Running head: DIVERSITY STATEMENT OF INFORMED BELIEFS 1

Diversity Statement of Informed Beliefs

David Carver

Dr. Egbert
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Diversity Statement of Informed Beliefs

Introduction

So many different philosophies and ideas have to do with teaching. Most are true to a

point and have at least a piece, idea, thought, or topic that is entirely accurate. However, many

are only accurate in a specific situation and will not apply in other situations. It is very important

to know and understand many of the different theories in order to build a well-rounded

philosophy. Teachers need to know their philosophy in order to build their curriculum around

their thoughts and beliefs. The following is a combination of what I believe and why I believe it.

How All Students Can Learn

Many factors affect a students ability to learn. A few of these factors are teachers

expectations, the fundamental levels of Maslows Hierarchy of Needs, class disruptions, and a

teacher not adapting for students different learning styles. People will raise to the level of other

peoples expectations. This is no different for a student to a teacher. If a teacher does not expect a

student to do well in a class, the student will not try as hard. Abraham Maslow created a theory

containing a table of needs in 1943. It is a pyramid and it lists many of the needs that people

need throughout their lives. The bottom is the basic physiological needs, such as food and water.

It works up to more complex needs, such as self-actualization (Berns 2016). If a student is not

receiving his fundamental needs like warmth or food, he will not be able to focus on learning,

but will instead focus on how he can receive these needs. A teacher needs to attempt to reach out

and learn about each student. They need to learn what the students are like and how the students

learn best. Then they need to use that information to adapt each class and each lesson to fit the

need of their students. A teacher should try teaching practicing a topic multiple ways in order to

reach each student.

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All students have the ability to learn and nearly all have the desire to learn or to be better

in some way. Students that appear as if they do not want to learn and be better, usually have a

reason. A teacher should reach out to each student and discover the students zone of proximal

development (ZPD. A ZPD is a measure of a students potential in a subject. It is how good they

can be at a certain subject when being taught by a good teacher (Berns 2016). A teacher should

not give up on a student or assume that they do not care or want to learn. A teacher should

instead, dig deeper in these students lives to find out why they are acting the way they are. A

student may not be getting their fundamental needs off Maslows hierarchy of needs, so they are

just focusing on where they will sleep tonight and not school. There may just be family problems

at home and they did not think anybody cares about them. Digging deeper and developing a

relationship with your students can overcome so many obstacles that can affect their ability to

learn.

Students Social Ecology Theory

It is very important to have an idea of students social ecological status to discover what

obstacles they may be facing. Urie Bronfrenbrenner, created the ecological systems theory

(Berns 2016). It has four main levels that describe a students influences. The first is the

microsystem, which includes the students immediate surroundings, such as the individual. The

second level is the mesosystem, and it is a group of microsystems, such as the childs immediate

family or their child-care center. The third level is the exosystem, and it includes the settings that

do not contain the student but still affects them, such as the childs extended family or their

neighbors. The fourth level is the macrosystem, it makes requirements to reach the needs of the

students. The macrosystem includes laws and values (Berns 2016).

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A students family can be the biggest reinforcement or the biggest hindrance to the

learning process. If a student creates a positive learning environment, supports education, and

helps the students along in the learning process. These parents mean everything for the students

learning process as well as the students ZPD. However, if a family does not support the student

or create a positive environment where they can easily do homework and focus on their classes,

it will make it much harder for the student to learn. A great family can definitely make or break a

students education.

Discrimination and Leaning

There will most likely be cultural pluralism in my school. This is when small groups

within larger groups keep their cultural traditions (Berns 2016). There are many different cultures

and societies in America. The worst thing that the teacher can do is ignore the differences and

just pretend that everybody is the same. Instead, the teacher should embrace these different

cultures and possibly even give the students a chance to share their culture or their backgrounds.

Assimilation exists and is common in this country. This is when the world is interpreted by using

current schemas (Berns 2016). Teachers should realize this and not just ignore it and pretend it

does not happen.

One of the best ways to encourage diversity in the classroom is to have a student

directed learning environment. This is when the curriculum moves at the pace that the students

learn and the curriculum is based on what the students need the most (Berns 2016). This could

create a learning environment that the students need regardless of their cultural background.

Student directed learning gives every student the same opportunities to learn and to get an

education. Embracing and celebrating cultural differences can create a mutual respect for the

differences within the classroom.

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Equitable Education for all Students

Divorce, Poverty, and discrimination directly affect cognitive learning outcomes in

many ways. These are all problems that affect the most basic needs of the child on Maslows

Hierarchy of needs. If a child does not get the basic needs, they cannot get the upper level needs,

which include the core pieces for learning. A few ways to overcome these problems to create an

equitable education for all of the students, is to create a positive learning environment where

all students feel free and safe, to celebrate diversity, to build relationships with the students and

parents, and to be consistent in the classroom (Berns 2016). One of the ways to be consistent in

the classroom is to use authentic assessments. An authentic assessment is a test of significant

knowledge (Berns 2016). This is not using a standardized test that the student must worry about

studying about with his home life. Instead, projects or activities require in-class participation,

and show the meaningful knowledge.

Jean Piaget created Piagets stages of cognitive development (Berns 2016). This

contains four stages that a person goes through as their cognitive ability increases. The first stage

is the sensorimotor stage that goes from birth to two years old. The second stage is the

Preoperational stage, which goes from two to six years old. The third stage is the concrete

operational stage, and goes from seven to eleven years old. The final stage is the formal

operational stage, and it starts at twelve years old and goes all throughout a persons life (Berns

2016). Understanding which stage the student is in can help the teacher create realistic goals as

well as understand why a student may not understand the topic that is being taught.

Conclusion

There are positive and negatives to all of the different theories. The most important thing

for the teacher to do is to find something that he/she can agree with that also works. Some of the
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sub points to a teachers philosophy may change slightly throughout a career or from year to year

depending on what works. What works and is true for a classroom this year, may not work or be

true for next year. It is important to be flexible with curriculum in order to adapt to each students

and class needs and learning style. However, the core belief should remain somewhat the same.

It may change slightly, but a teachers core belief should be a solid belief that they can build the

rest of their philosophy and curriculum around. A teachers curriculum needs to be focused

around a core belief or philosophy.

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References

Berns, Roberta M. Child, Family, School, Community. 10th ed. Boston: Cengage Learning,

2016. Print.