Running head: STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS 1

Statement of Informed Beliefs

Megan Gallegos

College of Southern Idaho

Evin Fox

EDUC 204: Families, Communities, and Culture

Spring 2017

Authors Note

This paper was written for EDUC 204: Families, Communities, and Cultures, a course taught by

Dr. Evin Fox.

STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS 2

Statement of Informed Beliefs

Introduction

As a teacher, I will have the greatest opportunity of any profession out there. I will have

the ability to make an imprint on the children who will become the next generation of American

workers. Whether my students become doctors, managers, or teachers themselves, I hope they

can look back and say I contributed, in some way, to their success as a person.

Students Ability to Learn

Teachers are certainly a key ingredient in a students ability to learn. From experience, I

can state that having teachers who were positive influences and who were excited about teaching

their students definitely made a deeper impact on me as a student than the teachers who werent.

A teacher has many responsibilities, including being a positive role model for their students and

demonstrating competence in the classroom. By doing so, a teacher creates healthy teacher-

student relationships. Their students will be able to trust them which will lead to feeling more

comfortable in their environment and academic progress will become easier. Teachers also have

the responsibility of setting expectations for their students. This involves recognizing and

teaching to students different learning styles. I have always learned better with hands-on

methods, personally, so I can relate to how differences in teaching styles contributes to student

success. Teachers also have a responsibility to motivate and inspire their students. This can be

achieved through demonstration and modeling.

Students have responsibilities when it comes to their own education as well. Students

need to demonstrate accountability. Starting very early on, students have folders and assignments

to show their parents nightly. Students are partially-responsible for the gap between school and

home life. A good learner is one who is responsible when it comes to homework and academics.
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Students need to have good communication with their teachers as well. Teachers are very

intuitive, but if a student isnt understanding a concept, he should communicate that to his

teacher. This communication also refers to communicating with parents as well. By being the

bridge between family and school, the student will strengthen his mesosystem. Students should

also set goals for personal and academic achievement. A teacher I had in high school told me that

writing my goals down and putting it in a place I could see it often would keep me focused and

help me push myself to achieve those goals. These could be simple goals, such as acing a

spelling test, or bigger goals like getting into ones dream university.

Students Social Ecology Theory

Bronfenbrenners bioecological theory consists of four different systems that

individuals interact with that contribute to ones development. Family and communities are both

a part of an individuals microsystem. This system consists of the individuals closest

environments and the relationships within those environments all influence their development.

Family is defined as any two or more people living in one household (Berns, 2013). Families

have the most direct influence on a childs development. My family was always very supportive.

Having their support pushed me to become a better all-around person. Family support is crucial

when it comes to education because having parents that are directly involved and who know

whats going on in their childs classroom helps them contribute more to their childs academic

development. Family figures like parents are also very important because they are the ones who

instills values and morals in their children. Values are the personal qualities one believes to be

important. Morals are an individuals evaluation from right and wrong (Berns, 2013). Having

good values and morals will contribute not only to academic success, but also to personal

success. Therefore, family plays a key role in making up the social ecological theory.
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Communities are also part of an individuals microsystem. A community is defined as a

group of people sharing fellowship and common interests (Berns, 2013). The community I was

raised in was very small and had a strong bond with the children. Community members and

businesses supported education, families, and students in every way possible. Socialization takes

place largely within communities. Socialization is the process where an individual learns how to

be a productive member of their community through gaining knowledge, skills, and character

traits (Berns, 2013). I know personally that my community helped shape me into the person I am

today. We are like a big family. I cant go to the store or gas station without stopping to chat with

someone for a few minutes. The love my community has for each other contributes to how the

children learn to socialize and character traits developed along the way.

Culture is part of an individuals macrosystem, which is the society an individual

belongs to. Culture is defined as the learned or acquired behavior from things like beliefs,

customs, and traditions that encompass their society (Berns, 2013). A person in Asia would have

a very different culture than someone from America. The result would be individuals who have

very different beliefs and traditions that are important to them. Most people we socialize with on

a daily basis probably come from cultures different than our own. It is important as a society to

be accepting of different cultures, as we hope others would be of our own. This will create better

understanding of other people and societies, in turn making us better informed and accepting

individuals.

Cultural Diversity

Acknowledging cultural diversity is a must in our world today. We interact with people

of various cultures each and every day. By openly communicating about our various cultures in

the classroom, we will grow as individuals. Students will learn about their peers beliefs and
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traditions. By learning important characteristics about others, such as ethnicity, we will learn to

accept and respect other peoples choices and beliefs. This all helps us become better functioning

members of society.

How are some ways to honor and teach diversity? Well, we can start by teaching about

important role models from different cultures. Learning about the historical progress made by

people like Martin Luther King Jr. or Gandhi is a starting point for learning about other cultures

and ethnic backgrounds. We can also do projects on countries with cultures that differ from our

own. At my school, we had a day known as Culture Day. Once we picked a country, we

researched them and on Culture Day we dressed up, made food, played games, displayed flags

and decorations, and more. It was a day devoted to honoring and learning about different cultures

found throughout the world.

Cultural pluralism is defined as having a mutual appreciation and understanding of

different cultures and ethnic groups (Berns, 2013). Its important as instructors that we make

students of all cultural and ethnic backgrounds feel the same respect in the classroom. In

Gooding, ID, theres a high population of Hispanic kids, although the majority is still Caucasian.

Many of these Hispanic kids come from immigrant families that know little English. These

children may not hear more than a few words in English prior to coming to public school. As a

teacher, it might be difficult to communicate with a student if I dont understand their language.

By taking it upon myself to learn a little about other languages or cultures I have in my

classroom, I can find ways to make my minority students feel more comfortable. Teaching the

whole classroom colors or numbers in Spanish, for example, could help students start practicing

cultural pluralism as well.

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Cultural assimilation is the when a minority group starts taking on characteristics of a

majority group (Berns, 2013). An example of cultural assimilation Ive noticed in my own

community is during fair week at the end of the summer. Gooding is a small country town where

rodeo and 4-H is very popular. Theres a week at the end of the summer where everybody

celebrates by attending the rodeo and fair followed by music and dancing afterwards. With more

and more Hispanic families settling in Gooding, Idaho Ive noticed some have not only started to

attend the fair and rodeo, but actually participate and make it their own yearly tradition as well.

These families are displaying cultural assimilation by adding a cultural characteristic of the

majority into their minority group. The difference between cultural pluralism and assimilation is

simply pluralism is just acknowledging other cultures while assimilation is taking characteristics

of another culture and applying it to ones life, making it part of ones culture as well.

Curriculum for all Learners

The way a teacher plans and delivers their lessons should depend on their students.

Teachers who adapt to the needs of their students benefit their students more and as a result have

more active, engaged learners. Using scaffolding helps find a students zone of proximal

development. Knowing the zone of proximal development of the students aids when planning

lessons in order to make them academically challenging enough to help reach the students full

potential (Berns, 2013). Knowing every kid is academically different means each will have

different learning styles as well. In order to reach every kid, one might need to try out different

delivery methods. In a college communications class I once took, the professor used a variety of

teaching methods. One day we would go outside and learn by doing activities, another day wed

do group projects, and some days hed simply lecture. By switching up his delivery style, it kept

his students engaged and he was able to teach to everyones different preferred learning style.
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In the first education course I took in college, we spent much of the semester trying to

tackle the question, What do grades mean? As a class, we reached the conclusion that grades

should be a reflection of what one learned and knows. The only problem was, how do to

accurately assess this knowledge? Are tests and quizzes the only option? Personally, I think tests

and quizzes are a good way to assess how much a student knows, but there are other options for

those students who freeze up during assessments. Some other ways to evaluate learning would be

verbal assessments or presentations. Students will also have to take standardized tests, which

are tests that all students partake in that are then compared to a norm (Berns, 2013). This is a

great way to know where students compare with their peers academically. Using information

gathered from a students assessment can help plan curriculum based on what areas students still

need to demonstrate competence in.

Students will grow physically, mentally, and emotionally throughout the course of

school. The teacher plays vital roles in this growth. While teachers are there to instruct students

in areas like math and science, there is also an opportunity to teach their classroom how to be a

good people and how to make good decisions. Many of my teachers were the positive influence I

needed in my life at one time or another. I wouldnt be who I am today without the personal

experiences I gained in their classroom. Being dynamic as a teacher helps ensure each learner

grows. Theres not a one-size fits all when it comes to learning. Building personal

relationships with students is the first step. Evaluations from fellow teachers, staff, and students

can also help ensure a teacher is teaching effectively in his classroom. I will encourage my

students to provide me with feedback throughout their learning process in order to better myself

as an educator.
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Conclusion

Education is the foundation for tomorrow. Teachers provide this foundation. Instructors

have responsibilities to teach and students have responsibilities to learn. Teachers must also

recognize that families, communities, and cultures contribute to their students socialization

process. Educators should embrace their students cultural differences and must also come

prepared to teach to a variety of students in a way that will promote success. I look forward to

many things as a teacher, but most of all, I look forward to being a part of helping students grow

personally and academically in order to achieve success in their life.