Running Head: Statement of Informed Beliefs

Diversity Statement of Informed Beliefs Justine Turner College of Southern Idaho EDUC 204: Families, Communities, Culture Evin Fox Fall 2013

STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS

Statement of Informed Beliefs Introduction As I have worked my way through the process of becoming a Special Education teacher I have been employed as a paraprofessional in different fields. I learned through many obstacles and challenges that each child needs many different types of learning, some of them may need the extra motivation or just knowing that someone is proud of them for working so hard. The best part about working with children is seeing that light bulb turn on when they understand the material that they were struggling with. A teacher candidate goes through training and practices to participate in an interview. Candidates will bring to the interview a variety of ideas and information. Many teaching ideas first start with the candidates own experience including personal beliefs, experiences, and the culture of the candidate. The values that were taught to candidates will be part of their decisions and choices. The background of each candidate will influence teaching methods learned. Teachers in training take all of their backgrounds and apply them to the learning theories and practices. The apprenticeship of a teacher will provide practices putting these ideas into practical situations. Students Ability to Learn Successful classrooms have shown that all students can learn when provided an environment that addresses every childs needs. A teacher needs to provide an attitude that facilitates the opportunity for all children to learn. The teacher has to research her students and set up educational goals for the whole class as well as for individual students. First the teacher needs to be familiar with standards that are expected for the particular grade or class. Next, the teacher needs to be familiar with the students and research any data provided on curtain students in the past. Then match the students with the educational goals. Plan out ideas and themes and

STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS

apply different activities that provide for the different learning styles in the classroom. Teachers should always be aware of physical disabilities or impairments that may cause a child to be at a disadvantage. These students needs are often reported to teachers by former teachers or parents because they may already have an existing IEP. Use these ideas to help guide instruction. Finally, be aware of students who have emotional and physical problems. These are harder to detect and need to be considered in instruction. The other part of student population can include students who are in the middle of the class academically and often get overlooked. Teachers need to provide instruction for the population that appears to be invisible. Make sure instruction includes enrichment for the students that are academically at the top of the class. The teacher is the one who needs to set up her class with opportunities for all to succeed. The educational goals are very important because it gives the teacher a time to reflect and plan for success. The educational goals are used as a constant resource to check for understanding and they also give the teacher a starting point when setting up her class. The teacher works to prepare lessons that will include a chance for success for all of the students. The lessons use various strategies that will allow all students to reach the goal for that particular subject. Students Social Ecology Theory Students bring a variety of ethnicity. This diversity brings along many different cultures and traditions to the classroom. This information should be used as a positive influence in the classroom. When the teacher involves the students socio-cultural backgrounds to instruction it gives a point of familiar reference to students. Families can be involved in the students instruction and education. However, families need to be aware of how their good intentions can sometimes negatively impact a childs learning habits. For instance a parent can make school

STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS

easier for children or very difficult because they have been over praised as a child. According to Brook (2009) Praise is important, but not vacuous praise (p.20). This will connect the community to a classroom and provide a teaching of diverse ideas. The students start with what is important to them and branch out to what is important to others. This would help define a classroom as a melting pot and tie in this idea with many learning opportunities. When a teacher involves students backgrounds, they are building trust. You are showing honor and importance of the students own life experiences. This can be done many different ways. You can tie information to literature, plan a specific theme in social studies or history, or even add a theme according to the calendar. These assignments would depend on the students age and ability. This would be a good time to do a learner directed project. The teacher could guide the project but leave certain ideas and activities up to the student. This could be an individual or group project as well. Cultural Diversity Instruction Cultural diversity in our teaching provides opportunity for cultural pluralism. Students will understand by learning and appreciate the different cultures better after it is presented to the class as something that is important to each student in the classroom. Having cultural pluralism allows the class to see each other as one and not as many different cultures. Kallen (1956) said that this is would be seen as a unity in diversity (p.191). This allows for children to be accepted in the social role that they take part in the classroom and on the play ground. Often a student will have cultural assimilation, where the minority groups are forced to adapt to the dominant cultural group. Cultural assimilation and cultural pluralism can coexist in an educational environment, but the prominent one is dependent upon each individual classroom

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environment. Cultural assimilation helps to provide a deeper cultural learning experience with personal connections. Curriculum for learners is a planning process. The goals shall be set up according to standards and the curriculum will give information that is needed to accomplish goals. Outside information can be found in media and family connections. The teacher matches classroom goals to the students needs. Instruction needs to be presented in a variety of styles. Include many sensory-motor activities that will provide reinforcement. Be aware of family backgrounds that may influence learning that will affect homework and participation. A home may include a matriarchal or patriarchal family which would influence a students ideas and performance. This information would also be helpful in situations such as behavioral or academic problems. This may influence students ideas and performance by the influence of that particular family member. Adjustments in planning and delivery of instruction will have to be made according to the students. This may include pacing, grouping, and use of hands on activities. This can be done by formal assessments as quizzes or tests. It can be done easily with informal methods such as observation in participation and other clues that are informal. It is important in both these methods to start with the students level of understanding before instruction. This will give a true measure of growth and ensure learning for all students in progress in measured in growth as well as proficiency. Conclusion In conclusion teaching is one of the most important things in a childs life it opens so many doors and allows the child to learn so many new and exciting things. Teachers at all levels play an important part in developing a future for students. The successes and failures students

STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS

make along their journey serve as stepping stones that lead them to other crossroads. Teachers have to provide the tools for gaining more and more of these stepping stones that students can use to be successful. For some students, these stones have to come in different shapes or more often. The key to getting students to their goals is to have teachers provide as many stepping stones as they can.

STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS

Work Cited Berns, M. Roberta. Child, Family, School, Community Socialization and Support. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2013. (Pg.6-211)Print. Bronson, Po, and Merryman, Ashley. Nurture Shock new thinking about children. New York: Twelve, 2009. (pg.20).Print