Running Head: STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS

Statement of Informed Beliefs

Tiffiny Smart
Instructor: Carol Billing
EDUC 204: Child, Family, School, Community
Spring 2015

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STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS

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Statement of Informed Beliefs

All Students Can Learn
Parents, teachers and the student can either help or hinder the students ability to learn.
Parents are the primary teachers. They teach the child how to talk, walk and help the child
discover how to learn. Parents teach their children how to follow rules, what to think of and what
is expected of themselves. Teachers teach the child how to read, write, as well as what is
expected of the student. The final thing that affects the students ability to learn is the student.
Does the student want to learn or does the student want to goof off and do other activities? The
ideas of what the student wants is based upon the expectations of his/her parents and teachers.
The teachers responsibility is to set high and obtainable expectations of the student, as
well as to teach the student in a way that the student can learn. These expectations affect the
childs self-esteem, and self-efficacy, which affects the childs ability to learn (Berns, 2013, p.
338). Is the child expected succeed or to fail? Is he/she expected to do his/her homework, be the
line leader or be the paper passer? These things all effect the self-efficacy or the roll of the child,
and the childs self-esteem.
Not only is presenting the material to the students important, but it is important to teach
the students in a way that they can understand, and in a way that they want to learn. I aim to
teach my students according to their learning style, and in a way that they can easily understand.
By using ways that will spike my students interest in what I am teaching, I will be able to insure
that they learn something that was taught. Giving my students hands-on activities, as well as
verbally and visually giving examples, I will be better able to reach my students interests in the

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subject being taught.

Another factor that effects a students ability to learn is the classroom environment. I will
need to be sure to manage my classroom in such a way that I can easily redirect my students
back to the topic when needed, as well as to be sure to redirect one or two students without
interrupting the momentum of the lesson. By creating a good learning environment, and by
keeping my students on topic, I will be able to ensure that they are in a good position to learn.
Teachers Expectations
By encouraging my students to succeed and by setting up high expectations for my
students, I am able to increase the attitude and the self-efficacy and self-esteem of my students,
increasing their chances that they will succeed. Also, by creating a good learning environment
for my students, and by managing my class, I will be able to teach my students to their
understanding, and will be able to increase their ability and their opportunity to learn.
Depending on the teachers expectations of the students, depends on what self-fulfilling
prophecy is going to be fulfilled. The students will meet the expectations of their teacher. If a
teacher expects his/her class to succeed, then he/she will teach in a way that the students can
succeed. Likewise, if the teacher does not expect the students to succeed, but rather to fail, then
the teacher will not teach in a successful manner, and the students will fail.
Teachers expectations can also affect a smaller portion of the class. For example, an
engineer teacher may have the opinion, and therefore the expectation that only boys are fit to be
engineers, and so teaches the class in such a way that the male students can succeed, neglecting
the female students so they will fail. Not only can the expectations be related to the whole class
or to gender, but can also be related to race, ethnicity, hair color, ect.

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Students ability to learn is also based on their perception of what is being taught, how
the material is presented, and who is teaching the students (Berns, 2013, p. 217). Does the
teacher present and/or teach the material in multiple ways to meet the different learning styles? Is
the teacher overly strict with his/her students or not strict enough towards the students? These
things all affect how the material is presented, and how the students view their teachers.
There are three educational goal structures to help students learn. The first is the
cooperative goal structure which involves students working together to complete a task or goal.
In this structure, students are able to help and/or tutor one another, until the goal, task or
assignment is completed (Berns, 2013, p. 239). The second is the competitive goal structure
which creates a competition between two or more students or groups of students for the purpose
of pushing students to achieve goals that may be harder to obtain individually or in groups
(Berns, 2013, p. 239). The third is the individualized goal structure where students work by
themselves to achieve a goal that is unrelated to other students achievement of the goal (Berns,
2013, p. 239). For example, students may work individually on a worksheet or on writing a
paper. By working alone, students are able to do their own work, and are able to better learn what
they are doing right and what they may need to improve on.
Students Social Ecology Theory
Students social ecology includes: family, school, community, media, and peers. Students
learn values, morals, behaviors, and skills by role modeling things they see others do. Students
will model others by mimicking their behaviors and their values (Berns, 2013, p. 218). Teachers
are responsible for teaching students what they are, and are not to do in society. They impart
knowledge to their students and set examples for their students to follow. However, students will
not model their teachers if they do not like who their teachers are, what their teachers do, or how

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their teachers act. So, if a teacher wants to be a good model, he/she needs to connect the interests
and desires of the students, into his/her behaviors and lessons.
Thus the importance of connecting learning to what the students are interested in. By
creating an environment in the classroom where students can socialize with their peers freely,
they are able to learn what behaviors to internalize and what behaviors to ignore. By creating a
controlled, safe environment for students to socialize in, teachers are able to increase the students
learning environment to include not only what he/she can teach, but what the students can teach
each other.
The students family, culture and community all have an impact on the students ability
and opportunity to learn. The type of parenting at home can influence the type of behavior that
the students exhibit in the classroom. This behavior can either be a tool in learning or it can
inhibit a childs opportunity to learn. The family structure in a childs home can also affect the
students learning ability. Family life can be very chaotic and unstable, stable and loving, or
anything in between. Most students juggle their family life and their roles in their home with
their school life and their roles at school. This can be hard for a student to do and as such can
affect the students ability to learn.
The culture of the student, along with where the students family comes from, impacts
how studious the child may be, and the role the child plays in his/her life. For example, in China,
the culture regarding school is to do well. There is no exception for failure. The Chinese culture
focuses on honor. Honoring your family and yourself. In America, different cultures around the
world can be seen affecting students in one classroom. Some students may have the cultural
influence of their homeland, or they may have a more assimilated culture, and take different
parts from other cultures (Berns, 2013, p. 191). Regardless of where a student comes from, or the
culture of a students home, their culture will affect how they view the world, and how they view

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school.
The community affects all students in different ways; positively or negatively. The
community teaches ethics on how a student should act, as well as sets examples of what is right
and what is wrong. Each community is different, and has its own culture. So students have the
culture of their country (America, Mexico, Africa, Europe, Asia), as well as the culture of their
community. How things are done in the community can also affect the ability of the student to
learn. Whether it is or is not okay to skip school, do drugs, stay out late, ect.
Cultural Diversity Instruction
Every country has its own culture, race, and religion. The people within the country have
developed their own beliefs, morals, customs and traditions. Over time, people from many
different cultures and ethnicities have migrated to the United States of America. As a result, I
may have some students who came from a different ethnicity and culture than the rest of the
students in my class. These students will have had different experiences, and will know different
things than the rest of my students. When a teacher is lucky enough to have a student or two
from a different ethnicity and/or from a different culture, it is important to take advantage of the
opportunity to learn from these students.
When this opportunity comes knocking at my classroom door, I will welcome the
opportunity of having students with a different ethnicity and/or culture into my classroom.
During different holidays or seasons, it is a great opportunity to have these students teach the
class about what and how their family celebrates holidays, different traditions that take place, as
well as what the country they came from was like. Taking hold of this opportunity will allow
both me and my other students to grow and to learn about different ethnicities and cultures, as
well as to cement some of what their ethnicity and culture is like.

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In the United States of America, there are different macrosystem philosophies that
dictate how different cultural groups socialize in society and in the school systems (Berns, 2013,
p. 191). The two philosophies are cultural pluralism and cultural assimilation. Cultural
pluralism is when there is a mutual appreciation and understanding of different cultures that
take place in society (Berns, 2013, p. 191). This includes the different languages, customs and
beliefs of individuals in society. The purpose of cultural pluralism is to make the society
stronger, by focusing on the strengths of each different aspect or part that makes up the society
(Ryan and Cooper, 2013, p. 58). One way to remember this is to think of the society as being a
mosaic, tapestry or salad bowl that has little individual bits of everything, that make the whole
better (Ryan & Cooper, 2013, p. 58).
Cultural assimilation is when a minority cultural group takes on the [many different]
characteristics of the majority (more dominate) group (Berns, 2013, p. 191). So in other words,
Cultural assimilation is when one group stops doing things that took place in their culturesuch
as language, beliefs, holidays, ect. and start doing things of the culture where they currently
reside.
Curriculum for all Learners
At the beginning of the school year, the most important thing to do with my class is to
build a relationship with my students. By doing this, I will be better able to learn the different
learning styles (visual, audio, tactile, kinesthetic) of my students (Berns, 2013, p. 230). In
learning the different styles of my class, I can be sure to plan my lessons in such a way that when
I deliver the content, I will be able to reach as many students as possible. This way I can increase
their chances to excel in my classroom.

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Depending on how I present the information to my students, will determine how my

students will perceive what is being taught, and whether or not they are able to understand the
material. To ensure that I am teaching the material in the best possible way, I need to assess what
they have learned. The easiest way to do this is by giving a short quiz or a test designed to help
me better understand what my students got from my lesson. However, testing is not always the
best way to assess students. I will also design different activities and/or projects that they can do
to help them better understand the material, and to help me get a better idea of what they have
learned.
Teachers assess their students to help them learn what they can improve on and clarify
when teaching material to their students. However, how does assessing the teacher help the
teacher? When teachers are assessed in their classrooms, they are able to learn where in their
teaching styles, subject matter, and preparation they can improve on. By being assessed, they are
better able to focus on how to plan their instructional material for their students as well as be
better able to deliver the content of their lessons to the students.
To ensure that each student (learner) improves from his or her original level of learning at
the beginning of the school year, I will need to do a pre-assessment and a post-assessment. The
pre-assessment will allow me to see where my students are knowledge wise at the beginning of a
topic or unit. This way I will be able to better understand where the level of my class is, and the
best way to teach each learner to the best of my ability. Another way to assess the students
knowledge is to have the students ask questions on things they dont know about the unit. In
some cases, this tactic is not the best one to go by, as the students may not know what questions
to ask.

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Autobiography
Berns, R. (2013). Child, Family, School, Community, Socialization, and Support. 9th ed.
California, Wadsworth, Cengage Learning: California.
Ryan, K. and Cooper, J.M. (2013) Those Who Can, Teach. 13th ed. California, Wadsworth,
Cengage Learning.

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