrounds.
As a paraprofessional I ask immigrant children for details on their country of origin when doing
geography, ask others about the holidays they celebrate at home, and speak Spanish to Hispanic
children. Just because we are all living in America doesn't mean cultures and countries of origin should

STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS

be rubbish. Cultures maintaining their identity, or cultural plurism, help make America great. Other
cultures should be celebrated and their ideas integrated into American culture. Over time individual
cultures blend somewhat into a melting pot, a good way to explain cultural assimilation, or taking on
the characteristics of other cultures.
Children's past can actually be used as a teaching tool. If a child is familiar with cars because the
child is in the garage with his or her father all the time, the teacher can relate a lot of subjects to that.
The engine can be the muscles, the fuel pump is the heart, and the wheels can be the legs. Building the
cognitive network on what is already known is important according to Piaget's work (Parsons, 2008).
Curriculum for all learners
Assessing student learning can come in many different forms, like formative assessments that
measure learning in progress and guides the remainder of instruction and summative assessment which
is the terminal assessment that measures subject mastery. Assessment lets the teacher know what to
teach next, how to modify instruction, how particular students are doing, and how great of a teacher they
are. I personally believe that assessment should be primarily authentic, or at least essay based because
applying learning to situations is one of the highest forms of mastery. Multiple choice questions do have
their place since most standardized tests are based on that. When I am a Biology teacher, my multiple
choice questions will all come from SAT and MCAT databases, reduced in difficulty for lower levels.
When assessment results show that a student is doing poorly, that student may need additional
help in the form of tutoring, or need assessed for a special education program. Before any interventions,
eyes and ears need to be checked. Students are occasionally thought to be learning impaired when they
simply can't hear or see. Students have different learning types, so an examination of past instruction
should also be done. Some children are visual learners, some tactile, and some auditory. A combination
of these three methods of delivery are ideal in instruction so that the most learners can be reached. Once

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changes have been made to the education approach for a child, follow up testing needs to be done to
ensure that the child is now learning at an acceptable level. If not, additional considerations need to be
implemented.
Proper delivery and assessment starts with planning. Before the school year even starts it is
important to write out specific material goals, timelines, and assessment dates so that students know
what to expect and when. Planning is also vital to accomplishing all curriculum goals and ensuring all
material is covered. Modifications in delivery and assessment can be made as needed, but planning is the
important framework of a class.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the most effective teachers try to meet the needs of the greatest number of students
possible, and when some students still fall through the net, tailored changes are made. These teachers
consider the social ecology of the student as well as background in making teaching decisions, and use
assessments to guide instruction, making changes when changes are needed. These teachers are patient
guides on the educational journey, rather than harsh dictators. They motivate rather than threaten.

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8
References

Berns, R. (2010). Child, family, school, community: Socialization and support (8th ed.). Belmont,
CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.

Parsons, R.D., Hinson, S.L. & Sardo-Brown, D. (2008). Educational psychology: College
of Southern Idaho. Belmont, CA: Thompson Learning, Inc.