STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS 1

STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS

MY PASSION, MY BELIEFS

ANGELA CAIRNS

PROFESSOR BEVIN ETHERIDGE

EDUC 220-001W DIVERSITY IN THE SCHOOLS

SPRING 2019
STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS 2

All Children Can Learn

Children are conditioned from the day they are born. This happens through socialization

with family, school, and peers. As noted in Berns (2016), studies by both Brim (1966) and

Macoby (2007) showed that “Socialization is the process by which individuals acquire

knowledge, skills, and character traits, that enable them to participate as effective members of

groups and society.” (p. 6) I never really thought about this until I became a mother myself.

Everything we do, know, and feel are because of what we were conditioned to do, know, and

feel. It starts with our family and continues with our peers, authority figures, and mentors. In a

book I read on the importance of the family in the socialization process of an individual, the

authors state that, “During socialization one becomes a cultural and social being who acts

according to recognized rules and direct their behavior towards socially accepted values.” (2014

p. 409)

I didn’t think much of a child’s ability to learn until I became a mother. My daughter

repeats every action I do. I must be careful in making sure I am the best role model for her.

‘Children are like sponges’ is a commonly used phrase we use quite a bit. That phrase could not

be truer. Children are incredibly capable of learning and retaining a wide variety of information

in a short amount of time. This is even truer if there is consistency in how they’re being taught.

This is where teachers come in. Teachers have a great responsibility in making sure that students

are being taught in a way that will give children the greatest amount of quality knowledge, as

well as the ability to retain that knowledge. Parents have an almost as important responsibility in

this as well, but teachers are the experts. Without the teacher communicating the information,

even the parents can only do so much to shed knowledge onto their children.
STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS 3

To ensure that children are learning to their full capacity, communication is key. In my

opinion, from whichever figure in a child’s life that is feeding them information, it is important

that the child and that person can communicate. Whether it is regarding what is happening at

home, checking for understanding, or listening to the child’s concerns and ideas, it is important

to know where the child is coming from. I once learned that in order to change a behavior, one

must know what the reason for the behavior is. This is true for not only children, but for

adolescents and adults as well. If a teacher is able to communicate with a child and better

understand them, a child will have the best chance at learning.

When I become an educator, I will ensure that I pay attention to all of my students. I will

make it a priority of mine to engage with each individual student as often as I can. I want all of

my students to be able to learn to their full capacity. I will make a great effort to not allow the

students that may be struggling to fall behind, or for the student’s that are ahead to feel bored or

that they’re being paid less attention to. Every student learns at their own pace, and I think it’s

important for children to not feel discouraged if their pace doesn’t level up to a more

educationally gifted individual. Creating lesson plans that are more individualized for each

student’s learning capabilities is something I would love to strive for in my classroom.

Along the same lines of communication, I believe that student’s need direction. As a

teacher, I will create daily structure for my students. My students will know what I expect of

them and will not feel lost. I want to ensure that I am giving the student’s a place where they feel

comfortable. Having structure and creating balance for student’s gives them just that. Paying

attention to each student and their growth, week after week, is how I will attempt to give my

students the highest quality education they would otherwise receive.

STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS 4

Teacher’s Expectations

There have been a multitude of studies done in reference to how teacher expectations

affect a student’s ability to learn. A study done by Robert Rosenthal in San Francisco was done

to see what would happen if teachers had been told that there were certain students in their

classroom that were destined to succeed. The study showed that the teachers provided more

feedback to these students, gave them more time to answer questions, and gave their approval by

touch, a nod, or a smile. The higher the teacher’s expectations of the student, the more attention

those students were given. Additional studies that have been done have proven that low-income

and different ethnic groups of students have lower expectations from teachers which results in

lesser attention and a more negative impact on the students’ performance.

It has been researched that teachers do have a hard time controlling their expectations.

They explain that they try to start the school year off with a base level expectation for all

students, and throughout the year they individualize their expectations based on that individual

student. The effects of teacher expectations can result in teachers failing “to see student potential

and hence do not respond in a way to encourage some students to fulfill their potential”,

according to Kathleen Cotton. (1989) Not allowing a student to see their full potential is

incredibly harmful to that student’s future. Not believing in oneself due to a teacher or school

staff member having less than high expectations of that student will be detrimental to their entire

education.

In order for schools to function successfully, they need to have goals and set standards.

There are several different types of goals including, academic, vocational, social, civic, cultural,

and personal goals. Each category of goals has its’ own importance within society. “There goals
 STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS 5

emerged from a detailed classic study of schooling led by John Goodlad…across the United

States representing urban, suburban, and rural areas.” (2018 p. 206)

Academic goals include mastering the basic skills of reading, writing, and math. It also

includes communication of ideas and being able to use information resources. It is the basic

concept of thinking rationally, independently, and critically, as stated in Bern’s book. (2018 p.

206) Vocational goals refers to career and vocational development. These are goals to develop

appropriate work attitudes and habits, as well as being able to be economically productive and

independent. The next goal is social, civic, and cultural goals. This one refers to a goal set to

understand different cultures, participate in citizenship, being aware of values, norms, and

traditions. It’s the desire to have a moral and ethical character. The last goal is personal goals.

This can be anything from taking care of ones’ emotional and physical well-being, bringing out

ones’ creative side, and coming to realizing oneself.

All of these goals have their own importance within the educational system and everyday

schooling. When a school can establish and achieve their goals, they will be incredibly more

successful.

Student’s Social Ecology Theory

A student walks into his ninth grade classroom finishing up a text to his girlfriend, another

student plays Fortnite on their cellphone during break, and yet another student facetimes her

boyfriend at lunchtime. These social trends have taken over our children, and are forcing their way

into learning environments. Mass media has a tremendous effect on our children and what they’re

learning. In order for students to be successful in learning to the best of their ability, it is crucial to

alter these social trends and behaviors.

 STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS 6

Families, cultures, peers, and communities all have a significant impact on students’

learning and their trends. According to FAST (2019), the social ecology theory states that children

bond first with their parents, then extend into the school and local social environments, and out into

work into adulthood. There are four different parenting styles that have a big impact on the ecology

of a child. These include authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and neglectful. The way a child is

built has a lot to do with the child’s home environment. A child’s environment at home carries a lot

of weight on their social ecology and norms. As an educator, it is important to understand that every

child is an individual and will act according to how they have been raised.

It is important for teachers to try to relate to students in many different ways- including

different cultures, traditions, genders, and ages. Times have changed drastically over the course of

even just the last decade. Teaching habits need to be adjusted as the students change in their ways of

learning over time. For example, conventional lecturing has transformed to a more engaged way of

learning. Teachers are involving students in activities now more than ever. Teachers are

incorporating collaborative learning- involving new technology innovations, visual representation,

and experimenting with different learning techniques as needed.

Teachers should engage with their students on different levels to ensure that the child is

receiving the best education they can be. Some students have parents that have neglectfully raised

them on electronics, while others have been raised as a current day Cinderella of sorts. Adapting

teaching styles is an important part of adapting to each child’s unique ecology.

In a story by Amy Tan (1952), Amy had grown up in a very strict abusive home with high

expectations from her mother. If she received a B instead of an A, she would be scolded, if she read

a book she was not allowed to, again, scolded. She struggled in school, because her parents used

fear to control the children, so she did not listen well to teachers telling her what to do. The teachers
 STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS 7

were able to determine that when Amy did well, it was beneficial to her learning for them to be

generous with praise. She had been beat down emotionally for so long that she just needed some

encouragement and recognition. This is a perfect example of the ecology of a child influencing their

learning dramatically.

Family involvement in a student’s learning is a significant contributor to a child’s

development as well. According to Berns (2016), some of the strategies that families can implement

to prepare children for learning involves expressing love, teaching about the world, encouraging

questions, show approval for new things, express a love for books, being involved in school,

limiting TV and computer time, and encouraging writing. These types of family involvement are

terrific ways to encourage students to learn.

One thing to remember as an educator, is that although the students have been conditioned

throughout their childhood by their families, peers, and educators, they still require us as teachers to

motivate them towards a healthy way of communicating and learning in the classroom. Had it not

been for the educators throughout my childhood, I would not have had any good role models

growing up. Sometimes teachers are the only people in a child’s life are modeling good behavior

and communication.

Cultural Diversity Instruction

Each student is an individual. No matter the gender, ethnicity, communication style,

spoken language, religion, or disability, the students should all receive an equal education. It is

important as an educator to remember that not all of your students have been raised in this

country, and they may have different morals and values than of a student that was born and

raised in the United States.

STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS 8

As a teacher, one of my goals will be to acknowledge and build on students’ different

ethnic backgrounds. One of the ways I will do this in my classroom will be to group different

ethnicities together for activities and assignments. This will help students to become more

comfortable with diversity. It will create a challenge for all the students in their communication,

but will be beneficial in the long run. Another way that I will acknowledge diversity is by

studying the different cultures of my students, so that I can communicate effectively with all my

students. For example, some students need additional time to answer questions, because they are

taught deep thought, while others can think and respond much more quickly. Creating awareness

of the diversity in my classroom will help everybody learn to the best of their ability.

Cultural pluralism and cultural assimilation are both processes for understanding culture.

Kallen (1956) coined the term ‘cultural pluralism’ which involves the coexistence in society of

different lifestyles, languages, and religion. (Berns 2016) There is a mutual appreciation and

understanding of different cultures and ethnic groups. Cultural assimilation is quite the opposite.

It is when a minority ethnic group takes on the characteristics of a more dominant ethnic group.

According to Berns, “for a long time it was felt that in order for diverse ethnic groups to be

assimilated into society, they had to adapt to the cultural ways of the majority,” (2016) I very

much disagree with this form of “adaptation”, I can understand that it may be easier for teachers

to have less diversity, but easy is boring. Cultural pluralism is definitely the type of process I

would try to incorporate into my classroom. An example of cultural pluralism is multicultural

education, in which learning experiences encourage the interest of many different cultures. An

example of cultural assimilation is having all of your students celebrate American holidays, not

taking the ethnically diverse student’s holidays into consideration. I agree that different cultures
STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS 9

should be able to coexist with each other, and that there does not need to be a dominant culture to

follow.

Curriculum for all Learners

Since there are so many different learning styles, I will need to adjust my planning,

delivery, and assessment as necessary. Some of these learning styles involve, logical-

mathematical, linguistic, body kinesthetic, musical, spatial, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and

naturalist. I will make a great effort to know my students and how they best learn and adjust my

teaching methods and plans accordingly. According to Berns (2016), the most effective teachers

organize the classroom to provide the best opportunity to learn, involve their students in planning

motivating activities, communicate expectations, adapt learning activities to the needs of the

students, and provide guidance and support throughout their progress. A teacher’s perception and

presentation of information are influential in student learning. Part of my philosophy for teaching

involves being an exceptional role model to my students. Listening to my students is one of the

ways I plan to accomplish that.

Teacher assessment informs instructional planning and delivery by finding where

students are in their level of learning and finding a good place to begin with them. There are

different forms of assessment to gauge where students are. One is called authentic assessment.

This is the practice of making evaluations based on real performance instead of standardized

testing. Standardized testing is a practice where an individual student is compared to what the

‘norm’ is for their grade level. In my opinion, students need to be assessed in more real-life

situations, and not based within a box of where they should be. One benefit to standardized

testing is to show all students’ different levels of learning. Once able to gauge where most of the

students are, then curriculum for the majority can be created. After curriculum is created for the
STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS 10

majority, this is where adjusting your planning comes into play. If there are students above or

below the majority learning level, adjustments can then be made.

I will ensure that each learner improves upon his or her original level of learning upon

entering the classroom. I will do this by assessing where the student is at when entering my

classroom, followed by an array of different assignments in their learning style, ending with

additional assessments to check for an increase in their knowledge level. I will adjust my

curriculum according to each student’s ability and what expectations I have set for them.

Innovation in my approach to curriculum will definitely be an important factor in my classroom.

Keeping an open line of communication between myself and each student will be an important

factor in ensuring that my students are improving their level of learning. I want to make sure that

I am challenging my students and creating higher expectations for them than they do of

themselves. Another way that I can ensure my students are increasing their level of knowledge is

by keeping communication with the students’ parents as well. If a student starts to fall behind, I

can almost guarantee that I will be aware, but I can know even more by working with parents.
STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS 11

References:

Banovcinova, A., N. Kovalcikova, and D. Hrdlickova. "Importance of the Family in the

Socialization Process of an Individual." International Multidisciplinary Scientific
Conference on Social Sciences and Arts. SGEM, 2014. 409-16.

Berns, Roberta. Child, family, school, community: Socialization and support. 10th Edition.
Stanford, CT: Cengage Learning, 2018.

Spiegel, Alix. “Teachers' Expectations Can Influence How Students Perform.” NPR, NPR, 17
Sept. 2012, www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2012/09/18/161159263/teachers-
expectations-can-influence-how-students-perform.

Cotton, Kathleen. “Expectations and Student Outcomes.” Education Northwest, Nov.

1989, educationnorthwest.org/sites/default/files/expectations-and-student-outcomes.pdf.

“Social Ecological Theory.” FAST, 2019, www.familiesandschools.org/why-fast-

works/theoretical-foundations/social-ecological-theory/.