SIB

Statement of Informed Beliefs

Rebekah Dahlin
Education 204
Carol Billing

Abstract: This paper will discuss how students can learn, the reasons surrounding
a childs development, what my expectations as a teacher will be,
Bronfenbrenners models that contribute to the social ecology theory, and how I
as a teacher will make adjustments in curriculum planning, delivery, and
assessment with my future students.

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Introduction
Imagine a house. In order for this house to come into being, it requires
a blueprint and materials that can begin to help make this house become a
reality. This imaginary house is much like a child. In order for a child to
achieve his or her dreams and goals, they need an education and while the
school is the blueprint that helps in providing education, teachers are the
ones who help supplement the materials that children need in order to learn.
Teachers provide the foundation for their students to build upon. I personally
believe that providing students with classroom goals, planning on how I will
deliver and present a curriculum to my students, and exploring different
methods that will test where they are at with their cognitive abilities will lay
the groundwork that will be a part of creating the expectations I will have for
myself as a teacher.
All Students Can Learn
A students ability to learn really depends on what they experience or
are familiar with within their family dynamics and where they are at with
their cognitive development. Cognitive methods, in terms with
socialization, are more focused on how an individual processes information,
or abstracts meaning from experiences (Berns, 63). In other words, how
these kids receive information and what it is they are learning from a subject
or classroom experience is something that I will have to take notice of as a
teacher.
The standards of instruction I will conduct in the classroom will create
a major impact on my students cognitive development. Teachers I have
spoken to mention what a difference it makes when they establish the
operant methods for the classroom from day one. It definitely has an effect
on how the children will behave and except instruction for the rest of the
year. For example, if in my classroom I decide that treating each other with
kindness, acting responsibly, and exhibiting integrity are important traits for

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my students to have in the classroom, my lessons and their behaviors in the

classroom will have to reflect those standards. These classroom expectations
will help in developing the childrens self-concept as their identity
distinction is easily influenced by significant others (including peers, family
members, and teachers just to name a few).
Expressing Individualism
Now I know that each child is different in the way they process and
learn things, so it will be my job as a teacher to ensure that each child is able
to exhibit their strengths and also be able to strengthen their weaknesses in
the classroom. For instance: if I have a child who is really good at math and
figuring out solutions to number problems, but not a very strong reader, I
could pair him or her with someone who has excellent reading abilities, but
weak math skills. Pairing children together and getting them to work as a
team would not only be helping the students with their learning in the
classroom, but also providing them with a chance to experience
sociocentrism where they are more able to understand and relate to the
viewpoints of others.
Parent/Teacher Relationship
Another factor to consider as a teacher is the background of each
student. What is their home life like? How will this have an influence on how
they socialize or process learning things in the classroom? What if there is a
child who does well academically, but tends to be a loner around other
children? And what can I do when faced with these situations? Depending on
the situation, I believe that it is best to maintain a good, healthy relationship
with each of the children and their parents and that open communication (so
long as it is professional) should be encouraged. If the parents are not
actively involved in their childs education, it is difficult to know how to
further help a child when they are having a tough time in the classroom. I
have had other teachers tell me that parents who like to be aware of what is

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going on with their kid as well being helpful members in school activities
relating to their child, are usually a huge blessing.
Teachers Expectations
As an aspiring teacher, I believe that making it clear to my future
classroom what my expectations are will have an impact on the level of
motivation my students will feel towards learning. Most students come to
school because they feel like they have too while others may come because
they want to. Whatever a childs reasoning may be for attending school, I
feel that it is my job as a teacher to provide these children with an
environment where learning is not only educational and productive, but fun
and exciting as well. Call my theory new-teacher optimism syndrome, but
when kids walk into my classroom I want it to resemble a colorful,
entertaining, creative learning space rather than a dungeon.
Depending on the childs family background and how they were raised,
a child will come into the classroom with some expectations of their own.
What they are used to at home or the level of treatment they received from
their previous teachers in other classrooms, will affect their own viewpoint
when stepping into my class. If a child received appropriate childcare in their
home, that will lift the burden off of my shoulders a little when it comes to
initiating appropriate standards of conduct that are to be administered in my
classroom. The Child at Risk Field (CARF) defines appropriate parenting as
parents who have reasonable expectations for their children when
considering their kids age and strengths, limitations, and needs as well as
providing their children with acceptable disciplinary approaches, making sure
they give their child basic care, nurturing, and support while also
modeling self-control for their kids (Berns, 147). Regardless of whether the
students in my future class have received appropriate or inappropriate
parenting, my methods of instruction will model that of appropriate parenting
by providing those kids with an environment where I will encourage

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acceptable behaviors and be supportive, prevent risky behaviors or problems

before they arise by being appropriately responsive, and remembering that
my personal behavior as their teacher will serve as a example for these
children to follow; especially if they are young.
Curriculum and Classroom Concepts
If I can establish a respectful, authoritative relationship with my
students, my expectations in the classroom have a better chance at being
more openly accepted. Acceptance of my expectations will also have a lot to
do with the type of curricula I use. There are two types that the book
mentions: teacher and learner-directed. A learner-directed program
focuses more on the children learning through teacher-planned activities,
while teacher-directed programs develop their activities based on the
childrens individual interests and teacher guidance (Berns, 178). There are
several different branches of curriculum teaching styles underneath both the
learner and teacher-directed programs, but the one that appeals closest to
the way I would instruct my classroom would probably be the cognitively
oriented curriculum. This type of curriculum was developed by David
Weikart and associates at the High/Scope Educational Research Foundation
in Ypsilanti, Michigan and they based their curriculum ideas off of Jean
Piagets theory of cognitive development in an educational program.
According to Piaget, children are active learners who obtain knowledge
through exploration, experimentation, and play in order to adapt to their
environment (Berns, 292). This process of adaptation occurs through
assimilation and accommodation which eventually leads to equilibrium.
An example of assimilation in the classroom would be having a child learn
that A is for apple for the first time. Now when the kid sees an A, they may
associate it immediately with the image of an apple. Accommodation would
be showing the same child an image of an A next to the image of an ant and
they child immediately assuming that A is still for apple. When the child
learns that A can stand for an apple or an ant, then that child has reached a

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state of equilibrium about that subject, understanding the balance between

the original assimilation and accommodation concepts and displaying their
newly accepted knowledge of the subject. This curriculum also involves the
use of childrens senses and the use of symbols to represent objects during
the learning process which opens children up to more hands-on activities. If
my expectations for the class are reflective of the cognitively oriented
curriculum, the students will not feel bored, but rather more inspired to learn.
Educational Goals
There is also importance in having educational goals. Without them, it
would be difficult to really get anywhere with helping children learn in a
classroom. That is the reason we have goals. In my teacher observations, I
noticed that a lot of teachers put up a list of goals that they have for the
class to complete by the end of the semester along with an outline of what
the classroom expectations are. This list of goals and the outline are kept in a
place where children and adults can easily read or have access to it. I may
even have a list of monthly goals; discussing with the children what this
months class goal is going to be and allowing the children to voice for
themselves what they would like to choose from a list of activities to do first
in order to help achieve that months learning goal. We would achieve the
goal week by week and the goals I would have in my class would be
reflective of the cognitive curriculum.
These educational goals would also include activities that would
provide children with an opportunity to work alongside or at least observe
activities that include children who deal with handicaps, disabilities, or
impairment. The group activities that would help achieve each months goal
would also be incorporated into the classrooms daily activities, giving
children chances to not only learn independently, but also help them in
learning how to work in a group setting. By having these educational goals in
the classroom as well as allowing children to be involved in the process of

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choosing some of their own preferred learning methods for the week, I am
helping initiate cooperative as well as independent learning.
Social Ecology Theory
Incorporating ideas of social ecology into a classroom is important
because school is a microsystem where children are in their pre-stages of
development and they are beginning to learn new skills in socializing,
political ideals, and are assimilating more about their communities and
differences in culture. Urie Bronfenbrenners model for human development
helps in providing a framework for these aspects of social ecology and his
model will be used as an outline for how families, communities, and how
cultural environments are becoming important influences during a childs
learning process in school.
Bronfenbrenner includes in his model the macrosystem which is a
system that involves the cultural environment where a child lives and how
that can have an influence on how they perceive learning in a classroom
environment. The book describes schools being a reflection of the
macrosystem because school is a place that includes political ideaology,
economics, culture/ethnicity, religion, and science/technology (Berns, 199).
Culturally, I live in a place that encourages democracy and reflects that
political ideal in their school programs and group and individual learning
activities. Depending on whether or not the classroom is run in an
authoritative or authoritarian state, children are learning diplomacy
through group activities and that equality in terms of race or gender is an
idea to be encouraged because a democracy, in its simplest definition, is
encouraging equality.
Cultural Pluralism
Equality comes through knowledge and in school shared traditional
values in culture and encouragement in ethnic diversity are incorporated into

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most school curriculums. Most schools want to expose children to the

fascinating differences in culture, allowing kids to formulate their own
thoughts on cultural diversity and the role it has to play in society. Examples
of teachers encouraging this cultural awareness would be the in class
celebration of different holidays such as Hanukah or Chinese New Year and
the information the students can read in their textbooks; like the differences
in perspective between the Native American Indians and the Pilgrims when
some of those first colonists sailed to America in search for religious and
political freedom. In the daycare where I worked, teachers always had to put
up a new theme for the next month and during the Christmas season, one of
the teachers decorated her room with holiday Kawanzaa which is an AfricanAmerican holiday that celebrates the African-American cultures heritage.
The children in her class were young one-year olds so most of them did not
understand what it was, but I myself found it a learning experience since I
never had really heard that much about Kawanzaa before then. What that
young daycare teacher did that day showed me how important it is to
encourage cultural pluralism in a classroom environment.
Childrens Relationships
Another aspect of Bronfenbrenners model is mesostystem which
involves the daily, close relationships a child has in their home or school
environment. Teachers play a very significant role when it comes to a social
relationship with their student since they are in these childrens lives for a
good portion of a year and see them on a pretty consistent basis. However
families are very important when considering a childs development in school
since a kids relationship with his or her parents is vital in having an effect on
how they socialize, respond to information, and how they choose to learn in
school. Each child possesses a different learning style and depending on
whether or not a parent is involved in his or her childs learning experience
that can have an effect on how the child chooses to view their educational
experience. The book mentions that families who create a home environment

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that encourages learning, have high (although not unrealistic) expectations

for their childs academic and career goal achievements, and get involved in
their childs education at school as well showing themselves to be active
members in the community, will tend to show much better results regardless
(sometimes) of what their socioeconomic status or cultural background
(Berns, 219).
Community Influence
There is also the mesosystem influence of community when relating
to its importance in a school environment. The community is where schools
receive their funding through tax money that goes towards funding school
construction and other school related services. People in the community are
responsible for passing laws that may require builders to include a school in
a new housing development communities also set school boundaries
(districts), thereby influencing the socioeconomic status and/or ethnic
composition of schools (223). It is because of the community that schools
are able to receive the funding they need in order to continue with
educational programs or enhancements in the school that will help in
providing more enrichment for the students learning experiences. Local
businesses can not only be beneficial to a school by offering to donate
equipment, provide field trips or guest speakers, or offer apprenticeship
programs to students, but these businesses benefit as well since they are
freely advertising and stretching their influence over the young minds that
will become their future consumers. Local communities may have special
traditional events that the schools support, modeling to their students the
importance a community has in education.
Cultural Diversity Instruction
Every student that enters the classroom comes with their own set of
beliefs, ideas, and morals; all of which can be defined by their cultural
background. Each childs culture is part of what makes them unique and as a

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teacher, I want each childs uniqueness to be celebrated and aware of in the

classroom. In order to make this awareness happen, I will have to include
educational activities that involve the children in learning about each others
cultures as well as the cultural histories that are behind each of the kids own
cultural backgrounds. This sort of awareness will not only be a global
learning experience for the kids, but it will also help encourage ideals of
diversity and equity within and outside of the classroom.
Racial Discrimination
A childs perception of their own culture is based upon the influence of
their parents, the media, and what other people know about their culture.
These influences are able to help a child formulate their own opinions about
how they view their own culture and when I am a teacher, I will automatically
fall into the role of the classroom facilitator, which means that it will be my
responsibility to guide the students thinking towards cultural acceptance;
especially when there may be other children who are innocently ignorant of
why it might be that Jack might look different from Maggie or why Evett
has to wear a covering over her head. There is an American-Korean family I
know whose kids told me that as they were growing up, they faced a lot of
racial discrimination in school and in church groups. These three kids are
young adults now, but when they were very little they heard and felt the
ignorant jeers their peers would throw their way. Jokes about Asians and
squinty eyes that were not meant to be mean, but were definitely said out of
ignorance. The oldest girl told me that there were people she knew who
would call her Chinese even though they knew she was part Korean and
Scottish. In an event such as what this familys kids went through, if I was
their teacher I would have wanted to make sure I incorporated activities that
would require the entire classroom to examine the Korean and other Asian
heritages, doing a rotation so that each culture (European, African-American,
Middle Eastern, etc.) would get its turn to be studied in the classroom. That
way, everyone would be given an opportunity to see through another

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cultures eyes and perhaps bring about a brand new perspective and respect
when it comes to peoples cultural differences.
Media Influences on Cultural Bias
Doing activities that encourage cultural diversity is good in the classroom
however there is also the influence of mass media. This influence can be
used to propagandize positive or negative messages when it comes to
peoples personal cultural views. Television, the internet, radio, or any other
technology that is used globally is a big factor in influencing peoples
thoughts. Advertisements, TV shows, websites, and movies are readily
available to a child or adults demand and many of these different medias
may contain heavily underlying culture bias in its content. For example, in
the Disney movies Peter Pan and Pocahontas, it seemed that the Indian chief
and his tribe portrayed in that film were very red and behaved savagely
thus supporting the stereotypical ideal that Native Americans are red Indians
and more savage than human and Pocahontas was depicted as a young
women who falls in love with John Smith when in reality, Pocahontas was a
very young girl when she met John Smith and there was no love story
between them according to American history (Maio, 1999). As children watch
this, what do you suppose they are thinking? Perhaps if they are very young,
it may not even occur to them that a racist stereotype is even present.
After all, both Peter Pan and Pocahontas are still fun, imaginative movies that
encourage childrens imaginations. However as children get older, these
present stereotypes may have an unknown influence on how they view
Native Americans and the picture that comes to their minds may be tainted
by images of savage, red skinned Indians or beautiful, Barbie like
Pocahontas. According to the textbook, in a survey done by Comstock &
Scharrer and Kaiser Family Foundation, their statistics show that on average,
children spend at least three to five hours per day watching TV and often are
watching with little or no parental supervision. Since parents and teachers
are the primary socializers in a childs life, it is more likely that what a parent

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or teacher chooses for their child or classroom to watch, will more likely
influence what these kids choose to watch (Berns, 339). Children learn
through observational learning which is a social cognitive theory done by
Albert Bandura that claims people learn by observing and imitating behavior
(Berns, 330) and with a parents involvement during the TV watching process
children are more likely to attend to messages on TV that conform to their
familys interests, attitudes, beliefs, and values (Berns, 327).
Cultural Assimilation and Pluralism
The book also mentions cultural assimilation and cultural pluralism.
The difference between the two is that cultural assimilation is the process
where a more minority cultural group takes on the characteristics of a
dominant (or majority) cultural group (202). Cultural pluralism is more the
mutual appreciation that various cultures have for each other within a
coexisting society (203). An example of cultural assimilation in the school
system would be the acceptance of English being the official language to be
used on public documents and in most American school programs. Cultural
pluralism would happen when the use of both English and other languages
would be integrated into the school system showing that cultural differences
can coexist within one place. There are plenty of examples of cultural
assimilation in the media children watch. I have noticed that in a lot of films
or shows, there is a shortage of racially diverse actors and actresses and
sometimes major stereotype roles. Asians tend to be portrayed as smart,
workaholic individuals or karate fighting masters and many African
Americans or Hispanics characters in the movies tend to have a background
of life in the ghetto. White Europeans are sometimes stereotyped as the
dumb blondes, smart brunettes, and stupid jocks in certain movies. There
are many diverse ethnic groups who claim their culture is either being
ignored or distorted when it comes to portraying their culture in media
(Berns, 336). To help create a better cultural pluralism environment, I would

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as a teacher need to choose carefully when deciding on a film to show in my

classroom.
Curriculum and Adjustments
My role as a teacher would put me into a position as a socializing agent
for the kids. When children enter my future classroom, they are going to be
watching my every move and what I do in (and possibly outside of) the
classroom can have a great effect on them. Teachers need to be aware of
which subject their students are exceling at and which subject they are
struggling with, who is friends with whom in classroom, and know how to
implement these factors so that the kids will be able to improve both
academically and socially (Berns, 233). Acknowledging these things is an
important step to being able to evaluate and adjust certain elements in the
planning, execution, and assessment of my lesson plans for my students.
Teachers Assessment
In order to test each students intellectual reasoning I would
incorporate Weikarts cognitively oriented curriculum. As mentioned
earlier under Curriculum and Classroom Concepts on page three, Weikarts
curriculum uses Piagets theory on assimilation, accommodation, and
equilibrium to blend the virtues of purposeful teaching with the childrens
individual interests in classroom activities along with teacher guidance. This
curriculum uses more of a learner-directed approach in classroom
guidance as opposed to a teacher-directed approach. Under the cognitive
oriented method, I would be able to hear the childrens individual opinions on
the activities that would interest them most as a whole when it comes to
choosing certain learning activities in the classroom. Based on the results
from the classs choices, I would be able to assess what activities are more
effective in helping them learn and which are not.
Other Curriculum Methods
I would also like to incorporate certain Montessori Curriculum
methods as well as Developmental Interaction Curriculum methods of
learning. The Montessori method is also described to be more of a learnerdirected program and it puts adults in the role-model role and declares that it
is the adults job to prepare the childs environment so that the children can
absorb the most that they can during a their learning period. Since teachers
fall into this categorized role, it is seen as the teachers job to take

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advantage of these precious learning period times and continue to be keen

observers of the childrens behavior as well as know when to encourage,
divert, or give a child their space. The Developmental Interaction Curriculum
provides children with opportunities to interact (during any stage of their
development) with peers and adults. This curriculum is designed to help
children understand more fully what is already known to them. Learning is
organized around childrens own experience[s] (Berns, 181). While
children are basing knowledge off of what they already know, they are also
being introduced to new concepts as the classroom under this curriculum is
arranged to include a variety of centers where children can expand upon
their own individual interests and their learning units are based on themes.
This curriculum is designed to inspire childrens interests in learning and the
teachers role in all this is to be caring, concerned, and supportive.
Results of Learner Improvement
To ensure that my students are actually showing growth through these
teaching methods, I would need to provide tests that would assess their
development in certain subjects we had been focusing on that year. An
example would be the required standardized reading tests that most schools
are required to do and that teachers can complete either in the classroom or
through the school library. Each of the students do SSR or Sustained Silent
Reading and take short quizzlets on the computer or quick one-on-one
reading comprehension papers with the teacher in order to test their skills.
The teacher I did observations with at Reagan Elementary would have a
chart where she would have her first graders fill out how many words they
had read that day with her and the kids enjoyed seeing the improvements
they made from last time. Some of the children who did not see any
improvement would feel upset and you could see by the resolute looks on
their faces that they were determined to succeed next time. The teacher
would encourage each child though, even if they had not done their best,
and use encouraging words in order to inspire them to do their best for next
time.

Conclusion
Inspiring, encouraging, developing, and creating an education
environment for students is a good way to help students reach for success in
their future lives. If I want to give them the tools they need in order to build a

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house, they need the fundamentals of education and I believe that as a

teacher, this responsibility lies in my hands. If I as a teacher will have
created an impact in even one childs life, then I will have succeeded.
Works Cited
Berns, Roberta M. Child, Family, School, Community Socialization and Support 8th
Edition. California: Wadswerth Cenage Learning, 2007, 2010. Book.
Miao, Kathy. "newint.org." December 1999. Women, Race, & Culture in Disney's
Movies. Web. 7 April 2014.