Running head: DIVERSITY STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS

DIVERSITY STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS

Reese Peters
Educ. 204 C02
Professor Lulinda Egbert

DIVERSITY STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS

Diversity Statement of Informed Beliefs

The world we live in is extremely divers and is always changing. A teacher has to keep
up with all of her different students. In this paper I am going to be talking about how all students
can learn, the students social ecology theory, discrimination and learning, and equitable
education for all students.
All Students Can Learn
All students can learn but the way one student learns can be completely different
compared to the way another learns. In order to be an effective teacher one must realize this, and
accept the fact that a teacher has to be diverse while doing different lessons in order to reach all
of the students in the class. Some children learn better visually, while others learn better by
hearing the teacher lecture, and others could learn in a completely different way. It is the
teachers responsibility to reach out to each student and find out how each student learns, then
the teacher can set up lesson plans according to how the students learn and can diversify the
teachings according to the students. This is a way that a teacher can ensure every student is
learning. For one lesson a teacher can put the students into groups, for the next the students can
do a hands-on activity, and for the next the teacher can lecture and have the students do busy
work. The teacher should keep the transitions from one activity to another smooth so the
students do not lose focus.
When a teacher sets expectations for students those expectations should be about success
and wanting the children to reach certain goals that you know they can attain, and as their teacher
encourage, help, and push them toward success. When someone labels a child as extremely
smart, gifted, or a good student then that child is essentially labeled as a child that is most likely
to succeed. The children that are labeled in this way tend to be the students that teachers favor

DIVERSITY STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS

and show more encouragement and support. On the other hand, when someone labels a child as
behind, disobedient, or a bad student then that child is essentially labeled as a child that is less
likely to succeed. These are the children that are reprimanded more for their actions and could
possibly feel the strain of not doing as well as the other students. Some could possibly think,
The teacher does not like me as much as the other students. As a teacher it is our responsibility
to ensure that the students feel equally involved, gifted, and successful. Every student has their
own strengths, those strengths just have to be found and brought into the light.
Students Social Ecology Theory
A teacher should connect learning to the students social ecology. This is the various
social environments that children, and all humans, interact in. The four basic structures that Urie
Bronfenbrenner introduced are the microsystem, the mesosystem, the exosystem, and the
macrosystem. The first structure is the microsystem, this refers to the activities and
relationships with significant others experienced by a developing person in a particular small
setting such as family, school, peer group, or community (Berns, p. 21). So in school the
students and the teacher interact with one another and this is important so they can learn how to
build relationships. The second stage is the mesosystem which is the linkages and
interrelationships between two or more of a developing persons microsystems, such as family
and the school, or the family and the peer group (Berns p. 22). As a teacher it is important that
the parents are involved in the childs learning. Whether it is a parent coming in and speaking
with the teacher about how the child is doing or the parents helping the child with homework at
home, it is important that the parents are involved and interacting with their childs learning and
growth. The third level is the exosystem. This is settings in which children do not actually
participate, but which affect them in one of their microsystems (for example, parents jobs . . .)

DIVERSITY STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS

(Berns p. 24). Lastly, the fourth level is the macrosystem. This consists of the society and
subculture to which the developing person belongs, with particular reference to the belief
systems, lifestyles . . . and life changes (Berns p. 25). This level is formed when the child
becomes old enough to understand politics, religion, science, and ethnicity. The child is being
taught about government, science, economics, and have possibly had religion in their
background and they are deciding what they think is correct or incorrect.
When a child is in a family, culture, or community that is incompetent they cannot
receive assistance from their parents or community on their schoolwork. Also, if their culture is
incompetent then the student may face the problem that their family or community does not
approve of them receiving a higher education. If a child is in a family, culture, or community
that is competent then the experiences they face in life can be the complete opposite and they are
more likely to receive the help and support that they need to succeed. A child that comes from an
incompetent family is less likely to succeed compared to a child from a competent family.
Discrimination and Learning
As a teacher you should listen to what all of your students have to say and the input that
they have in discussions. Students can show that people from different cultures or social
backgrounds can have differing views and opinions compared to a student that is from the same
background as the teacher, and even then a student can still have different life experiences.
Allowing a student to speak on what they think or believe can give the student an opportunity to
teach others a little bit about who they are, where they come from, and what they believe in.
Learning about history can be interesting but to hear about it from a fellow students perspective
can be new and exciting. So, allowing your students to have a voice can be extremely important.

DIVERSITY STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS

Cultural pluralism involves a mutual appreciation and understanding of various cultures

and coexistence in society of different languages, religious beliefs, and lifestyles (Berns p. 212).
In other words, our society is made up of different languages, religious beliefs, and lifestyles that
we have a mutual appreciation and understanding for. Assimilation is a mental adaptation to
ones environment by incorporating experiences (Berns p. 188) For example, when a child sees
an animal and learns that it is a dog and then sees a cow but calls it a dog and is told that it is not
a dog but it is actually a cow. To be individualistic is to be independent and self-reliant, where
you depend primarily on yourself and not others. To be collectivistic is to be dependent on
groups of people or others and to not depend on only yourself. All of these things influence the
way a child can learn and act.
Equitable Education for all Students
Discrimination, divorce, being from a dual income family, and poverty can influence
social, behavioral, emotional and cognitive learning outcomes. If a child feels as though they are
being discriminated or being treated unjustly then they could feel that they do not fit in and cause
the student to withdraw mentally and socially. Divorce can also cause problems for a child.
Majority of the time a child will think that parents divorce because of them. They feel that it is
their fault their family is no longer whole and their self-esteem tends to go down and again the
children tend to withdraw. A dual income family is a family that receives two separate incomes.
Normally this means that both parents hold a job. This can be fine for the family but children
tend to become latch key children. Meaning that they are spending a certain amount of time,
normally after school, alone without supervision. This can be bad because without supervision
children have time to do things that they should not be doing, like doing drugs or having sex.
Finally, when a child comes from a family that is poor then the child could be missing out on

DIVERSITY STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS

some of the social aspect of school. Like playing sports or getting to go on a specific field trip.
Sometimes these students even go to a school that is not considered as good because they cannot
afford to go to a better one. This causes the student to miss out on different types of
extracurricular activities or extra classes, because the school cannot afford to have them.
Providing a caring, fair and equitable classroom environment can possibly be a difficult
task. With some students being able to learn on way compared to another, or the possibility of a
language barrier, a teacher has to show that they are willing to teach the class in many different
ways. Also the teacher needs to build relationships with each of the students to help make them
feel cared about. To create a fair classroom a teacher has to set up guidelines and/or rules for the
classroom that each student must follow, but the teacher also has to make sure that if one student
gets punished for doing something then another should be punished if that same thing is done.
This also relates to having an equitable classroom environment. The students should feel that
they are being treated fairly and equally. They should not feel that the teacher reprimands them
unfairly and does not reprimand some of the other students for the same reasons. Keeping a fair
equal and caring environment is important because the students do notice when something is not
right.
A teacher has a lot of roles and responsibilities that he/she has to keep up with. It could
be extremely hard for some or easy for others. As a teacher you just have to learn a little bit
about each student and attempt to tach the students in a way that works best for them. Without
teachers there would be no one to teach children how to grow, learn and interact with peers, so
we have to do our best and actually care about the students that we teach because they are
important and they are the future.

DIVERSITY STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS

References
Berns, R. M. (2004). Child, family, school, community: Socialization and support (10th
ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning.