Sarah Mickelberry 1

Sarah Mickelberry
Education 215
Dr. R. Harris
September 18, 2012
How Culture Influences Personal Beliefs & Expectations about Teaching and Learning
Culture surrounds us in every moment of our lives. Whether one realizes it or not, a
persons culture influences daily and lifelong decisions, attitudes and beliefs. Culture is a
difficult word to universally define, but in Diversity Matters: Understanding Diversity in
Schools the author refers to it as a groups values, beliefs, notions about acceptable and
unacceptable behavior, and other socially constructed ideas that all members of the group are
taught (Spradlin 5). To me, culture encompasses every aspect of the social life one lives in. This
includes, but is not limited to, language, race, family life, learned values and beliefs, and
socioeconomic status. With all these factors influencing our lives, one can imagine how this
affects not only students in school, but teachers too. As a future teacher, it is important to explore
how all aspects of culture will impact my beliefs and expectations about teaching and student
learning, so that I can create an environment that is effective for all students to learn their best in.
Before examining how culture impacts my beliefs and expectations about teaching and
learning, it is important to identify my own culture identity. A large part of my cultural identity is
influenced by my family structure. I grew up in a nuclear household, in which both my parents
showed love and support towards each other, my siblings, and me. In addition to the nuclear
family structure I have grown up with, I have also had extended family, including two sets of
grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins present in my life. The emphasis of a loving family has
influenced my life in that I sometimes overlook that not every household is as stable and

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encouraging as my own. At the same time I have taken in the caring nature of my family and am
ready and willing to pass it along. My ability status has been classified as gifted. I have no
disabilities that hinder my mental, social, or physical skills, and have always been on the
academic track that led to honor classes. My ability status has affected me in that I have never
experienced the irritation of getting stuck in a lower class that was not challenging enough for
me, or have not had to undergo the frustration of not being able to accomplish something due to
impairment.
Some of the more obvious aspects of my cultural identity are that I am a white female,
who natively speaks English. I also fit into the socioeconomic status of middle class, with two
employed and educated parents. For this reason, I would be characterized as a member of the
dominant culture. Being a member of the dominant culture, I have undoubtedly experienced
privilege in my life. I may not have even realized it at the time, but my status as a member of the
dominant culture has surely led to unearned benefits. My unconscious privileges could have been
receiving more attention from a teacher because of my skin color, or being accepted by a group
of peers because I speak English. Whatever it may have been, having conscious or unconscious
privilege is a part of my cultural identity.
After analyzing what I feel are the principle pieces of my cultural identity, I am able to
reflect on how that identity will impact my attitudes, beliefs, and expectations for the classroom,
teaching, and learning. The unconditional support and encouragement from my family has led
me to believe that every student should have someone that will provide them with continuous
praise of their abilities. Because of this belief, my expectation as a teacher is that my students
will support each other in their learning and growth. I also, however, have set the expectation of
myself as the teacher to give any child who needs an advocator the care and encouragement that

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my family has given to me. For example, if this means staying after school to help a student
whose parents cannot or will not help them learn to read or understand homework assignments, I
want to make that happen. A child will not be motivated to learn if no one around them believes
they can succeed. As stated above, my ability status has never allowed me to feel the frustrations
that a student with impairments might have. Not fully understanding what a disabled student
goes through could become problematic if I do not keep a cooperative attitude about helping the
many different ability statuses that will come through my classroom. I fully expect students with
different learning speeds and students with disabilities, and it will be my job to accommodate
those students in order for them to have a fair chance at learning in a way that they can excel in
school.
Being a member of the dominant culture, I think at certain times in my life, especially
when I was younger, I had the notion that everyone should acculturate to my culture. As I have
grown and learned about the plentitude of cultures that are in schools, I made the realization that
diverse cultures should be celebrated. The school I teach at will most certainly not be filled with
dominant culture students; in fact, many of my students will come from minority groups. As the
teacher I cannot expect them to renounce their own culture. I might not have had an open attitude
about other cultures when I was younger, but I am now receptive to fostering cultural differences
in the learning environment. I believe my students should also be willing to explore different
cultures from their own by doing projects and activities that help them to see the benefit of
cultural diversity.
Although I have stated that culture impacts beliefs and expectations for the classroom, it
is important to examine how one can avoid bias created by these culturally influenced ideas. I
will become a non-biased teacher through remembering that each individual student has a

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different cultural background. No two people have the exact same experiences or upbringings,
and I think remembering that will be a key in being a non-biased teacher. Because no two people
have the same cultural identity or experiences, as a teacher I will have to use a variety of
different instructional strategies so that all my students will have a chance to learn in a way that
helps them succeed. A teacher wants to create an equal environment, but sometimes that means
that every student is not taught or treated in the same exact way. For example, a student with a
learning disability may need more instruction or different types of instruction than a student with
no disability. Another example would be if there was an ESL student in my class, and I did not
accommodate for that. I would be favoring the non-disabled student or the English speaking
students if I did not provide other learning opportunities for the disabled and the ESL student that
fit their needs.
In addition to accommodating the diverse needs of my classroom, I must also become
self-reflective in my teaching and behavior, so I can identify and elude any prejudice,
discriminative, or stereotypical behavior that may present its self in my classroom. At times this
may become hard because I identify with the dominant culture, but it is necessary in becoming a
non-biased teacher. I think another important factor in becoming a non-biased teacher is listening
and being open to any feedback that my students, students parents, or colleagues have. It is not
enough to just listen to the feedback one receives as a teacher. It is also important to analyze it
and determine how the feedback may be helpful in creating a more equal environment that is fit
for each individual student to learn in.
In closing, it is clear that ones own culture impacts beliefs and expectations about
teaching and learning. It is important to explore ones personal cultural identity to determine how
attitudes and expectations will be influenced inside a classroom. Family structure, ability status,

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socioeconomic status, race, and language were just a few of the aspects of my cultural identity
that I felt have most influenced me. In exploring how viewpoints are influenced by culture, as a
future teacher I can modify behavior and ideas so that I can create a non-biased environment in
which all my students feel comfortable and able to learn in.

Word Count Excluding Header and Title: 1,388

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Works Cited
Spradlin, Lynn K. Diversity Matters: Understanding Diversity in Schools. 2nd ed. Wadsworth
Cengage Learning, 2012. Print.