Running head: STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS 1

Statement of Informed Beliefs

Tori Fidanza

Professor Carol Billing

EDUC 204: Families Communication & Culture

Spring 2017
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Introduction

Becoming an educator has not always been the dream I was chasing after; although in

retrospect it seems quite fitting for who I am as a person. Since high school I believed I would

find myself working in the field of health occupations but as my schooling advanced on the

subject matter I found that the politics and other ugly sides of the industry were not something I

could cope with. I found myself lost as my interest in the material had not waivered but my

passion was already dwindling. Looking within to find some clarity I realized that since

beginning on my journey to higher education my interest in subject matter across the board had

peeked. I love to submerse myself into new concepts and expand on others; I would love to pass

this passion I have found on to, to help others explore the world around them, and perhaps help

spark a passion in their life as well.

All Students Can Learn

Our ability as human beings to absorb and acquire knowledge starts young. Before a

child ever enters a classroom, they have already started to learn a language, recognize letters and

numbers, count, reason, problem solve, and the list goes on. It has been said that children are like

sponges, they pick up on knowledge that is before them by observation first and then on their

own. It is crucial that teachers of elementary students understand that the students they have been

given an opportunity to teach are at an age where they need to be excited about learning.

Teachers should strive to ensure students are engaging in the material, even if the concepts may

not be complex due to the students age, the time frame of learning is critical and will build the

foundation of their educational paths.

Ensuring all students will reciprocate the material in a knowledgeable fashion means the

teacher must deliver the information in a way that identifies with each type of learning. Learning
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is done on a broad spectrum that can be broken into categories of learning styles: visual,

auditory, or kinesthetic. Aiming to teach with each aspect of learning styles in mind will allow

the lessons to be well rounded, therefore allowing the students to be more apt to understand the

material at hand. Though a student may learn best with a certain type of style, it is not the only

way they can understand and comprehend the material. Having a lesson plan that hits all the

styles may allow students to better understand something they would not have if it were solely

taught in one style.

The success of managing a classroom of elementary students who may or may not be

excited to learn will depend a lot of the delivery of lessons, and how well it resonates with each

student, along with the environment of the classroom. Aiding in a child’s education is a highly

valuable and significant task to undertake, arguably a student’s life path may depend on it.

Environmental factors have an equal part in the outcome of a child as well. From a

teachers’ perspective one should aim to do all that they can to ensure the children they are

teaching are getting their best chance. This requires getting to know the children and making sure

the space is comfortable. They must be comfortable with you and the classroom environment to

learn. A shy child is not going to want to ask questions if they are falling behind and don’t

understand something. Additionally, as a bullied child will not be focusing on the lesson if they

are worried about the bully sitting behind them. Familiarizing yourself, and your students, will

be the first step to providing an optimal learning environment. From there a teacher will

understand their students and will be more able to teach lessons that will be delivered in the best

possible format and style.

Teacher’s Expectations

Expectations of a teacher should reflect the needs of the students. A teacher should aim to
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provide material that is inviting, educational, and thought provoking. They should begin each

day with the intentions of helping their students learn. This is done by first ensuring the lessons

will connect with each student—this starts with knowing your classroom. Teachers of young

minds must also be flexible in their ideas of expectations. Teachers may have set out to teach a

lesson in a certain manner, only to realize it isn’t reaching the students and changes must be

made at this point to ensure that the students come first.

This is first reached through goal setting; the teacher and student should participate in

setting goals for themselves and for each other. A teacher has many goals to reach, from each

lesson in the day to the overall success rates of their students as a classroom. Additionally, a

teacher should be invested in the goals of each student. The class may understand concepts and

material but individuals may need more assistance on certain subjects. Individual goals for

students are not just for those who are struggling but for everyone, including your most achieved

student everyone can excel at something.

Taking into consideration of how zone of proximal development effects each student,

this again correlates to knowing your classroom and having the students trust in your guidance of

their education. Everyone in the classroom should be setting goals that are short and long term.

The short-term goals should be obtainable rather quickly while the long-term goals should be

something that may be difficult to reach and will take time achieving smaller goals and

considerable overall effort. Having a balance of these two goals will help drive you towards

success as you achieve small victories on the road to your overall long-term goal. The short-term

goals serve as reinforcements that will help keep the students driven to continue to excel. This

type of goal setting is something that helps anyone achieve what they want in the end, and is

something that the students may even start to apply in other aspects of their lives.
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Students’ Social Ecology Theory

The ability to understand and relate to different people of different cultures or religions,

or even social demographics is going to be a huge asset when entering a classroom as a teacher.

It is your mission to aide in the education of children that come from different cultures, family

life, parenting styles, religious orientation, and social statuses. Although your classroom will

have differences among those traits, overall a child’s development can be viewed in a large scale

when viewing The Bioecological Model of Human Development, it shows the value of each

aspect of a child’s life and the role of each.

Young students have yet to create a firm grasp of who they are and where they come

from, but as a collective group it can be said that family life has had the greatest impact of who

they are as of now. The way in which each child is impacted varies by each household along

with the caregiver(s) values in addition to the norms the household values. This may very well

mean that you have a classroom with students that have conflicting values in life set for them.

A teacher must enter their classroom with any opinions or bias kept to themselves, they

cannot express these personal views into the classroom. A teacher needs to be unbiased and

openminded to the diversity each child brings to the classroom. I find it especially important to

ensure that this is done in elementary classrooms as the children are in the middle childhood

stage and “…opportunities for social interaction increase. Children spend most of the day with

other children—in class, on the bus, and in the neighborhood,” (Berns, 274). They are forming

their first opinions of the world, and that of themselves as they are forming a sense of self, and it

should be made clear equality is a necessity and is one of the first steps to socialization.

Understanding how to treat all people with fairness, appreciation, and compassion should be

demonstrated to the children at a young age so that they understand the importance. This
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demonstration in the classroom is done so with hopes of allowing the students to form social

competence, behavior due to the understanding of others, which in turn leads to the cognitive

development of social cognition, conceptions and reasoning of people.

Cultural Diversity Instruction

Understanding a classroom will exhibit a diverse range of backgrounds plays into many

aspects of how you will conduct it as a teacher. Each one of your students need to understand

that they are equally valued for who they are and where they come from—no one person or

ethnicity is better than the other. Creating a balanced environment for your students is a key

aspect for ensuring a comfortable environment for them to achieve in.

Achieving this balance can be done so by using three socialization concepts, cultural

assimilation, melting pot, and cultural pluralism. Assimilation is the process by which a

minority culture integrates with the majority culture; an example of this is students learning

English as it is the dominate language of America. Pluralism involves a shared understanding

and appreciation of the various cultures present and coexisting within the differences. I find that

having a harmonious balance of the two concepts would be best in a classroom, in hopes that it

would demonstrate the value in both approaches to socialization within diverse cultures. This

idea relates to the concept of a melting pot society, where “society should socialize diverse

groups to blend into a common culture” (Berns, 203). Perhaps in efforts to create such an

environment a cultural day would be implemented into the classroom every few months where

students could bring in “show-and-tell” items from each of their cultures to allow students to feel

pride for their differences along with giving them opportunity to learn of others.

In efforts to achieve fairness within a classroom I find that equality and equity should be

discussed as well. Equality needs to be understood amongst the students, but it is equally
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important that equity is displayed for each student of the classroom as well. Equity and equality

are two strategies that are used in effort to create fairness. Equality is a start in aims to promote

fairness, but this approach is only applicable if everyone is at the same level and require the same

amount of assistance. Equity is used to provide everyone what they need to be successful, a

method that is used to ensure that everyone receives the assistance needed at their level. Both

strategies will be equal assets in your classroom when creating a balanced environment for your

students.

Curriculum for all Learners

A curriculum can be viewed as a short-term goal that allows the classroom to reach the

long-term goals set. It is a schedule of learning goals that must be met set by the teacher, and

done so in the way he or she finds to be the best fit for the classroom. This again relates back to

how knowing your classroom is the best, and first step in successfully teaching.

To ensure all students will respond well to the material a teacher must deliver the

information in a way that identifies with each type of learning style. Aiming to teach with each

aspect of learning styles in mind will allow the lessons to be well rounded, therefore allowing the

students more opportunity to understand the material at hand. To help gain an insight of how

your students think (along with allowing them to begin thinking of how they learn best)

assigning Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences test may be a good starting place.

Having a curriculum that includes multiple styles may allow students to better understand

something they would not have if it were merely taught in one style. With the different styles of

learning kept in mind the next step to a good curriculum is goal setting. Between the short-term

goals, that are obtainable rather quickly, and the long-term goals, that take time and effort to

reach, having a balance of these two goals will help drive you towards success as you achieve
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small victories on the road to your overall long-term goal. This is a great practice to teach your

students that they are doing, as this helps anyone achieve what they want in the end if they apply

themselves. This is when expectations come into play, and expectations of a teacher should

always reflect the needs of the students.

A teacher should aim to provide material that is appealing, enlightening, and thought

provoking. Ensuring the lessons will connect with each student is a big aspect of this process—

and again this starts with knowing your classroom. Teachers of young minds must also be

flexible in their ideas of expectations. Teachers may have set out to teach a lesson in a certain

manner, only to realize it isn’t connecting with the students on any level and modifications are

needed to proceed successfully. With those educational aspects in mind a teacher is on the road

to an effective curriculum, but they are not the only key factors that come into play when

planning a classrooms educational course.

The classroom is only one piece of a child’s life, and that is something a teacher must

remember every day. Understanding a classroom will exhibit a diverse range of backgrounds

plays into many aspects off how you will conduct it as a teacher. Each one of your students need

to understand that they are equally valued for who they are and where they come from—no one

person or ethnicity is better than the other. Creating a balanced environment for your students is

a key aspect for ensuring a comfortable environment for them to achieve in. From a teachers’

perspective one should aim to do all that they can to ensure the children they are teaching are

getting their best chance. This requires getting to know the children and making sure the space is

comfortable. They must be comfortable with you and the classroom environment to learn.

A teacher must enter their classroom with any opinions or bias kept to themselves, they

cannot express these personal views into the classroom. A teacher needs to be unbiased and
STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS 9

openminded to the diversity each child brings to the classroom, as you are modeling how they

should also conduct themselves with others. They are forming their first opinions of the world,

and that of themselves as they are forming a sense of self, and it should be made clear equality is

a necessity and is one the first steps to socialization. You should attempt to create a classroom

that is comparable to the melting pot concept, where no one person is better but together we are

great. It is with these ideas and concepts in mind that will help you form a curriculum that is not

only relatable to each student in the classroom, but it will be successful step in each of their

educational journeys.
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References

Berns, R.M. (2010). Child, Family, School, Community: Socialization and Support (8th ed.).

Belmont, CA: Thomson Learning, Inc.