Running head: DIVERSITY STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS

Diversity Statement of Informed Beliefs Skinner, Shanna Instructor: Dr. Egbert EDUC 204: Families, Communities, and Culture

DIVERSITY STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS Abstract Teachers have a great responsibility to provide meaningful learning opportunities and experiences to students of all learning styles, cognitive levels, ethnic backgrounds and abilities. Teachers should use autonomy to make adjustments in how they present their material, taking into account as many learning styles as possible. Relatively higher expectations should be placed upon students to produce the drive needed to succeed. Teachers should strive to understand, accept, and adapt to as many social and ethnic backgrounds as possible

DIVERSITY STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS Statement of Informed Beliefs In America, no two classrooms are the same. Year to year, semester to semester, each class is unique and contains students with unique abilities, backgrounds and challenges. The world of a teacher is a world of student variety and change. I will face that world bringing with me, my own background, abilities, styles, expectations, and beliefs. My statement of informed beliefs covers the following four main points. All Students Can Learn As an educator, I should remember that each student will be different and will have different needs and goals. My students ability to learn is influenced by several factors which include their Learning Style, which is a consistent pattern and performance by which an

individual approaches educational experience or more easily stated; how a child learns. They are also influenced by their Readiness to Learn, which is defined as access to all factors that influence a childs ability to learn such as the empowered parents, a quality preschool, and utilizing television as a teacher. As an educator, I will need to make sure each one of my students succeed in the classroom. My strategy will include individual interviews with students, where I will set goals for my students and review them frequently. Goal setting in teaching is an important of the learning process. Goals must be set for the student and they will learn the goals over time. The teacher should reinforce the goals for success in the classroom. Teachers must identify and encourage each students full potential with their expectations and standards. They must expect a high level of success for the student. Teachers can utilize cooperative, individualized, or competitive goals to reach the expected potential of each student. Cooperative Goal Structure is students working together to accomplish shared goals. Examples

DIVERSITY STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS of a cooperative goal structure are group efforts, which divide the tasks among each group member capitalizing on the diversity of each group member. Individualized Goal Structure is defined as one students achievement of the goal is unrelated to other students achievement of that goal; this can be through homework assignments and essays. Competitive Goal Structure is students working against each other to achieve goals that only a few students can attain, for example; math races, solving problems up on the whiteboard racing the other students, which utilize knowledge, recall, and review. Students Social Ecology Theory Situations and experiences that students have will be a direct reflection on who they will become. Chronosystem involves temporal changes in ecological systems producing new conditions that affect development, this can include divorces in families. Divorce can cause negative behavior in kids such as acting out in class and home settings. This can be a result of a hunger for attention caused by stressed parents neglecting their kids needs during the divorce.

After that time period has expired the families become more stable and settle back into a day-today routine. Microsystem is the activities and relationships with others experienced by developing a person in a small setting. The family is the primary caregiver and socializer of the child. They have the largest impact on development and learning, and are crucial for the continued education of the student within the school and the community. Mesosystems include interrelationships between two or more of a persons Microsystems. Family and school are examples of a Mesosystem. According to Urie Bronfenbrenner (as cited in Berns, 2010), an example of how school and family are interrelated is children whose parents have rejected them may have a difficulty developing positive relations with teachers. An Exosystem refers to the settings in which children are not active participants.

DIVERSITY STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS

For example, a childs experience at home may be influenced by a mothers experiences at work. The mother might receive a promotion that requires more travel, which might change patterns of interaction with the child. A Macrosystem is the society and subculture to which the developing person belongs, particularly beliefs, lifestyles, patterns of social interaction, and life changes. It has a small role directly and indirectly impact the socialization of a child. A childs culture provides the traditions, rituals, and routines whereby the child learns who he is in their community. Upper, middle, and lower classes are part of a macrosystem. Family structure, views on culture, and community involvement might have an impact on the students learning .Some students might have to work long hours to support the family. There would be no time to study. Students who have the extra cash and time can hire tutors to help them pass school.
Discrimination and Learning

As a teacher, I will ask questions about a students life history and background. I will get to know them on a personal level. I can also research their ethnicity and culture. I will also meet with the parents of the student to open a window of understanding about the students home life. The difference between Cultural Pluralism and Cultural Assimilation is that cultural pluralism has multiple cultures that coexist and cultural assimilation occurs when you blend or assimilate into the surrounding culture; otherwise stated as when you adopt a culture as part of your own. Cultural Pluralism is the presence of more than one belief system. In order for cultural pluralism to be a success, there needs to be an acceptance and education of the larger culture as well as an expansion of learning of the smaller culture. Cultural Assimilation is adaptation to ones culture by incorporating experiences. An example is the utilization of English as the official language in most official documents and celebration of American holidays.

DIVERSITY STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS An Individualistic Culture is seen mostly in American and Chinese cultures. They are more reserved, keep to themselves, and are those who accomplish things on their own. Collectivistic cultures use discipline and guidance style teachings to teach individuals to think before acting. As an educator, it is important to recognize the different cultures of each student and adapt to the curriculum to foster success for each of the students.
Equitable Education for all Students

I will correlate the curriculum to the diversity of the students. I will make the adjustments to accommodate for diverse learning styles. I will treat all students in my classroom equally. There will be students in my classroom with a large variety of intelligences; in order to be able to adjust my curriculum for the different students, it is important to know some of the different intelligences. Howard Gardner (as cited in Berns 2010) talks about different multiple intelligences. Logical-mathematical Intelligence is the skill related to solving logical problems and performing mathematical calculations. These are generally qualities that scientists, mathematicians, engineers, and accountants have. These individuals tend to think conceptually about numbers, relationships, and patterns. To involve this learning intelligence in my classroom I will use mapping, pattern games and logic puzzles, and examples that the students have to recognize cause and effect in my teaching practice to involve logical-mathematical intelligence. Linguistic Intelligence is the skills related to the meaning, sound, and rhythm of works as well as the use of language. These are qualities that most authors, journalists, and poets have. People with linguistic intelligence are highly developed in oral and written communication skills. In order to involve my students with linguistic intelligence I plan on using storytelling in my classroom so I, the teacher, can weave ideas, goals and concepts into a story told directly to my students. I want my students to brainstorm; this allows my students that have special ideas to be

DIVERSITY STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS acknowledged for those thoughts. I am going to encourage my students to keep a journal. The journals in my classroom should be an ongoing written record of a specific class project. The journals will be allowed to be private or shared. I want to publish my students written work. I believe that in doing so it will send the message that written communication is important. The bodily-kinesthetic Intelligence is the ability to coordinate parts of the body and manipulate objects skillfully. Many great athletes, dancers and surgeons are highly qualified in this field. Students with bodily-kinesthetic intelligence learn best through movement and

experimentations. To exercise the bodily-kinesthetic intelligence learning I want to use hands-on experiments. I also think that it is important for students to do different crafts and maybe even some dancing from different culture and periods of history. The Musical Intelligence is the ability to produce pitch and rhythm and appreciate musical expression. Musicians, composers, and singers are good at thinking in patterns, rhythms, and sounds. Many students learn subjects with the help of music. I want to use rhythmic sounds and patterns, have my students move to the beat, and allow background noises and music. Spatial Intelligence is the ability to form a mental model of concrete objects and manipulate parts in relation to each other. These people have the ability to draw accurate conclusions from observing a three-dimensional environment, involving interpreting and making judgments about the shape, size, movement, and relationships surrounding objects. People with these skills usually include architects, engineers, and artists. I am going to use charts, graphs, pictures and posters in my classroom. I plan on having students graph results of different surveys and tests that we do in class. Interpersonal Intelligence is the ability to analyze and respond to behavior, feelings, and motives of other people. People with interpersonal intelligence are good at assessing the desires and intentions of those around them. That is why psychologists, teachers, and salespeople

DIVERSITY STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS are all included in this group. I believe that it is important to have group problem solving activities. It is important to build rapport in a classroom. Students need socializing with other students. In my classroom there will be many class discussions and group activities. Intrapersonal Intelligence is the ability to understand ones feelings and motives using such

knowledge to adapt ones behavior accordingly. People such as actors, lawyers, and philosophers are good at being aware of their own emotional states, feelings, and motivations. They tend to enjoy self-reflection and analysis, including day-dreaming, exploring relationships with others and assessing their personal strengths. In addition to my belief of importance of group activities, I believe that it is equally important for students to engage in individualized instruction and study. I hope to have a room in my classroom where I can provide comfortable study areas for self-studies such as bean bag chairs. The Naturalist Intelligence is the ability to discriminate among living things and be sensitive to the natural environment. These include people such as botanists, zoologists, and ecologists who tend to be more in tune with nature. I believe naturalistic intelligence is going to be my hardest intelligence to include in my classroom. I believe that as a hopeful math teacher and maybe history included, I am going to be limited on ways to include naturalistic intelligence. A few ways that I will include the naturalistic intelligence is making connections to the natural world and utilizing semantic mapping of ideas in my classroom. These intelligences are all possibilities of what I will see in students in my future classroom. To provide equity in teaching and learning, I will provide resources in my classroom that will incorporate strategies for all different intelligences. For example, I will provide extra help to students who are less inclined in the logical-mathematical and linguistic intelligences. I will incorporate examples that include the body, music, and spacing in my teaching to help

DIVERSITY STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS students learn different materials. I will provide visual objects to go along with my explanations during my lessons in class. In my class I will allow students to correct their own papers in a red pen so they will be able to review and correct their mistakes. These are some different strategies that will allow me to provide an equal education for all of the students in my classroom.

Each student deserves an opportunity to be successful in every classroom despite any and all differences in development, learning style, intelligence, or ethnic background. A teacher must take into consideration the cultural differences of each learner in order to develop the most effective curriculum for the diversity within the class. In conclusion, several factors including family support, peers, community and culture have an impact on the students ability to succeed, and it is the responsibility of the educator to foster success.

DIVERSITY STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS References Berns, R.M., (2010). Child, family, school, community: Socialization and support (8th Ed.). Thomson Learning, Inc. Belmont, CA.

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