Running head: All Students Can Learn 1

All Students Can Learn

Aaron Young

College of Western Idaho

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Introducion

This title of this paper, “All Students Can Learn,” is somewhat ironically named. Perhaps a

more apt title would be “Students Cannot Help but Learn.” I say this because it is important for

people in a position to provide learning or education to remember that humans are hardwired to

learn, and learning will occur regardless of intention. What is learned and how one learns are the

variables that can be manipulated.

In this paper I will describe what the phrase “All Students Can Learn” means to me including

my responsibilities as a teacher in that process, how I can ensure that students learn what I intend

to teach, and how I intend to manage the classroom towards those goals. I will describe my

views of how teacher expectations influence student learning and the importance of educational

goals. I will describe the importance of connecting learning to students’ social ecology, including

how families, cultures, and communities impact students’ learning. I will discuss the importance

of acknowledging diverse cultures and building upon the life histories and experiences of diverse

students’ backgrounds, as well as discuss the important difference between cultural pluralism

and cultural assimilation. Finally, I will describe my thoughts regarding the design, delivery, and

evaluation of curriculum to meet the needs of students. I will discuss how teacher assessment

informs instructional planning and delivery, and how I plan to ensure all learners improve upon

their original level of learning.

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All Students Can Learn

Though commonly used interchangeably, the words “learning” and “education” denote

different ideas. Both indicate a type of personal growth and gathering of knowledge and

information. Where education implies a structured, formal transfer of specific knowledge and

information from one person to another, learning is more diffuse, occurs continuously, and often

occurs within an informal context. The goal of an educator is to ensure that their students gain

not only the formal, structured education as mandated by law in the form of a curriculum, but

also learn the important values and expectations of society via methods of socialization. These

goals necessitate consideration of the student’s ability to learn and the teacher’s responsibility

thereof, what methods the teacher will employ to ensure that the student learns the intended

knowledge, and the teacher’s management of the classroom to ensure all students learn.

All people, and children especially, cannot help but learn. We observe and experience new

information constantly which requires us to fit this new information into the body of experience

we already possess. Unfortunately, many people, including some educators, confuse academic

ability with potential for learning. In fact, Howard Garner in 1993 and Thomas Armstrong in

2004 have demonstrated that everyone has eight different types of intelligences in different

capacities (as cited in Winarti, Yuanita, & Nur, 2019). The intelligences identified in the multiple

intelligences (MI) theory include musical-rhythmic, visual-spatial, verbal-linguistic, logical-

mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic. Studies have

shown that when multiple intelligence theory is applied in the classroom, learning motivation

and emotional intelligence are positively impacted (Winarti, Yuanita, & Nur, 2019). The

challenge and responsibility of the teacher, therefore, is to present each lesson in such a way as

to engage as many of these types of intelligences as possible.

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One method of curriculum design and implementation is the Universal Design for Learning

(UDL) whose purpose is to provide access to learning to the widest possible audience through

removal of learning barriers and offering different methods of learning (Kennette & Wilson,

2019). This is accomplished through UDL’s three principles: multiple means of representation,

multiple means of action and expression, and multiple means of engagement (Kennette &

Wilson, 2019). UDL embraces MI theory and has been shown to be advantageous in helping to

meet the specific needs of students with exceptionalities and culturally diverse students and

benefitting all students overall (Kennette & Wilson, 2019).

The importance of quality classroom management to student achievement cannot be

understated. It is helpful to consider classroom management through the lens of the

bioecological model of development as a socialization theory developed by Urie

Bronfenbrenner, which models the socialization of humans through interaction with their

environment (Berns, 2016). When viewed as an ecological system it is simple to understand how

a quality environment supports student achievement. Where learning is the goal of the

classroom, much like food in a natural environment, do students compete or collaborate? Is

learning abundant and varied or scarce? Are the lessons healthy or unhealthy? Addressing these

questions according to MI theory and UDL within a safe environment ensures students can thrive

academically.

All students can learn given the right environment. This is ensured by educators minimizing

the roadblocks to learning, providing multiple and varied avenues to learning, fostering

cooperation and collaboration, and providing a safe environment to learn and experiment. Thus,

the goal of the educator, to educate students in the knowledge necessary to succeed in life, as

well as gain an education, is realized.

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Teacher Expectations

Both a teacher’s expectations of their students’ performance and the goals they set for their

students have a significant impact on students’ educational outcomes. Their expectations

influence the framework of the student’s education from interactions with their teacher to the

design, constituent components, and implementation of the curriculum. The goals a teacher has

for their students also influence the types of interactions between student and teacher as well as

influencing the design and implementation of the curriculum.

Our internal thoughts and beliefs color our perception of the world and affect our interactions

with our environment. Rosenthal and Jacobson, in their book Pygmilion in the Classroom

(1968), described an experiment in which students were given a test purported to identify

intellectual “bloomers,” but which was actually a nonverbal IQ test that did not predict future

intellectual spurts. Despite the test not indicating future intellectual spurts, randomly selected

students were identified to their teachers as potential “bloomers.” Eight months later, these

students, especially the first and second graders, demonstrated significant intellectual growth (as

cited in Berns, 2016, p. 244). Nothing else about the students or teachers was altered. Only the

teachers’ preconceptions regarding their students was changed, yet this led to improved

academic performance.

As Berns (2016) wrote, expectations about students held by their teachers do not directly

impact the student. However, when those expectations are communicated to the student(s) and

the teacher’s actions reinforce selected behaviors, expectations can be said to indirectly have an

impact (p. 245). For example, if a teacher has high expectations of their students, the teacher will

likely design a more challenging and interesting curriculum. If the same teacher has low

expectations, they will likely provide a simpler curriculum including more rote repetition.
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Expectations held by the teacher influence the goals a teacher has for their students, which

similarly impacts student performance. Johnson & Johnson (1999) theorized that instructional

settings can be organized into “goal structures,” including cooperative, competitive, and

individualized goal structures each of which promotes different interactions and outcomes (as

cited in Berns, 2016, p. 269). In a classroom with many single-parent students, a teacher might

expect that those students would benefit from an additional positive role-model. Johnson &

Johnson (1999) identified the individualized goal structure as promoting student-teacher

interactions (as cited in Berns, 2016 p. 270). Or a student with a history of abuse who struggles

with trust issues might benefit from a cooperative goal structure which, according to Johnson &

Johnson (1999) promotes positive interpersonal relationships, including trust (as cited in Berns,

2016, p. 269).

Teacher expectations indirectly impact the academic performance of their students in how

they affect the interactions between the two. Expectations play a part in the goals a teacher sets

for their students as well. When a teacher has high expectations, they are more likely to set goals

that reflect those expectations and work towards achieving said goals, resulting in better

academic performance. Low expectations tend to result in more modest goals. The teacher then

delivers a curriculum resulting in performance that reflects those lower expectations.

Students’ Social Ecology

As communal beings we neither live nor grow in a vacuum. We interact with and shape our

environment and our environment, in turn, shapes who and what we become. Long before formal

schooling begins, children begin learning within their families, cultures, and communities. Being

the first sources of learning, family, culture, and community form the foundation upon which all

future learning is built. Continued learning and education, therefore, is dependent upon building
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a network of interrelationships between formal learning sources and those foundational learning

sources.

Urie Bronfenbrenner (1979, 1989, 1995, 2005) described human development in terms of a

bioecological model (as cited in Berns, 2016, p. 19). Two constituent parts of the bioecological

system include family and community (Berns, 2016, p. 19-20) with culture being an emergent

property of the interaction between the individual, the family, and the community. Edward T.

Hall (1964, 1966, 1976, 1983) described culture as either hight-context and collectivistic, or

low-context and individualistic and further described how people from these differing cultural

systems see the world differently, unaware of alternative perceptions (as cited in Berns, 2016, p.

26). Where the typical Euro American culture is low-context and emphasizes individual

achievement, other high-context cultures tend to emphasize group achievement.

As demonstrated by Berger (2011) and Haskins & Rouse (2005), the effectiveness of

schooling is dependent upon the consistency of, and supportive linkages between students’ home

and educational environments (as cited in Berns, 2016, p. 229). Where the dominant American

culture, being low-context, interacts with a more high-context family culture of the student,

contradiction may arise. In order to avoid this contradiction and instead compliment students’

cultural background it is important to interact with students in such a way that they can not only

understand but also develop connections between material and their lives. One way to engage a

more high-context culture might be to encourage collaborative projects for learning which

inherently compliment group achievement and interaction while providing interpersonal

socialization opportunities for students from low-context cultures. Incorporating personally or

culturally relevant topics in the lesson further supports the important linkages between education
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sources and the family, community, and cultural systems which we know to be important to the

effectiveness of schooling.

Students’ family, community, and cultural background form the foundation and context upon

and within which all future learning will be built. In order for formal education to be effective, it

is necessary to forge connections and relationships between these early sources of learning and

the curriculum being delivered in the formal education environment. Contextually and culturally

relevant instruction supports the formation of these connections and relationships thereby

supporting effective education.

Cultural Diversity Instruction

Culture is one of the lenses through which we experience our environment. It influences the

interactions we have with others, informs our views on what is important in life, and is the

shared foundation upon which community is built. Acknowledging and building upon the life

histories and experiences of culturally diverse students is beneficial not only to culturally diverse

students, but also students of the cultural majority.

American schools have a sordid history with ethnic and cultural minorities. Early American

school systems segregated minority students in separate schools which were often woefully

lacking in resources. Schools at this time adopted a policy of cultural assimilation, the process

by which minority ethnic group takes on the characteristics of the majority ethnic group (Berns,

2016, p. 212). Schools for Native American students forbade students to speak their native

language, required they wear the clothes of the white majority and style and cut their hair the

way white people of the time did, and in many cases adopt the religion of the school’s

administrators.
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The melting pot concept, the idea that society should socialize diverse groups to blend into a

common culture began to take shape in the early 1900s (Berns, 2016, p. 212) and especially after

the civil rights movement of the 1960s. On the surface this idea may sound inclusive, but at its

heart, it requires the subordination of diverse cultures to the larger macroculture. Cultural

pluralism, the mutual appreciation and understanding of various cultures and coexistence in

society (Berns, 2016, p. 212) is beneficial to students of all cultural backgrounds. Kallen (1956)

theorized that the majority culture benefits from coexistence and constant interaction with

diverse cultural and ethnic groups (as cited in Berns, 2016, p.212). Multicultural education

exemplifies the socialization philosophy of cultural pluralism by encouraging interest in many

cultures within society rather than just the mainstream culture (Berns, 2016, p. 212).

As a future educator, I would encourage multiculturalism by presenting diverse perspectives,

for example, the Native American perspective of European colonialism in the Americas and

including diverse authors for selected readings. I will make these decisions based upon the

cultural makeup of my class and adjust as the classes change over time. This has the benefit of

connecting the lesson to the personal lives of students from minority cultures as well as

providing a means of learning about diverse cultures to those students of the mainstream culture.

Multicultural education allows students from ethnic and cultural minorities to make

connections between lessons and their personal lives. It provides context which makes it easier to

access learning. Multiculturalism has the added benefit of providing diverse perspectives to

allow multiple avenues to learning for students of the mainstream culture. Finally, presenting

diverse cultural perspectives helps to prepare students for engagement in a culturally diverse

society outside of the school environment.

Curriculum for all Learners

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An important aspect of teaching is the planning, delivery, and assessment of the curriculum

and assessment of the teacher themselves. Teacher assessment provides valuable feedback to

help improve upon the education provided to students and to ensure that students improve upon

their original level of learning by ensuring that students are provided a quality education. States

determine specific standards that must be met for each grade level and class to align with any

federal laws and teachers are evaluated to ensure that state and federal standards are met. Student

assessment allows educators the opportunity to adjust their delivery of the curriculum to meet the

needs of the student and demonstrate that the student has met the standards set forth by state and

federal authorities.

Many schools, including those in Idaho, utilize the framework developed by Charlotte

Danielson to evaluate teachers. The Danielson Framework consists of 22 research-based

components within four domains of teaching responsibility encompassing planning and

preparation, the classroom environment, instruction, and professional responsibilities (Danielson,

2013). Utilizing the Danielson Framework in planning lessons helps to ensure that teachers

deliver the curriculum in such as way that students are provided the best opportunity to engage,

and make connections, with the curriculum. It also provides a means by which administrators can

provide valuable feedback to educators to make improvement where necessary.

Student assessment is also an invaluable tool for teachers. Student assessment allows teachers

the opportunity to make changes to the lesson plan to ensure that students are receiving the

education they deserve. State standards, such as Common Core Standards, and federal

standards, such as No Child Left Behind (NCLB), have had a major effect in that academic

achievement has become defined as the ability to earn passing scores on required standardized

tests, in which individuals are compared to a norm, which might be affected by outside factors
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such as poverty and family circumstance (Berns, 2016, p. 272). An alternative to standardized

testing is authentic assessment which is evaluation based on real performance rather than

testing (Berns, 2016, p. 273). Authentic assessment has the benefit of allowing students to think

critically about how to solve a problem and demonstrate their learning in application to a real-

world problem which they can connect to their personal lives. As an educator, I would use a mix

of quizzes to evaluate learning in the short term, which will allow me the opportunity to revisit

topics that were not well-understood, as well as semester- and year-long projects and portfolios

for students to demonstrate their learning spanning the semester or schoolyear.

Assessment, for both teachers and students, is a valuable tool for ensuring that students are

provided the quality education they deserve. Student assessments allow the teacher to evaluate

their own performance and adjust as necessary to meet the needs of their students as well as

demonstrating student learning. Teacher assessments further provide feedback to teachers to help

them adequately plan, prepare, and deliver the curriculum in such a way as to be most beneficial

to their students.
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Conclusion

In closing, students cannot help but learn. It is the responsibility of the teacher to provide

avenues to learning in support of the student. One such method is the Universal Design for

Learning (UDL). UDL supports education by making learning accessible to the widest audience

in the widest variety of ways possible. This includes managing and organizing the classroom in

such a way as to maximize time spent learning.

The expectations of a teacher are profoundly influential in students’ learning. Expectations

influence the interactions between teacher and student, influence the quality of instruction, and

can be influential in the development of students’ self-image and self-esteem. For this reason, I

will set high expectations combined with a surplus of positive feedback and constructive

criticism to encourage deep learning and to support my students’ confidence in their education.

The social ecology of the student provides their first learning experiences, and is, therefore,

the foundation upon which all future learning will be constructed. Therefore, it is incredibly

important to connect students’ learning with family, culture, and community to encourage deeper

and lifelong learning. This is especially true regarding diverse learners. It is the responsibility of

the educator to be aware of their own social and cultural ecology and avoid bias, providing

varying perspectives that engage the cultural heritage of all their students and celebrating cultural

pluralism both within the classroom and without.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, an educator must constantly evaluate not only student

performance, but also their own performance. Educators must be aware, and model for their

students, that they too are still learning and utilize that new knowledge to improve upon the

delivery of education.
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References

Berns, R. (2016). Child, family, school, community: socialization and support (10th ed.).

Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.

Danielson, C. (2013). The framework for teaching: evaluation instrument (2013th ed.).

Princeton, NJ: Danielson Group. Retrieved from

https://danielsongroup.org/downloads/2013-framework-teaching-evaluation-instrument

Kennette, L. N., & Wilson, N. A. (2019). Universal Design for Learning (UDL): What is it and

how do I implement it? Transformative Dialogues: Teaching & Learning Journal, 12(1),

1–6. Retrieved from

http://search.ebscohost.com.cwi.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=1371

12813&site=ehost-live&scope=site

Winarti, A., Yuanita, L., & Nur, M. (2019). The effectiveness of multiple intelligences based

teaching strategy in enhancing the multiple intelligences and science process skills of

junior High School students. Journal of Technology and Science Education, 9(2), 122.

doi: 10.3926/jotse.404