Running Head: STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS

Statement of Informed Beliefs Essay

Hailey Waltman

Carol Billing

Education 204: Families, Communities, and Culture

Online; Fall 2016

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Statement of Informed Beliefs Essay

There are many things that go into becoming a great teacher. To be a great teacher, you

have to be totally and completely open to growth and change. You always have to be ready to

change and adapt your teaching style from year to year depending on Feedback. My hopes for

teaching are to be considered a great teacher by my students. This essay is to show how I will

go about becoming a great teacher, and will go over topics such as; all students can learn, my

teacher expectations, the social ecology theory, cultural diversity instruction, and curriculum for

all learners.

All Students Can Learn

I believe that students have all the tools needed to learn, as soon as they start

kindergarten. However, while they may have all the tools, they cant comprehend how to use

them. That is our job as teachers, to show our students not only that they have the tools they

need, but also how to efficiently use those tools. Before we are able to teach our students how to

use all their knowledge and tools (solving problems, answering questions, etc.), we must build up

their self-esteem. The best known way to build up a childs self-esteem at such a young age is to

surround them with feedback. According to Erik Erikson, positive feedback is much more

valuable than negative feedback. In the stage School Age: Industry versus Inferiority (Ages 6 to

Puberty) he states, Children who are praised for their efforts will be motivated to achieve,

whereas children who are ignored or rebuked may give up and exhibit helplessness (Berns,

Roberta: School Age). While Erikson covers a wide age range in this topic, I believe that being

able to build confidence all stems from the very beginning, kindergarten. After creating

confidence and a desire for learning in your students, that is when you can move onto to other
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things such as beginning the shaping process, and instilling a sense of self-efficacy within

themselves.

There are many ways that I will ensure that my students are not only building their self-

confidence, but also are excelling and learning. I plan on using reinforcement as a large part of

my teaching style, but more specifically positive reinforcement. In my opinion, it can be

difficult to get young students to perform to the very best of their abilities without having some

type of reward in place. I plan on using a combination of both praise and special privileges or

responsibilities as a way of positive reinforcement.

Teachers Expectations

Teachers expectations make a world of difference in a students educational life. The

teacher essentially sets the tone in the classroom for how hard, or how easy it will be the rest of

the year. A teachers job is to not only teach the elements in which the student will be tested on,

but also show the students that he/she truly believes they will be able to not only learn and excel

in it. It is important to not swing too far into the extremes when considering expectations in the

classroom. If a teacher gives off an aloof Attitude about how the student performs in class, then

that negatively affects the students feelings of self-worth, and their motivation to continue

striving for their best. However, a teacher must also be careful about not swinging too far to the

other side of the spectrum, in other words, pushing your student too hard and setting unrealistic

expectations. I plan to lead my classroom with a balance of love and high expectations. I dont

want to be a teacher that just expects obedience and fine quality work from their students, I want

to receive obedience and high quality work because I have gained my students respect and love. I

also know that to set a high standard for great quality work, I have to instill confidence in them
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that they are capable of achieving great work. I cant just expect my students to excel, I need to

be ready to excite them and push them for greatness.

There are many educational goals that are extremely important to students academic

achievement, and all can be manipulated and shaped to fit every grade throughout a students

education. Some goals in the academic area include the mastery of basic skills and fundamental

processes, and to critically solve problems. Other areas include vocational goals, which focus on

finding a suitable occupation based off interest and abilities, and personal goals, which include

developing self-awareness and improving creative and aesthetic expressions, as well as the

ability to set goals and accepting responsibilities for actions. Other goals that are considered are

social, civic, and cultural goals which include a general awareness of the environment and

recognizing values and working to have a moral and ethical character. (Berns, Roberta). Each

goal is important for the shaping of a childs future. Although one would hope that parents are

helping their children create a moral and ethical character, the sad truth is that some children

suffer Psychological Abuse in the home. If we are able to include these goals into the classroom,

we at least have some influence over children despite what they go through in the home.

Students Social Ecology Theory

Its important to remember that teachers are not just limited to teaching specific subjects

to students. I believe that teachers have an unspoken duty to help instill values, morals, and to

teach proper and positive behaviors for cultural and social situations that may arise in (or out!) of

the classroom. To explain more fully, teachers (depending on the grade) are responsible for their

students for anywhere from 4 hours to 7 hours a day. And while you may have required materials

and subjects to teach within the classroom, you are also expected to Discipline and teach

children appropriate ways to behave in the classroom in different situations. Those situations
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could include the time in-between subjects, time walking through the hallways, and even social

situations (such as recess or lunch, partnered reading, etc.).

While trying to shape and mold your students outside of your educational material, its

important to keep in mind how different family, cultural, and community ways have an impact on

how the student behaves and learns. I believe the family is the most important aspect to look at,

when determining how to teach a child morals and values. While you need to keep your values

basic (such as differences between right and wrong) and not influence the student too much with

personal values such as a political or religious opinion, it is also important to get a feel for what

the students family values are in order to keep a sensitive and open mind while going about this

sensitive subject. The same expectations goes for cultural as well, its important to be sensitive to

the fact that not all students in your classroom share the American culture and will be open to

your values. Community is a much easier factor to work with because the reality is that most, if

not all, children in your class will be living in the same community so the chances of your ideals

and communities ideals conflicting are slim.

Cultural Diversity Instruction

It can be difficult learning when and how often to acknowledge the different ethnic

backgrounds in the classroom. We have been taught for years and years to ignore our differences.

That yes, we may be from different areas of the world or country, and yes we may look different,

but that we shouldnt delve too far into these differences lest we create a division amongst

ourselves. However, lately, the racial divide is opening once more, and it is pushed to not only

understand that we are indeed different, but HOW we are different. Its important to explain to

students that while we should acknowledge and appreciate other ethnicities in the classroom, we

should also treat them just as any other student or classmate.

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Although Cultural Pluralism and Cultural Assimilation are similar sounding words,

their definitions are actual opposites of each other. Summed up, Cultural pluralism is respecting

each others cultural values, whilst Cultural assimilation is when the smaller ethnic group

concedes to the larger, more popular group. Thus bringing us to the next challenge, how much do

we practice of cultural pluralism to make everyone feel included, but where do we draw the line?

I believe that where the line is drawn is determined by each teacher. Each teacher should be

aware of their students and their cultural history, and should honestly make an effort to show that

in the class. Acceptance rather than ignorance should be taught to the students, but at the basis

should be a unifying common culture, thus the American culture. Teachers should stress that

while each student is unique, where we live now influences our culture as well. There are many

engaging and fun ways to teach about different cultures in the classroom. I hope to do Cultural

sharing time in class, where each week a different student gets to come up and speak about their

culture and teach the children about their history. This would be a fun interactive way to get

young students involved and learning about different Ethnicities.

Curriculum for All learners

To keep your students engaged in learning and actively wanting to participate, you cant

be stuck on one style of teaching, because not all children will learn and react in the same way.

While projecting a tone of laissez-faire may help some students stay motivated on their own,

others need a more firm teaching approach in order to stay on track. Some students may learn

best just reading through material on their own, others might require a step by step explanation,

and others may need a more hands on type of experience to grasp what you are teaching.

Not only is it important to be diverse in your teaching style for your students, but its also

important to be flexible in order to keep yourself engaged and not lose that spark of interest in
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teaching. My plans for teaching are simple, to plan and prepare a lesson but not prepare exactly

HOW I am going to deliver the lesson. Each class is going to be different, by not preparing step

by step exactly how Im going to deliver my lesson it forces me to step out of my comfort zone

and deliver it differently each time. However, I cant just expect that I will deliver the lesson and

that will be the end of it, I need to watch and reflect throughout the day about what I could have

done differently, if all my students seemed engaged, and so on. That is the key to becoming a

great teacher, is to always reflect and improve on things.

Lastly, the best way to get children to improve from when they first walk into your

classroom to the last day of school is to truly and honestly care about their education. It makes

such a difference when a teacher actually wants to get to know and understand the way you

learn, and it makes a significant difference just by knowing that they will do anything to push

you to your limits and help you succeed.

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References

Berns, Roberta. "Chapter 6, Ecology of the School." Child, Family, School, Community:

Socialization and Support. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning, 2016. 206. Print.

Berns, Roberta. "School Age: Industry versus Inferiority (Ages 6 to Puberty)." Child, Family,

School, Community: Socialization and Support. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning, 2016.

43. Print.