Running Head: STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS 1

Diversity Statement of Informed Beliefs

Kourtney Staker
College of Southern Idaho
Evin Fox
EDUC 204: Families, Communities, and Culture
Spring 2014






















Statement of Informed Beliefs
STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS 2

Introduction
As I continue towards becoming an elementary teacher, a specific quote from Bertrand
Russell (1926) continuously resonates in my mind. He said,
When you want to teach children to think, you begin by treating them seriously when
they are little, giving them responsibilities, talking to them candidly, providing privacy
and solitude for them, and making them readers and thinkers of significant thoughts from
the beginning. Thats if you want to teach them to think.
The pivotal question so many aspiring educators are faced with is, why do you want to
teach? Every individual has his own rehearsed response, one of the most common being because
we love children. Is this the entire answer? It is only one of the reasons I can come up with.
Teachers enjoy the challenge of pushing children to reach their potential; when children
achieve, teachers experience an intrinsic reward. An effective teacher will promote generativity
and have a positive attitude; he will help to instill a lifetime love of learning. By promoting
generativity it will create a connection with students throughout the school and display how each
of them are cared for. Students should know their school environment is safe and their personal
values and beliefs are respected.
A teacher should be familiar with a variety of teaching styles to accommodate childrens
different ways of learning and uphold diversity within the school system. Teachers should
research activities that will keep students interested during lessons and allow accommodations
for children with different learning styles. By following the Idaho Core Teacher Standards,
educators must plan ahead, yet also remain flexible, in order to modify lessons and instructions
to meet childrens needs. They also need to maintain open, exceptional communication skills. In
order to become an inspiring teacher there are many things to work towards.
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Being a teacher requires tremendous responsibility and commitment; childrens futures
are in teachers hands. Students should be directed to strive for excellence and do their personal
best. Through this essay, I will express my beliefs on what contributes to effectively teaching;
this will include techniques, methods, and applied theories. My beliefs will be presented in the
following order: students ability to learn, students social ecology theory, cultural diversity
instruction, and curriculum for all learners.
Students Ability to Learn
I believe all children are capable of learning. Teachers who are effective have mastered
the art of tailored instruction. Their instruction continues to engage the advanced students and
improves proficiency in students who require additional guidance. This is an example of
diversity in the classroom as each student is unique. Recognizing how each child learns
differently is why instructions and activities must be geared towards childrens learning styles.
A teacher must access each students strengths and weaknesses and use these to plan the most
effective lessons.
Teachers should be familiar with Howard Gardner and his theory on multiple
intelligences. He believes all children learn differently and teachers should adapt their
curriculum to the learner. He grouped intelligence into eight categories: logical-mathematical,
linguistic, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, spatial, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalist. His
idea is that every child excels in at least one of these intelligences, according to Berns (2013); the
job of educators is to decide which intelligence the student excels in and base instruction around
that category. By doing so, a framework of enhanced classroom instruction will be produced and
ensure each students intellectual needs are met. For example, if a child is struggling with
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phonics, yet he is intelligent with music, the teacher might suggest a jingle to help him remember
a phonetic rule.
Implementing the curriculum through various teaching styles, such as the
aforementioned, will help to ensure each child has a fair chance at being efficient. Some children
may perform best during learner-directed teaching where the emphasis [is] on the learner, with
the goal of expanding an individuals knowledge (Berns, p. 237); or the children may prefer
teacher-directed which provides emphasis on the teacher, with the goal of methodically
presenting new knowledge to the student (Berns, p. 237). If a student has a disability, or is a
visual or auditory learner, it is imperative to adapt the curriculum to improve their chances of
success. With the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) being in place,
classrooms practice inclusion which allows these students to be in their least restrictive
environment and participate in a regular classroom.
Teachers should understand the difference of children who display analytical or relational
cognitive style due to their home life. Children who have led specific roles, been on strict
schedules, and been goal-oriented display analytical cognitive style. Whereas children who are
part of an unstructured family have no roles specified along with no bedtime or dinnertime and
display relational cognitive style. Children with differing cognitive styles will approach, or even
avoid, education in different ways a teacher has to satisfy. Also, some childrens families are
collectively oriented so children are focused and familiar with personal interaction. On the other
hand, children may be from families who are individually oriented so children are focused and
familiar with objects. Children who are individually oriented manipulate things which will help
to prepare them for school. Keeping these things in mind, it is apparent how critical it is for
teachers to have an idea of each students background and their family of orientation.
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Students Social Ecology Theory
Childrens social ecology is directly connected to their learning. Teachers should strive to
promote a sense of self-efficacy in every student. Students should be building confidence in their
belief that they can succeed in any endeavor they choose to pursue. Children need to be held to
high standards and supported with encouragement and positive reinforcement. Jean Piaget
proposed childrens capabilities to establish a connection between new learning experiences and
prior learning experiences, as found in Berns (2013). By doing so, children are able to diminish a
learning experience that was negative by referencing the newer, positive experience; thus,
providing equilibrium to the learner. Equilibrium according to Berns (2013) is a state of
balance, thereby allowing the information to be incorporated (p. 172).
Humans are continually going through the process of either assimilation or
accommodation when they experience something new. For example, if a child sees a zebra for
the first time he may assimilate it into his already existing schema of a horse. However, if the
child is told it is not a horse, but rather a zebra, he will then have to adjust his schemas through
accommodation and create a new one for zebras. Socialization is also an imperative piece of
educating children. If children come from a supportive environment they will view education in
a positive light and wish to succeed. If children are raised in an unsupportive environment they
are likely to negatively perceive education and seem careless.
Teachers should encourage sustainability in their students and provide social
experiences for children to have a positive learning experience. Social experiences will also help
in developing intellectual health. In fact, the degrees to which children are able to develop their
abilities and realize their potentials are linked to the social context of their individual interactions
and experiences. Urie Bronfenbrenner (1994) proposed a bioecological theory with four basic
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structures, microsystem (family, school, peer group, community), mesosystem (links between
microsystems, such as family and school), exosystem (outside influences that affect the
microsystem, such as parents job, city council, parental social support networks), and
macrosystem (society or subculture the developing person belongs to, such as the United States,
middle class, Latino, Catholic, rural area). Within these structures, interactions or relationships
that take place affect human development by forming patterns. For example, if a student is
experiencing changes in his family structure, possibly a divorce, this would affect their
microsystem. This could ultimately result in decreased performance from him because he is
dealing with a change in his bioecological model.
Cultural Diversity Instruction
A classroom should be welcoming to all, regardless of gender, disability, or skin color.
Teachers should produce a classroom environment promoting positive interactions in a diverse
student population to foster positive attitudes among people with disparate backgrounds.
Teachers could implement group activities studying ethnic and cultural heritage in order to
familiarize children with a variety of ethnicities and cultures they may not otherwise have the
opportunity to explore. I also believe in the idea of cultural pluralism. Cultural pluralism as
defined by Berns (2013) is a mutual appreciation and understanding of various cultures and
coexistence in society of different, languages, religious beliefs, and lifestyles (p. 191). This
approach should be how children are educated and integrate additional knowledge of other
cultures. Teachers can celebrate minority holidays or even teach a different language to show
cultural differences and allow children to embrace and have the chance to understand them.
Curriculum for All Learners
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One of the important aspects of teaching is reflection on what is working well in the
classroom. Teachers should gauge, through interaction with students, whether their lesson is
successful and students grasp the concept; if not, the approach will need to be altered in order to
accommodate a different learning style, or perhaps children with different cultural backgrounds.
There should be high expectations in place for all students, making them strive to achieve, and
reinforcement should remain positive. I do not believe learner-directed and teacher-directed
approaches are mutually exclusive. There is a quote, by Ole Ivar Lovaas (1981) that goes, If
they cant learn the way we teach, we teach the way they learn. This quote inspires my reason
about the previous approaches not being mutually exclusive. I do, however, believe curriculum
should mainly be instructed as learner-directed in order to allow students the opportunity to
support and reinforce the curriculum by their own exploration and discovery; teachers would
simply use guidance with students. Through constructivism, scaffolding will be used for student
initiated learning of the appropriate curriculum.
Students should be provided with adequate feedback so they know where they are
compared to their goals. Assessments should not be a punishment; they are a learning
opportunity. Educators should use assessments, assignments, and class work or discussions to
determine how well students are progressing. When assessments do not show acceptable results
students should be offered the opportunity to revisit the information and acquire additional
knowledge. Although schools, at this point, are required to use standardized tests, I would
prefer to use authentic assessment with students. Standardized tests only provide results
comparing students to a norm on scientifically selected items (Berns, p. 242). An authentic
assessment is an evaluation based on real performance, rather than test performance, showing
mastery of a task (Berns, p. 242). I would much rather see what students are capable of when
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given a specific task and seeing how they apply their knowledge. A standardized test just shows
what students have stored in their minds. Common Core being introduced will help to test based
on comprehension and critical thinking skills.
An effective teacher is aware of each students zone of development and will provide
activities to enhance learning through independent and collaborative work, such as scaffolding.
Actually, Vygotsky coined the term zone of proximal development (ZPD) and according to
Berns (2013), this is defined as the space between what a learner can do independently and
what he or she can do while participating with more capable others (p. 220). By instructing
assignments that are developmentally appropriate teachers will be able to intensify learning and
increase content knowledge.
Conclusion
In order to be an effective teacher I will support diversity among students. I will strive to
motivate students to perform to the best of their abilities; children should be driven to reach their
highest potential. I will promote self-worth and venture to be a quality role model, both in and
out of the classroom. As an educator it is my duty to instill a lifetime love of learning. An
unparalleled way to achieve this is by creating an environment that is fun, safe, and effective. In
an effort to reach each student I will make myself familiar with their microsystems and keep
lines of communication open. In order to be effective, a teacher must practice acceptance and
celebrate diversity; diversity is what brings people closer and makes a community meaningful.
Aristotle said it best by saying, Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education
at all.

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References
Berns, R. M. (2013). Child, family, school, community: Socialization and support (9th ed.).
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.