Running head: STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS 1

Statement of Informed Beliefs Essay

Karen Hernandez

Kimberly M. Johanek

EDUC 220

Spring 2018
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Statement of Informed Beliefs Essay

Teachers play an important role in society. They are responsible for the student’s learning

and development in the school setting. As a future educator I acknowledge that teaching will be a

challenging and fun task to perform. One of the main reasons that makes teaching a complicated

task, it’s that students come from diverse backgrounds and learn in many different ways. In this

essay I will discuss my beliefs about diversity in the schools and how I will implement it in my

classroom. The following sections follow: all students can learn, teacher’s expectations, student’s

social ecology theory, cultural diversity instruction, and curriculum for all leaners.

All Students Can Learn

Since I considered myself of becoming a teacher I have believe that all students are

capable of learning. I believe that every single student has a very unique style to learn.

According to Howard Gardner, a professor of education at Harvard University came up with a

theory that presents that there are seven types of intelligences in which students can learn.

Meaning that the not all students learn in the same way. I also believe that while the student is in

a classroom, the teacher is responsible for the student’s learning. The students will be in different

levels and yet it will be the teacher’s responsibility to ensure that the students will learn at their

“level”. I personally think that I will do assessments at the beginning of the school year to

measure the levels of performance of the students. By doing that I will have a better

understanding of where the students are intellectually.

As I mentioned previously it will be my responsibility to ensure that all of the students

learn. I will create a list of the different levels the students are in and depending on where they

are at will be where I will focus. I think I will create colored- code posters where I will place the
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students name according to their level of performance. It will be depend on me if the students

learn or if they do not learn.

Teacher’s Expectations
In the teaching career, teachers have certain expectations of their students. However, if

the teachers want best results of the student’s performance, they must maintain high

expectations of them. It is very common for teachers to create expectations of students at the

beginning of a school year because they receive information of the student’s test scores, past

grades, family and health information, and comments by previous teachers. According to Jere E.

Brophy and Thomas L. Good the previous information influence the teachers’ expectations of

student’s behavior and achievement. In addition to other factors that influence teachers’

expectations include: socioeconomic class, gender, personality, physical attractiveness, cultural

background, speech characteristics, and handwriting of the students (Good and Brophy, 2007).

Teachers need to put aside these characteristics to not have bias expectations. In other words, the

educators must convey students that they are capable of achieving any goal they may have. They

can do this by implementing self-efficacy in the students.

Educators need to be aware of the importance of setting up educational goals for their

students. Educational goals are of great importance because that’s a guide teachers have on what

students need to meet by the “end” of a semester/year. If the students are aware of what their

goals are, it is more likely that they will do their best to accomplish them. Depending on the

students’ performance teachers can create cooperative, individualized, or cooperative goals.

One of my goal as a future educator will be to include and set educational goals for all of my

students. It will be satisfying to observe how my future students will persevere to achieve their

educational goals.

Students’ Social Ecology Theory

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Teachers play important roles in students’ lives. As a future educator I believe that it is

vital to connect students’ learning to their social ecology. Students are part of different

microsystems. Therefore to get the best educational results from students, it will be beneficial to

make connections among those systems. The different systems affects how students interact. In

order words, what a student does at school might affects on how he/she behaves at home, or vice

versa. Here is where the teacher needs to make connections with the others microsystems the

student is involved in. If great connections are formed, the outcomes will most likely be positive.

Successful teachers know their students well. They learn about what is going on in the student’s

life in and outside of school.

The student’s learning is also influenced by his/her family, culture, and community.

Students come from different family environments, some may receive support from their

families others may lack from it. This is one example on how families impact students’ learning.

The culture from where the student comes from is also an influential factors for students. One

student may have instill in his culture that is it important to have an education, however another

student from a different culture may ignore or disagree in this aspect. There are many cultures

and yet each of them have its specific beliefs which influence students in many ways. Student’s

learning is also impacted by the community they live in. The norms of the community contribute

to how a student respond to certain scenarios. All of the above factors impact students’ learning,

therefore it is the teacher’s responsibility to know well his/her students.

Cultural Diversity Instruction

As a future educator I expect to have students with different backgrounds. Not all of the

students will come from the same culture. They might be from different countries/continents,

they may practice a different religion or not practice any, they will be of different genders, their
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ethnicity will not be same, and some may also have a disability. With that in mind I will have to

include all of my students. For example, one day I might be delivering a lesson and I may

mention an ethnic group. I need to have in mind that not all students are from that same ethnic

group. If I fail to mention all of the groups some students may feel left out. From personal

experience I know that some teachers tend to do that mistake. One of my high school teachers

will use the word “Mexicans” to refer to Hispanic students, yet I am not Mexican so felt left out

every time she will say that. Therefore, with more emphasis I will try to avoid that.

Cultural Pluralism and Cultural Assimilation seem to be similar words, yet they have

their differences. According to Berns, cultural pluralism refers to mutual appreciation and the

understanding of various cultures and coexistence in society of different languages, religious

beliefs, and lifestyles. In other words this term refers to unity in diversity. On the other hand,

cultural assimilation is the process where a minority ethnic group takes on the characteristics of

the majority (dominant) cultural group.

In other for educators to be successfully in their teaching career I believe that these terms

need to be fully understood and practiced.

Curriculum for all Learners

When I begin my teaching career, I will create a plan on how to teach the

material/content for that school year. I will create this plan according the curriculum needed to

be taught as well I will based my plan on the school calendar. From several teachers I have heard

that the first year of teaching is the hardest because at the end it may not be how the teacher

planned it to be. However, my goal is to reflect on how I have done after the first few weeks of

instruction. If I observe that my students are struggling or having major difficulties in completing

assignments and/or tests, I will need to make adjustments to my teaching method. I might start
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teaching with the lecture method but if it is not effective I might switch to the group work

method.

The teacher assessment informs instructional planning and delivery because from those

assessments the instructor is able to see where his/her students are at. Depending on the results of

such assessments the teacher can help her students learn what it is needed to be improved. My

goal as an educator is to ensure that all of my students are learning. From the beginning of the

school year I will evaluate my students to see where they stand. I will have my students take that

same assessment as they are in the middle of the school year. I will observe and compare those

results to the previous one. If some students did not have any progress I will see why that would

be. Then I will make sure that those students who are struggling are making progress. Also

before the school year ends I will have my students to take the same assessment for the last time

before they move to the next grade level. My ultimate goal is to see that all of my students made

significant progress compared to when they first entered the classroom.

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References

http://www.tecweb.org/styles/gardner.html
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