Running head: STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS

Statement of Informed Beliefs

Emily Easton

Instructor: Daren Olson

EDUC 220

Spring 2018
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Informed Beliefs

Education is a very important thing to have in one’s life. If you are not striving to

learn something new every day, then you are simply not making yourself the best person

you can be. Through past experience in the classroom, recent classroom observations,

and many hours of research I have come up with my beliefs of how a classroom should

be ran. Through reading the book Child, family, school, community: Socialization and

support by R. M Berns and John Hattie Influences on student achievement I have come

up with some of my beliefs for my classroom.

I am learning and growing to become a teacher. In my classroom, I hope to teach

many different types of students. With those many different types of students, comes

different learners. In the paragraphs to come, I am going to explain my beliefs about

diversity in my classroom. These will be talked about in the next five sections: having

clear teacher expectations, all students can learn, students should have equal

opportunities, understanding cultural diversity in the classroom, and curriculum for all

students.

Having Clear Teacher Expectations

I believe in having clear teacher expectations for myself and for my students.

“When clear expectations are set at the beginning of the year, it creates a better

environment for students” (Edge, 2014). This is to allow me to follow a set of standards

when teaching making sure that I am providing the best learning experience for my

students. “After a teacher communicates these expectations with her class, she is then

able to develop strong relationships with students” (Edge, 2014). Having clear
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expectations or rules set for my students allows for them to have a high-quality learning/

working environment along with a better work ethic.

Through classroom observations, reading Child, family, school, community:

Socialization and support, and looking at John Hattie’s Influences on Student

Achievement ratings I have come up with my belief. Hattie gives teacher expectations a

score of 0.43 meaning that it has a “Potential to accelerate student achievement” (Hattie,

2018). This score helped me to see that my expectations I have for my students could

have an impact on their learning. Though it may not be the biggest impact in learning

small things can make all the difference in how one learns.

In the classroom that I observed in the students knew what the teacher expected of

them. When The teacher did something like ring a bell on the desk her student knew that

they were to go back to their desks and put everything away and wait for instructions.

Something like this might only save a few seconds or minutes but it can help them as

they transition from one section to another without having to direct the classroom

constantly. When students know what is expected of them a teacher can spend more time

teaching rather than directing and managing the classroom. According to Child, family,

school, community: Socialization and support this could be considered a different form of

socialization known as conditioning. The teacher used positive reinforcement when

conditioning her students how to respond to the bell. When students did what they were

supposed to she would reward a few students with a golden ticket for being prepared.

This gave those students who could follow instructions a prize while reminding other

students that they need to be getting ready for the next part of the day.
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These are all things that I find interesting when watching experienced teachers. I want to

learn to from others and use similar techniques in my classroom. Doing small things like

ringing a bell may not seem like a big thing but when you have a clear expectation of

what is to happen when the bell rings it could end up saving a lot of time in the

classroom.

All Students Can Learn

I have a strong belief that all students are capable of learning. No matter what age,

gender, or disability all students can learn. Some students may need a little more

guidance and help and other might pick things up more quickly than others. I think that it

is important to know that “all children learn differently” (Berns, 2015) and we have to

take that into consideration when teaching.

When thinking about how each student learns differently it important to try and

use many different techniques when teaching. In the book Child, family, school,

community: Socialization and support Berns (2015) uses Howard Gardner’s ideas about

multiple intelligences to discuss different ways that students learn including, but not

limited to, logical-mathematical, linguistic, kinesthetic, musical, spatial, and interpersonal

intelligences. These are all very important to consider making sure all your students can

learn. One student is not going to fit into one category of learning one student might learn

though numbers and words while another student learns best through listening and

watching. It is important to know that no matter what all students can learn but all

students learn differently.

I hope to take all of “Gardner’s Multiple Intelligences” into consideration when

making lessons in my classroom. The beginning of the year will be somewhat difficult to
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determine how my students learn best. I this case I will try many different techniques

such as videos, examples, worksheets, and other things to determine what way my

students work best that year. Once I can determine and learn the best way the students

learn that year I will try my best to use those techniques along with others to ensure that

my students can learn in many different ways.

All Students Should Have Equal Opportunities

All students should have equal opportunities to learn. Some students will prevail,

and others might fall behind but there should be a baseline that all students start at.

“diverse groups in society, such as those characterized by gender, ethnicity, religion, or

disability, are enabled to have equitable opportunities to achieve” (Berns, 2015).

Students should not be looked down on just because they struggle more in certain areas

than other students do, their gender, their ethnicity, or their religion. Some teachers label

some students with stereotypes making student fall into a rut. Never the less all students

should be able to have the same opportunities to learn.

No matter the age, gender, or possible disability of a student they should be able

to learn the same as any other student. This though does not mean that all students in the

same school should be taking the same classes. I mean that they should be given the

opportunity to take the classes that they want along with the required core classes. This

could mostly affect middle and high school students but in some cases, it could affect

elementary students. If there is an after-school program, club, or a special school

opportunity all students should be able to join or apply if they so choose. I think a big

part that is causing this inequality in many parts of school is classism. Classism is when

the school or a teacher put different expectations on different students because of their
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class level and background. “The consequences of classism in school are subtle but

significant. […] to be assigned to low ability groups in their early years, setting them on a

track that is difficult to alter” (Berns, 2015). This can be a huge problem in the school

that we need to prevent. It could take some time, but it starts with us up and coming

teachers to make the change.

When I start teaching I hope that whatever school I am at that it has a Collective

teacher efficacy. Hattie (2018) has a rating of “1.57” for a collective teacher efficacy. By

collaborating and working with other teachers we can all work together to ensure that we

are giving our student equal opportunities. “the positive effects of CTE on student

academic performance more than outweigh the negative effects of low socioeconomic

status” (Collective Teacher Efficacy, 2018). By working together, we can share ideas and

different teaching techniques. When we work together as a team we ensure that all

students are working towards their full potential.

Understanding Cultural Diversity in The Classroom

I believe that in a classroom we should learn about different cultures and what

makes them unique. There are so many cultures in our world and we should take the time

to learn a little bit about them. especially if we have students that come from that culture.

Hattie (2018) has a diverse student body rated at a 0.10. With a diverse student body

comes many different cultures and experiences. Hattie (2018) also scores diversity

courses with a 0.09. Though both of these scores are very low I feel that they can have a

big impact on student’s willingness to learning and further their education.

I feel that it is important to know about other cultures along with our own. I hope

to teach my students and possibly my fellow teachers about cultural pluralism. Berns
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(2015) defines cultural pluralism as “…a mutual appreciation and understanding of the

culture of various ethnic groups and the coexistence in society of different languages,

religions, and lifestyles”. Being able to learn and appreciate cultures that others have

come from can help students understand more about each other.

This is when I will let my students chose what they want to learn. I hope to share

different cultures with my students being able to see and show some of the traditions

others follow. Maybe looking at a different culture each school quarter or trimester being

able to see three or four different cultures and incorporate it into the curriculum that I will

be teaching. The school that I observed at taught a lot about the Mexican culture because

it was a dual language school. I found it very interesting to see the students get involved

with the different holidays that they learned about and how interested they were to learn

about the Mexican culture and I hope to do this with my students as well but with many

cultures.

Teacher-Directed Curriculum for All Students

I feel that teacher-directed curriculum would be the most successful way to teach

my students. Teacher-directed learning allows for the teacher to give the whole class the

same curriculum all at once. Student-directed learning means that the student chooses

what they want to learn and then the teacher helps them by making a lesson or curriculum

for each student. Teacher-directed learning allows the teacher to only have to worry about

one lesson rather than several lessons.

A reasonings that I have chosen to teach in a teacher-directed environment is

because it makes it easier for the teacher to teach. When a teacher can have their full

focus on one lesson at a time rather than separate lessons for several students they can
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have more understanding of what they are teaching. Berns (2015) states in his book that

“…students in traditional, teacher-directed classrooms tended to perform better

academically than […] learner-directed programs. […] Most likely it was because

standardized tests are based more on teacher-directed goals…”. If I choose to teach in a

public school than Teacher-directed learning would be the best style because of how the

school standards are set up. Hattie (2018) rates “Open vs. traditional classrooms” at a

“0.01”. I understand this to mean that having an open classroom (however you want to

interpret that) does not have a significant effect on the students learning.

I think that using teacher-directed learning has many benefits. One of the most

interesting things I think that can be benefited from teacher directed learning is being able

to have class or group discussions. Hattie (2018) rates “Classroom discussion” at a “0.82”

meaning that having classroom discussions can have a significant influence in student

achievement. When you have a classroom that is student directed learning I think that it

would make it difficult to have classroom discussions. All students want to learn

something different and not a lot of students would be pursuing the same topic as another.

Teacher-directed learning allows for all the students to be learning the same topics at the

same time. This allows for students to learn from one another. Through observations in

classrooms you can see that sometimes students do not always understand some lessons

no matter how you explain it. When this happens other students in the classroom can help

those students to understand how work through the problem because they have a better

understanding of how their fellow classmates might think from growing up with them.
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Conclusion

Lastly, I would like to say that having students that have many different

background makes teaching what it is supposed to be exciting and motivational. For me

to be able to teach effectively I have to look at all my student’s different backgrounds and

take them into account when teaching. I must not let diversity become a stopping point

when it comes to teaching. Instead I will be using diversity in my classroom for new and

different moment of learning for both my student and me.

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References

Berns, R. M. (2015). Child, family, school, community: Socialization and support (10th

ed.). Retrieved from https://studentdashboard.cengagebrain.com/#/enrolled-

course/MTPPK92P2PJR/

Collective Teacher Efficacy (CTE) according to John Hattie. (2018, March 12). Retrieved

May 9, 2018, from https://visible-learning.org/2018/03/collective-teacher-

efficacy-hattie/

Edge, L. (2014, December 11). Classroom Management-Set Expectations, Not Rules.

Retrieved May 6, 2018, from http://www.learnersedgeinc.com/blog/classroom-

management-set-expectations-not-rules

Hattie, J. (n.d.). The Research of John Hattie. Retrieved April 17, 2018, from

https://www.visiblelearningplus.com/content/research-john-hattie