STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS ESSAY

Statement of Informed Beliefs Essay

Bryan Zaharko
Professor Carol Billing
Education 204: Families, Communities, & Cultures
College of Western Idaho

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The mantel of a teacher is not one of great prestige nor wealth. The
title of an educator is not held in high esteem, but usually more so
acknowledged with sighs of pity. It is not an easy job, but it is our job! And
in this statement of informed beliefs I will discuss how to effectively
acknowledge and apply theories of teacher responsibility, social ecology,
curriculum, family structure, equitable education, social learning, and
emotional learning styles into our profession. Through this reading, not only
can we better understand what it talks to produce better students, but we
will recognize what it takes us to mature into better teachers.
When it comes to learning, students are no longer the only ones
accountable for their educational development. Due to new education reform
policies both educators and students are being held to increasing high
standards. Standards-based education, which measures both student
and teacher success academically and requires stringent and frequent tests
to be completed/recorded to gauge both student development and teacher
performance (Berns p. 240), is mandated and places an emphasis on every
teachers leadership and passion. We as teachers must know that tests do
not care about any specific individual students ability to learn, they do not
care about the socioeconomic geographic area in which an educator is
educating, and they certainly do not care if, we or our fellow teachers, are
awesome people Tests center around the fact that students do have the
capacity to learn. Knowing this, it is vital that we use whatever means
available to help each and every one of our students mentally develop, and

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care about our students enough to want to assist them in their development
as best we can.
With increased accountability, which is the policy of making schools
and teachers responsible for student learning or achievement outcomes
(Berns p. 240), being placed on schools and teachers in regards to student
learning, it is imperative that educators set firm expectations and clear goals
to give all students the best opportunity to succeed; thusly students must
also be also held accountable for adhering to teacher expectations and
meeting classroom goals in order to achieve success. But if expectations
and goals are not met, there must be consequential punishment. David
Ausubels theory of punishment deals with the use of physically or
physiologically damaging stimuli or the temporary withdrawal of pleasant
stimuli when undesirable behavior occurs (Berns p. 55). And although
punishment may not be every teachers go to tool in their teaching
repertoire, as Ausubel says, we cannot possibly guide anothers behavior
with the use of only positive reinforcement or else we would not be able to
understand the negative ramifications of or actions; children must be able to
separate the good from the bad and understand what they are not allowed to
do - thus appropriate punishment is essential in all of our development if all
other avenues are exhausted, this is an expectation which must be
established in order for us and our students to succeed (Berns p. 55). After
all, when a student succeeds then we succeed, and if we succeed then the
education process is (to the fullest capacity) a success.

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Sometimes educational success must come at the expense of

interpersonal student/teacher relationships. A teacher is an educator, we
must understand that we are not our students friends or followers, and when
we lead a classroom we must have the mindset that we are responsible for
each and every one of our students ability to learn. We cannot be afraid to
make unpopular or unfavorable decisions if we do so with the students best
interests in mind. We cannot let our personal feelings get in the way of
professional expectations. We have a sacred charge to insure that every one
of our students have the opportunity to succeed, and we as educators must
lead our classrooms in a manner demonstrative of our mantle.
There, again, is now an increased significance being placed on schools
and teachers in regards to student learning; to better meet these
expectations it is imperative that educators set firm expectations and clear
goals to give all students the best opportunity to succeed. From my time
student teaching, substitute teaching, and coaching I have come to realize
the importance of not only setting the proper expectations, but making sure
that the proper expectations are set for the entire class. Expectations
influence students ability to learn, and according to Jere Brophy we must not
let our preconceived notions of individual students warp the way we, as
educators teach our class. Brophy states that if the teacher treats certain
students differently than others, then the remaining students will begin to
behave differently to fit the perceived mold of expectations cast by their
teacher; this is why we must never be influenced by certain student

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characteristics such as socioeconomic class, gender, cultural background, or

personality (Berns p. 221). We must instead set class-wide expectations
pertaining to mores, behavior, and academic goals these expectations
must be clearly stated, strictly adhered to, and followed by all equally.
Educational goals are extremely significant in students academic
success, but before one can properly set proper goals for a classroom, the
teacher must start by identifying the students zone of proximal
development, or more simply put: ZPD. Lev Vygotsky identified the ZPD as
the space between what a learner can do independently and what he or she
can do with participating with more capable others (Berns p. 220). Practical
application of Vygotskys theory would suggest that we, as educators, must
be able to properly identify what students are capable of, alone and in a
group setting before expectations are set; and then once we understand
where the class is as a whole we are able properly implement expectations
which the entire class must abide. Outside of giving the teacher a
benchmark in setting classroom goals, the ZPD may also be extremely useful
in determining seating arrangements, special roles for individual students,
and lesson progression.
Once a teacher develops an intuitive understanding of their class, then
we can decide how to properly set goals to motivate our students and allow
education to commence. Based on the classrooms needs the teacher may
decide to implement either the cooperative, competitive, or the
individualized goals structures in their lesson plans. These goal

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structures allow students to either work together in groups, have some

groups work against other groups, or individuals may work completely
independently of others (Berns p. 220). But to properly implement these
goals structures in their classroom, we must gain an in-depth phycological
understanding of each student and decide which goal structure would be
best for either them individually or the class as a whole.
Ways in which we teach will largely revolve around the socioeconomic
demographics in which we are employed. When we, as educators, connect a
students learning ability to their social ecology we must deal with several
different factors: The students demographics (such as their age, race, and
income) must be taken into consideration. The childs ecology, or the way
that a student may interact with different structures in their microsystem,
must be deliberated. We also need to measure each students level of
adaptation to not only find how each child has been socialized into their
own respective environment, but where they fit into our classroom setting
(Berns p. 6). What I am getting at is that each student comes from a different
cultural background and varied levels of socioeconomic histories; each
student is unique, each student has their own mind, and each student has a
different approach to education. The difficulty that comes with a life as an
educator is finding ways to teach each student effectively and individually.
The only way however that that can be achieved is to find different socialecological keys that allow us to connect to each and every student.

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Teachers, parents, caregivers, and role models alike, need to develop

an understanding of what mesosystematic struggles our students deal with
on a daily basis. We must practice inclusion, or be part of the whole and
allow student to be part of the whole, to realize that times have changed
from the days where we were high school students complications that
plagued us may not be the same struggles which are troubling our students.
As of 2008, over half of Americas teenagers have tried illicit drugs by the
time they finish school (National institute on Drug Abuse, 2008). Students
are now more likely than ever to take part in gangs. Social media opened
doors to new forms of harassment. Economic restrictions may hinder a
students assimilation to technological necessities, like computers, which are
essential in todays academic environment. No one teacher can help the
totality of their students with these (and multitudes of other) concerns partially because many of these issues were not as prevalent when we were
in school and we have no pre-constructed methods of combatting such
unfamiliar troubles, but mainly because we are only one person - so we must
get students parents involved in their childrens lives, and communities
must step up to provide a shelter from multitudes of flying daggers capable
of destroying a students future. Finally we must rely on the individualized
education program to keep the channels of communication open between
student, teacher, and parent as the old teamwork adage goes, if we are
together we are as a stone but apart we are as sand, so we must do all that
we can to band together and create a safe environment for our students.

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Every teacher should not only accept or acknowledge a students life

history or ethnic background, but they should celebrate it! It is vital that
students who (for one reason or another) are in the cultural, philosophical,
or traditional minority do not feel that they are relegated to a lower social
standing because of their circumstances. Those of different backgrounds
and experiences should have the opportunity to share with the class what
makes them unique, and how they are special. The school year is very long,
and as days pass we (educators) need to look for those little moments or
lessons where those in the cultural minority can open up new avenues of
thought, and use their own unique capabilities to open they eyes of others
around them. However, we must be understanding of those from different
ethnic background so we do not single them out or otherwise segregate
them, which may greater contribute to the cultural divide within then class.
Ethnicity is an ascribed attribute (Berns p. 22) meaning that those who
identify themselves differently than others in regards to origin, race, or
religion had no prior say in the fact that they are different than others;
ethnicity is rarely, if ever, achieved or committed to by choice so not only
should we celebrate ones diversity but be sympathetic to the fact that it
they may have different trials then everyone else in class. Cultural
assimilation, which is the process whereby a minority cultural group takes
on the characteristics of the majority cultural group (Berns p. 191), is a
poison not only to our school systems but our society as a whole. Cultural
assimilation works under the assumption that the dominate cultural group is

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the correct cultural group, and the subordinate (or minority) culture is not
right and should not be accepted. This thought can obviously have
extremely detrimental physiological and psychosocial effects on those of an
outranked cultures, races, or beliefs. Instead, all educators and other
contributing members of society should practice the concept of cultural
pluralism where mutual appreciation and understanding of various cultures
and coexistence in society of different languages, religious belief, and
lifestyles (Berns p. 191). If we can set the example of understanding and
acceptance within our individual classroom settings then our students eyes
and minds will be open to not only what we can teach them, but what they
can teach each other.
Shifting from all-inclusive responsibilities to a teachers responsibility
within a classroom I will reiterate a point previously stated; a teacher is an
educator, and someone who must understand that we are not our students
friends or followers, and when we lead a classroom we must have the
mindset that we are responsible for each and every one of our students
ability to learn. We cannot be afraid to make unpopular or unfavorable
decisions if we do so with the students best interests in mind. We have a
sacred right to insure that every one of our students have the opportunity to
succeed; and we must lead our classrooms in a manner demonstrative of our
mantle. With that in mind, we obviously do not know everything and cannot
anticipate exact length of every possible lesson or discussion. Educators
need to be flexible and understand that sometimes lessons will either go

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longer or shorter based on student comprehension, or even (gasp!) overall

interest. Not only will adherence to a predetermined schedule set an
organizational tone for the class to follow or increase your competence level
in the eyes of school officials and parents, but it will also give us a sense of
control but again, sometimes life just isnt that easy or neat and chaos for
the greater good can be beneficial (or even mandatory) for student progress.
This does not mean that one should trough the lesson plan out the window
and develop and lassez-faire (a permissive style of teaching) attitude
towards their students or curriculum (Berns p. 218). We should not be afraid
to do whatever we must to help our children improve, even if that means
throwing the lesson plan out of the window for just a couple of days and
delving just a little deeper into one specific item on the itinerary.
With the expectation of intellectual improvement, educators must
properly assess each students need to be able to adequately communicate
to them. We as teachers must maintain a personal relationship with each and
every one of our students; we also must understand that children have
multiple methods and preferences when it comes to learning, and when we
are dealing with several different children the sheer number of potential
learning styles that students may possess when approaching their
educational experience can be infinite (Berns p. 205). Researchers now
suggest that children now develop learning or cognitive styles based on
socialization they receive from their families and in peer groups (Berns p.
229). This shows the importance that our assessment, knowledge, and

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understanding of our students can play in their educational development and

our professional success.
The mantel of a teacher is not one of great prestige nor wealth. The
title of an educator is not held in high esteem, but usually more so
acknowledged with sighs of pity. It is not an easy job, but it is our job; and if
we can learning to know our classes as individuals, give our communities a
role in the education process, embrace diversity, and have the overall
progression of our students education at heart then our students will
succeed, we will succeed, and education will succeed.

Work Cited
Berns, Roberta, M. (2013) Child, Family, School, Community: Socialization
and Support (9th Edition). Belmont, Ca: Wadsworth