Category: Personal Beliefs

I believe that every child is unique, and educators must nurture children’s love for learning in a stimulating environment to develop them holistically. I strive to engage children in meaningful children-oriented and hands-on experiences while taking the role of a facilitator to equip them with lifelong skills and knowledge (Rowe, 2006).

Self-discovery

In terms of self-awareness, I tend to get anxious at the mention of having to do presentations. Having realised this, it made me reflect how this could potentially affect future interactions with parents and thus, the need to work on presenting a more professional and confident self. Relating to Johari’s window, I have tried reducing my hidden area by disclosing this information to my group members which enhanced their understanding about me (Luft & Ingham, 1961). They supported me and gave encouragements which helped me greatly.

Before the start of the course, I was at the unconscious incompetence stage where I was unaware of my lack of knowledge about child development. Subsequently, I was introduced to some child development theories and became increasingly aware of other theories which motivated me to seek knowledge. This increased motivation for learning is enhanced especially during practicum attachment as I was better able relate to children when they displayed behaviours such as snatching toys. I could effectively associate their behaviours with knowledge about egocentrism at the preoperational stage. This made me realise the importance of an educator’s understanding about child, so that in the future I can relate to their needs and build on their development.

Developmental Plan

According to Vander Ven’s stage of professional development, I have identified myself to be at the novice stage, in which I am new in the field and currently taking the role of a preservice teacher in a practicum centre (Spodek & Saracho, 2003). As such, I am aware of my skill gap as I am lacking interactions with children.

As such, my short-term goal (3 – 6 month) after graduation would be to enhance my ability in interacting with children and managing a class through formal training by attending the course titled “Teacher-Child Interaction and Classroom Management” (ECDA, 2020). In this case, attending courses would help novice teachers to learn as trainers are expert sources of knowledge (Sheridan et al., 2009). Concurrently, I would like to reinforce my learning through observing teachers and seek guidance from experienced teachers. Relating to my philosophy, stimulating environment also includes positive teacher-children interactions. Hence, attending this course would help to enhance my understanding on how to promote positive teacher-child interactions such that children feel respected and cared for. This is especially important in developing a strong sense of confidence and security, which will motivate children to explore and take pride in their learning.

Description

This artifact is a lesson implementation conducted to teach Nursery 1 children fine motor skills through jam sandwich making. I feel that this artifact belongs under InTASC standard 1 as it serves as an evidence of how I was able to integrate not just my knowledge on the subject but also meet the requirement of the curriculum goal focusing on inquiry-based learning, which is in accordance to NEL framework (MOE, 2013).

Inquiry-based learning is emphasised during the lesson as guiding questions were asked in the beginning and throughout to stimulate their thinking. During teaching, I played the role of a coach in which I explained to the children on how to hold the butter spreader and spread the jam filling in an up-down motion. While the children were engaged in self-exploration, I also took on the role of a facilitator as I observed children’s non-verbal cues to determine if they need scaffolding such as reteaching the correct technique.

Analysis

I have gained an understanding that children demonstrate a greater sense of independence and interest, given the opportunity to participate in hands-on activity as they were highly focused. Through the experience, I noticed my developing ability to identify learning needs through reading children’s non-verbal cues such as facial expressions (e.g. frown) or body language (e.g. looking around), which allowed me to effectively attend to them and reinforce their learning. I learnt that I am growing as a caring and non-judgemental person who believes that every child deserves to be developed to their fullest potential.

I also realised that I was concerned about passing on the skill that I took great effort and time to assist children in perfecting the skill. This then struck me that I could createa misconception that attaining mastery is the key in learning even though that was not the intention and it could potentially eliminate the joy of learning. Furthermore, time was limited due to reteaching based on each child’s needs. This made me aware of the significance of emphasising on progress, albeit a slow one in comparison to our expectations. As such, it is important for educators to take note so that future teaching could be more meaningful for both parties.

Planning

For future practice, I want to continue incorporating hands-on activities for other subjects (e.g. buoyancy) that will promote children’s participation and allow me to assess which specific areas to reinforce children’s learning. I should also set a limit for how much time to spend on each child so that I would not overrun my lesson implementation or lose focus of other children.

In addition, I seek to establish a more appropriate expectation not only for myself but also the children as well, so that the takeaway children can get would be much more meaningful. An appropriate expectation could focus on the process of learning (whether children had fun) and children’s participation (their perseverance in completing the activity). In the future, I want to emphasise on how to help children move up to the next level of competency to develop their abilities. In this way, children will recognise that the important thing about learning is not solely about mastering the topic that is being taught to them but also acquiring the skills that would help them to learn as well (e.g. proactive in questioning).

References

1. Early Childhood Development Agency (2020). CPD Prospectus List of Courses (2020) Retrieved 30 May 2020 from https://www.ecda.gov.sg/Documents/Educators/List%20of%20Courses%202020%20
2. Luft, J., & Ingham, H. (1961). The johari window. Human relations training news, 5(1), 6-7.
3. Ministry of Education. (2013). Nurturing Early Learners A Curriculum for Kindergartens in Singapore Volume 1.
4. Rowe, K. (2006). Effective teaching practices for students with and without learning difficulties: Constructivism as a legitimate theory of learning AND of teaching?. Student Learning Processes, 10.
5. Sheridan, S. M., Edwards, C. P., Marvin, C. A., & Knoche, L. L. (2009). Professional development in early childhood programs: Process issues and research needs. Early education and development, 20(3), 377-401.
6. Spodek, B., & Saracho, O. (Eds.). (2003). Studying teachers in early childhood settings. IAP.
7. https://www.ecda.gov.sg/Documents/Educators/List%20of%20Courses%202020%20(May).xls
8. https://www.ecda.gov.sg/Documents/Educators/List%20of%20Courses%202020%20(May).xls

Abstract

The Philosophy of education has been a wide international forum since the beginning of mankind. I believe the student-centered approach in my teaching. I believe in a safe environment so learners can flourish. A strong teaching philosophy will make clear claims of your teaching, reach one, teach one is a belief if you’re reaching your students its clear concrete examples and evidence, you’re reaching them.

When I have received my Master of School Counselor, I want to teach and mentoring students because we have so many troubled young people in school today. Some are in gangs, selling drugs, or young girls becoming mothers. We also have elementary kids on suspension or expelled for various reasons. This is another reason for me to go in this field to assist families and children. I mentor young male students. I see great potential in them. They can and will succeed. When working in a small classroom setting with children that have special needs? It is very challenging and rewarding. It takes the time to love and patience to deal with special needs children. I also work as a football and basketball coach. I teach the Jr. high and high school boys the skills set of the game. I mentor them to be young men and set a positive example for their peers, adults, and more teenage children. I want them to have respect for themselves and their teammates. I am a member of The William Capel Christian Church in Manning. I also do whatever is a need the needs of my church.

Philosophy of Schools & Learning

The relationship between general and special educators is one that is designed in order to create an optimal growth of learning within a diverse set of students with a variety of learning abilities. Co-teaching is a type of partnership that has begun to increase regarding the design of a classroom environment. This unique pairing of individuals has taken a new turn towards creating a classroom environment, which is based around different philosophies that connect with the idea that two is better than one. To answer this type of question research is required to be conducted to better understand the reasoning behind this truth-seeking question. Two minds coming together as one is a learning experience for both teachers and students that will have both its ups and downs towards an outlook on this type of learning environment.

The strength I bring to the classroom as a paraprofessional is an experience and understanding of the students who have a disability. I believe my students in my special education classroom can learn, but they just learn in a different way. My teaching philosophies are to educate children even if they are a little different. When working with a special education child, you must use a different learning theory method in the classroom. The B. F. Skinner’s behavior modification theory was use in my class to create and reinforced a by the environment. I believe doing a small group with my students would give good participation from all the students. I would make sure we focus on the top, so my students can’t be confused with the assignment. The most in importantly, I want to make sure all students who work with me in a small group can learn and take part in the classroom. According to Erikson’s stages of childhood development, having a series of crises was the result in positive or maladaptive behaviors for example in special education classroom the students in classroom always have needs or some have crises in the classroom. The teacher needs to build the positive skills to help the students with their cries and their behaviors.

In working in a special education classroom, the teacher and paraprofessional come together and teach the student as a one-unit sometime teacher and paraprofessional must do co do co-teaching and work in a small group. According to the book, “Co-teaching has rapidly evolved and can be recognized as one way to ensure students with disabilities have access to the general education curriculum; they are taught by highly qualified teachers while still receiving the individualized, special education and other supports to which it entitles them.” (Friend, Cook, 2000)

Instructional Practice

The focus on a positive learning environment by teachers implementing strategies to improve academics. Focus on the students understanding instructions. Students with learning disabilities have different learning styles. The teacher and paraprofessional should work together to learn the student’s way of learning. Focus on having a learning environment to teach them to have positive behaviors. The third issue of this research are the team building, the teacher and paraprofessional come together and work together in a special education classroom with students who have multiple disabilities. The teamwork must be put in place to help these students. Some of these students need that one on one time with the teacher and paraprofessional. The solution to this problem is having a strategy that will work with these kinds of students to help them succeed. The strategy is 1. relationships are everything, 2. establish expectations from day 1, 3. express gratitude often, 4. acknowledge their experiences, 5. be a problem solver.

It is the belief of this researcher that all three of these strategies are instrumental when implementing co-teaching and team building so all would be used in the study. There is more than just changing what the reporting system looks like, as noted above. The feedback is surely key, there that would be a focus strategy that would directly influence the student’s ability and motivate the students to perform with proficiency on a learning standard.

Teacher- Learner Relationship

The special education classroom has changed tremendously over the years with students staying in their classroom all day working in small groups with their special education teacher and a paraprofessional. At various time a support teacher will assist the classroom to help the students on achieving their goals. The teacher and paraprofessional will team up in a core partnership or relationship in the inclusion classroom. Whether these education professionals work in or out of various classrooms, it is vital to everyone’s success to develop a good co-teaching partnership. It is important when paraprofessional is in your classroom full-time in implementing their educational skills. Though a paraprofessional’s duties may already be in place when they come into the classrooms, they have ideas that can be contributed to the classroom. The teachers need to know and understand that they are the lead teacher or the main teacher of their classrooms. They should not treat the paraprofessional as a lesser person or be a negative force to them. If teachers understand this, the classroom will work for the better of both parties. The inclusive classroom climate refers to an environment where all students feel supported intellectually and academically and are extended a sense of belonging in the classroom regardless of identity, learning preferences, or education. Such environments are sustained when instructors and students work together for thoughtfulness, respect, academic excellence, and are key to encouraging the academic success of all students. Research indicates that many students may be more likely to prosper academically in settings with more collaborative modes of learning that acknowledge students’ personal experiences (Kaplan & Miller 2007). Culture and community building at the classroom and school wide levels are the foundation for every aspect of improved teaching and learning and particularly important when checking for understanding. Students must feel safe to communicate honestly about their progress.

Diversity

A special education teacher’s face so many culturally diverse with students you may have in your classroom using these guidelines and strategies for teaching your lessons to meet the needs of these students. Sometime get challenging because the cause the special education teacher must watch out for student’s behaviors, parents, and the Individual Education Program (IEP) to meet the needs for students and for the Department of Education.

My Journey through education.

Throughout my journey to complete my degrees in social work, I have reached students through hard work, extensive research and perseverance; leading be an example and challenging students to work consistently at their fullest potential. I believe that my education, training through various service- learning projects, internships, and other related experiences would benefit not only students but also their families. I work hard in every aspect of my career. While attending Denmark Technical College, I was President of the Esquire Club. We were taught to present ourselves as positive role models. We always had to respect others and ourselves. When being this field of education I found myself doing the work for God who help me to become educator for today young. I believe that my calling was to help young men in different age group to be success in the classroom and in sports.

Conclusion

In conclusion a teacher, football coach and basketball coach can be challenging and rewarding. The experiences that I have been through with my education help me to be strong in this field of education. I enjoy teaching young scholars, and I like working with children who have disabilities because I used to be like them when I was gowning up. It really takes a special person to work with these kids they need a positive role model who will not give up on them. reach one, teach one is a belief if you’re reaching your students its clear concrete examples and evidence, you’re reaching them.

References

1. Kaplan, M. & Miller, A. T. (Eds.). (2007). Special Issue: Scholarship of multicultural teaching and learning. New Directions for Teaching and Learning, (111).
2. Cook, L., & Friend, M. (2000). Interactions: Collaboration skills for school professionals (3rd ed.). New York: Addison Wesley Longma.

There is no doubt that poetry is important like any other form of art that would be important. This particular form of literature acts as a nexus of communication, enabling us to relay our emotions to the world and relate through the mutuality of shared experiences. So why poetry? I believe that poetry is the essence of language and language is a mirror of the soul. Poetry is able to deliver the full range of human experience and although it does not appeal to everybody, there are many people who use poetry as a form of therapy, escape, and entertainment. This is important to these people, as poetry provides them with value and joy, in the way that painting will provide that for others or even dancing. I find myself believing that everyone tends to pull out poems when it’s a wedding or a funeral and I feel like poetry should be a part of our everyday lives because poetry belongs to everybody.

Poetry is a unique way of working through what you think and feel in this real sort of powerful and concentrated way. Even when poets are writing light-hearted poems, they tend to look quite deep into themselves in the world around them and also maintain a sort of excitement about language and its possibilities. Poetry is this amazingly immersive insight into other people’s lives, minds, and cultures. These intuitions allow you to make connections over time and space with different people who have been writing, reading, and reciting poems for centuries. On the other hand, people also tend to turn to poems at difficult or momentous times in their lives, creating a sense of this ‘human need’ for poetry. Poetry also acts as a craft. So, when you get to the stage of writing a poem you work out which are the best words to use and what’s the best order for them. As a result, that sense of craft I think really helps people get to know and love language and feel ownership of it.

In conclusion, we need to spread over a wider public and appreciate the power and beauty of the written and spoken word through poetry. Poetry acts as a kind of everyday magic that anyone can practice and just slightly changes the world around you and all you need is a pen or keyboard. We all need to read poetry and when we come across a beautiful line, commit it to memory. In my opinion, this is the best way to truly understand a poem and this one act can help enhance and enrich our lives.

Nowadays, people are constantly using stereotypes in their everyday life to simplify the diverse world around them. Placing people into social categories helps people to understand quickly how to behave when meeting new people, as they might have a similar experience in dealing with other people from the same social group before.

However, one of the significant drawbacks of generalization is that it can be a reason for prejudices as it makes people ignore the differences between individuals. As a result, one can easily hurt the other person due to stereotyping.

In the result of numerous studies, researchers defined 4 biggest groups of stereotypes which are based on race, gender, culture and nation/ethnicity.

This term paper will focus on the stereotypes about women from Muslim culture. While West describes all Muslim women as uneducated, submissive and oppressed, Muslim women are fighting for their rights and gaining power over their lives.

For analysis was taken the french movie The Source which was directed by the French filmmaker Radu Mihaileanu who is considered to be one of the best film directors working in Europe today. The film was released in 2011 and produced by France in cooperation with Belgium and Italy. Even though the events occur in the imaginary remote Maghreb village somewhere in North Africa, the shooting was made in Morocco. The same 2011 year this film was nominated on the Cannes Film Festival as an Oriental modern-day fable worthy of A Thousand and One Nights.

During the press conference for the film, Mihaileanu said: “The revolutions in the Arabic world represent a huge step forward. We wrote the film with the same sort of intentions, and we bet on the chance that women would be the ones to bring change, not simply throughout the world but especially in the Muslim world.”

The Source provides the audience with an extremely profound and very deep examination of the life and culture of Muslim women in a remote ethnic patriarchal village somewhere in North Africa. It explores the problems of women’s oppression, religious fanaticism and female empowerment in the Arab Muslim world. Despite the community pressure, the main characters courageously launch the battle of sexes against their oppressive husbands and break the stereotypes of their culture.

“It seemed to me so opposite to what all the Western media was saying about Arabic Muslim civilization and culture, that I thought that I have to do a movie about that. I wanted to show that it is a very complex culture and identity… and these people also want to fight with extremism.” (Mihaileanu, interview)

This research has three main goals:

• to define the stereotypes about Islam and Muslim women that are prevailed in the Western world;
• to analyze how the main character of The Source breaks the stereotypes of her culture.

The term paper consists of 5 parts: introduction, theoretical part, practical part, conclusion, and work cited.

The Stereotype theory

To understand the examples of stereotypes, we should first define what stereotype is. The stereotype is “…a fixed, over-generalized belief about a particular group or class of people, without regard for individual differences ”. (Wikipedia). The term stereotype comes from the Greek words stereos, which means ‘firm, solid’ and typos – ‘impression’. Thus the stereotype is a solid impression of something or someone. They are typically generalizations based on minimal or limited knowledge about a group to which the person doing the stereotyping does not belong.

The term was first used in its modern meaning by American journalist Walter Lippmann in 1922 in his work Public Opinion. Lippmann describes the process of stereotyping. He explains that stereotypes arise out of the need to generalize things in order to structurize a very complicated environment. It takes a lot of time and energy to analyze in detail every new thing we meet on our way among thousands of other daily matters. Thus stereotyping allows people to easily classify new things by putting them into comfortable categories which are already defined by their experiences. These categories are called cognitive schemas, which are based on preconceived expectations. Every time we meet a new person we look at his gender, age, ethnicity, religion and other social categories. Lippmann writes:

“Modern life is hurried and multifarious.. there is neither time nor opportunity for intimate acquaintance. Instead, we notice a trait which marks a well-known type, and fills in the rest of the picture by means of the stereotypes we carry about in our heads.” (Lippmann, 1922)

Stereotyping is something we do daily, even if we don’t realize it. By classifying groups of people, we can better understand the world around us, although prejudice may be a result. Stereotypes, like prejudices, are based on a prior assumption.

There are 4 biggest groups of stereotypes:

Racial stereotypes are a representation of a group of a certain race in a generalized manner, portraying all members to display certain typical characteristics. Stereotyping someone generally indicates that the person has all the traits that members of the race are known to possess. People are sorted into different races based on their genetic traits: skin color, hair color, and facial features. The biggest problem that arises out of this kind of stereotyping is that it creates prejudice which can be the root cause of racial discrimination.

A national stereotype or ethnic stereotype is a system of beliefs about typical characteristics of members of a given ethnic group or nationality, their status, society, and cultural norms. A person makes his opinion about another person based on where he is from, or the language he speaks without getting to know the person. One of the most famous studies regarding ethnic stereotypes has been conducted on American university students by Katz and Braly in 1933. The research reached the conclusion that more often the stereotypes favor the race to which the holder of the stereotypes belongs and subordinate the other ethnicities. Thus, the study showed the following results: African Americans, for example, were seen as lazy, ignorant and happy-go-lucky, while White Americans were seen as industrious, progressive and intelligent.

There are some other stereotypes based on national belonging:

• All Arabs and Muslims are terrorists
• All Asians are genius at math
• All Irish people are drunks

Gender stereotyping is the generalization of a person’s abilities and limitations based on the known tendencies of that person’s sex (The Free Dictionary). Historically, men have been expected to fulfill certain tasks, while women have been assigned different ones. For example, women are considered to be more intuitive and emotional, while men are more rational and less passionate. It is interesting to mention that cultures can vary drastically in language, customs and values and many other aspects of daily life, but males and females have the same predetermined gender roles which they are supposed to fulfill in every society. This seems to be a common feature among all cultures in the world.

Cultural stereotypes. Whenever we talk about people from different culture, we usually categorize people into a group of actions and behaviors we assume that they would act in the same way. Here are some examples of culture stereotyping:

• Mexicans came into America illegally
• Africans are black
• Americans are obese
• Jews are greedy
• Thai women are sex slaves
• Africans are poor

A stereotype should not be mixed with a cultural characteristic. A cultural trait is a characteristic attributed to a group based on research. If it’s not based on research, most likely it is a stereotype. If anyone uses the term ‘cultural trait’ without a solid research base, then that person is, in fact, applying a stereotype and calling it a cultural trait.

One should differentiate positive and negative stereotyping. A positive stereotype is a positive assumption made about someone based on their look, race, ethnicity or gender. For example, the common belief that Italians are great cooks and lovers is a positive stereotype. While positive stereotypes may seem flattering, they can cause as much pain as negative stereotypes.

The problem with stereotypes is that they generalize something that maybe only partially true, or only true for a part of the group of people they refer to. They cover our judgment because we tend to apply that stereotype to all members of that target group, especially if we do not actually know the individual members of that group. The stereotype is correct in some cases but sometimes based on your preconceived perceptions it can be a wrong assumption which will hurt a person. When people are stereotyped, they feel less like an individual.

As a result, gaps between stereotype and reality often cause misunderstandings. What is worse, stereotyping is encouraging bullying behavior at school that children carry into adulthood. This can cause psychological problems in the future and ultimately destroy someone’s life. Many teenagers end their lives with suicide because of the bullying by the schoolmates. As you see, the rejection by a social group might have the disastrous consequences for people’s lives that’s why it is better to avoid stereotyping.

Croatia has many different regions and there are many stereotypes attached to each region. Also throughout the history many people left a tiny bit of an influence on Croatian culture, language and habits. So Croatia has a really great background for making all kinds of stereotypes and jokes. Some of them are quite rude but most of them are really funny.

A TYPICAL DALMATIAN

Dalmatia is full of stereotypes, of course, the funny ones. The first things that comes to my mind when I think of Dalmatians is that they don’t really care about the work. They are very easy going people. Their favourite thing to do is drinking coffee, talking, gossiping and complaining. The complaining part is very important part of their life. They complain about the weather, tourists, salaries, crowds and so on and so on. Furthermore, they are temperamental and proud people.

THE PEOPLE OF ZAGORJE

Zagorje is a beautiful and idyllic place with lots of historic heritage and vineyards. People of Zagorje love wine. Actually they love every kind of alcoholic drink. No, they are not considered alcoholics, but they really know how to enjoy and throw a big party. However they are very hardworking, organized and kind people. One thing that is associated with the people of Zagorje is their taste in decorations. Their gardens look like circus sometimes with lots of colours and decorations but they don’t really care about it.

THE PEOPLE OF ZAGREB

The people of Zagreb, or so called ‘Zagrepčani’ are full of stereotypes. As Zagreb is a centre of the cultural and economic life people can behave different. One of the biggest stereotypes about the people of Zagreb is that they are rude and snobbish, but that is definitely not true. Moreover the fact that they consider people who are living outside city wild and crazy is complete nonsense. However, I see the people of Zagreb as very kind and busy, hardworking people always ready to help so most of the stereotypes you hear about ‘Zagrepčani’ are wrong.

THE PEOPLE OF SLAVONIA

Stereotypes applying to the people of Slavonia are almost the same as for the people of Zagorje. The only different fact is that they love to eat more than to drink. They are considered as fun, kind, warm and openhearted people. They throw very big parties with a lot of food when there is some occasion going on and welcome anybody to join them.

CONCLUSION

It is hard to make a comparison between the Dutch and Croatians but I think every country has its own reasons why those stereotypes were made. But there is one big similarity between these two people. Dutch people are more straightforward and liberal while, we, Croatians are more disingenuous and conservative.

Although it has been studied and defined by numerous scholars, stereotypes is still a subject of controversy, having no commonly accepted definition ( Lielle Brink; Jan Alewyn Nel 2015). This is due to the various sources that paved the way for it to exist as a whole separate field of study. The provenance of these sources covers the social environment including the parents and family members, peer groups, scholars, and media ( Bar- Tal, 1996). In his work Public Opinion (1922), Lippmann considered stereotypes as ‘ pictures’ in people’s ‘heads’ which are usually used to better understand members who belong to different groups ( Seiter 1986). However, stereotypes can be ‘over-generalisations’ ( Lippmann 1922) that do not take into account the individuality of individuals within the social group or community they belong to (cited by Seiter 1986).

Stereotypes can be advantageous according to many researchers. This is because they sometimes carry some truthful facts (Whitley and kite, 2006). In other words, some authors in the field of social psychology argued that these generalisations are useful. This usefulness is clearly manifested in situations where someone interacts with another one from a different social group, when the background pictures the person has in mind play a paramount role in the facilitation of the interaction happening between the communicators (Seiter 1986). Additionally, it is important to know that some stereotypes give positive expectations about the others, as it is the case with Asians who are believed to be good students and employees, while other ones are of neutral nature like the general notion about Australians being lovers of cricket (Mullins, 2010; whitley & Kite, 2006).

On the other front, there exist numerous stereotypes which are of an incorrect nature. A wide range of scholars took care of this kind of generalisations, including Gordon Allport (writer of The Nature of Prejudice and a well known psychologist in his time) who defined the stereotype as ‘an exaggerated belief associated with a category. Its function is to justify (rationalise) our conduct in relation to that category’ ( Allport, 1954, p.191). according to the same author, the harmfulness of ‘these habits of thoughts’ ( cited by Seiter) lies behind their promotion and uniformity of specific traits, coining them to all the ones who belong to the stereotyped group ( Pickering, 2001). This is because stereotypes do not take into account the individual variations (cited by Ellen Stein), leading to erroneous perceptions, improper demeanour towards people (Bergh & Theron, 2009), as well as unfaithful representations that keep these general conclusions alive.

To sum up, stereotypes are divided into three sections: positive, neutral and negative. However, regardless of their nature, they are believed to be ‘inevitable’ and ‘universal’ (cited by Seiter). Furthermore, researches in the field concluded that gender and racial stereotypes are the most common stereotypes all over the world. This is because women and people of colour are considered as socially oppressed groups, the thing that make them victims of socially dominant ethnicities’ overgeneralization’ ( Stroman, Merritt, & Matabane, 1989-1990).

When it comes to choosing work placement many factors have to be considered. For example Equality, Diversity and relationships. While on work experience it is important to take into consideration not only your beliefs and values but the ones of the other practitioners and the parents and children who attend the practice. The study of student beliefs can have important implications for teacher education programmes. Evidence suggests that students’ beliefs upon entrance into their teacher preparation programme may influence the ways in which students experience their teacher training (Calderhead & Robinson,1991,Hollingsworth 1989). In order to help students shape their belief systems into those appropriate for working with young children, teacher educators must be aware of students’ beliefs and in turn provide students with the opportunity to reflect on their own beliefs and how those beliefs influence their action. (Green 1971, Renzaglia, Hutchins & Lee 1997).

Children in an early childhood setting are both vulnerable and naïve. It is important to note their ways and their beliefs while carrying out various activities with them. Respecting the child while making them feel comfortable and creating a safe, cosy, nurturing and loving environment for them whenever possible. Placing emphasis on the social/emotional health of the child is of primary importance in helping the children to develop a strong positive self image and become capable independent human beings. Children need to feel cared for and loved all the time (all human beings do) but it is essential that children in an early childhood setting are provided this basic need as this is where they spend most of their time. Respect for the children’s family beliefs and values is a key factor as essentially, we are the children’s first teachers.

It is in fact a necessity to be aware of your own skills and abilities when choosing/entering an early childhood setting. Many of us are not aware of the many skills that we have. There are many skills needed while on the grounds of an early childcare setting, these include Communication skills, Decision making skills, Instructional skills, Patience, Physical stamina, Enthusiasm, Creativity and flexibility. According to the National Association of the Education of young Children, the most important characteristic for teachers of early Childhood development is enthusiasm for children. I believe this is essential as it means that you are wanting to make a difference to each, and every child and you are interested in moulding and shaping the children to the best person they can be. When teachers having a caring outlook on the children they are able to unlock every child’s door to learning and overcoming any obstacle that a child may have. Young children are known to have short attention spans and little self-control, which always proves difficult for practitioners to keep them interested and involved. This is a skill in itself. Every child is different, too, making the job even more challenging. This requires patience and good communication skills and working with the children at their level.

While it is important to have good communication skills with the children it is equally as important to be able to communicate effectively with the child’s parents. The parents need to be updated regularly about his/her needs, skills, problems and achievements so both parties can help the child without undue emotion. We need to be aware of the families own culture and ethnic background. This is a major factor when teaching children effectively and also when they are engaging in activities that they are aware that not everybody has the same background and beliefs as them. We respect these differences and work with each child’s style, rather than trying to force the children to adapt to other styles. Planning lessons that will engage young children and educate them at the same time takes creativity. Adapting lessons to individual learning styles requires flexibility. This comes into practice when dealing with multicultural classrooms and also with many ethnicities , cultures and traditions.

I myself believe that I have the required skills and abilities for working in an early childcare setting. I am caring, creative, helpful, understanding and also willing to learn more and more about early childcare while doing my work placement. I have past experience of working with children on numerous occasions. I did 3 weeks work experience in a primary school where I spent one week in the main stream classrooms, one week in the autistic unit and one week in the pre school department of the school. This work experience was a huge eye opener for me personally. To see the diversity between the different departments of the school was incredible. This school had many different cultures and races, but this didn’t affect how the children saw each other. In their eyes everybody was the same, there was no discrimination or rudeness towards other children, their friends were their friends and that’s all that mattered to them. This was all down to the teachers creating equality throughout the school. The set up in the pre school department was truly outstanding, the various stations that they had set up for the children and the amount of activities that were provided was unbelievable. One of the most important things for the teachers in the pre school was taking the children out every day no matter what the weather was like. Each child had a little cupboard with a hook where they hung up their outdoor gear and their wellies were placed underneath that. I noticed every single time the children were taken outside, they felt independent and just loved the freedom of running around and being allowed to get messy. Messy play is extremely important for a child’s development. It provides children with an exciting tactile and sensory experience that inspires their curiosity, allows them to explore the world around them and enhances their learning, language and creativity. Children need this time to themselves to recharge and set themselves up for the rest of the day. One thing in particular that you will notice with young children is that they are all unique, no two are the same. They will work away themselves most of the time and even during play time they are happy to let their imagination take over and just go with it. This work experience most certainly changed my outlook on early childhood settings and helped me to change my view on the whole set up.

Another side of experience with children for me was when my parents fostered a little boy called Mihai. This was a major change for my whole family as I have two older brothers and I was the youngest until Mihai came along. We fostered him from the day he was born 5 years ago and it was the best thing that ever happened to my family. Fostering Mihai has really made me change my view on life and not take so much for granted such as having my biological parents and siblings still with me and having that feeling of being loved and cared for. Mihai has been with us since he was born so he has been brought up with our family ways and beliefs. Mihai’s biological mother is Romanian so therefore Mihai has quite sallow skin. This was a concern for us as race is a big issue of today, but the playschool accepted this and made sure it was never an issue in the school with other children. He goes to mass with my parents, he understands discipline and rewards and he respects my parents’ ways and has respect for others around him. Particularly with Mihai, the difference in him since attending playschool is unbelievable. The knowledge he has about the world around him and the skills and abilities he has learned it incredible. He has really thrived. Early childhood development sets the foundation for lifelong learning, behaviour and health. The experiences children have in early childhood shape the brain and the child’s capacity to learn, to get along with others and to respond to daily stresses and challenges. The personal skills and abilities that we portray are vital to us when we are choosing our work placement and also when we are on our work placement.

As well as our direct personal experiences, the way that we were raised and the community and society that we grew up in shapes us. This is because we gain our values and beliefs from our parents, school and wider society. While the impact of personal experiences can be easy to pinpoint, it can be harder to recognise the impact of our values and beliefs. This is because many of us continue to live and work in the community and society in which we were raised. Our beliefs and values may seem ‘normal’ and so we may not even question the impact of them on our practice. Choosing work placement may seem like an easy task but realistically you have to take many factors into consideration and be conscious and wary of the world around you and the example you are setting for those around you.

Georg Christoph Lichtenberg once said, “I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is that they must change if they are to get better.” Stereotypes are all around us. No matter a person’s age, gender, race, or religion, the ability to stereotype others or be stereotyped will always affect us. This can cause detrimental effects in society, including an increase in microaggression. The poem On The Subway written by Sharon Olds displays societal differences between white women and black men, showing stereotypes in physical strength and race. The societal differences between poor and rich people in the movie Slumdog Millionaire relates to stereotypes surrounding intelligence. These stereotypes can lead to an oppressive imbalance of power depending on a person’s societal or physical privileges.

Historically, gender has been subjected to constant stereotypes. The poem On The Subway written by Sharon Olds shares the experiences that a white woman faces in the presence of a black man. There is uncertainty regarding their power dynamic caused by the stereotypes that are ingrained into society. The writer expresses this concern thinking, “There is / no way to know how easy this / white skin makes my life, this / life he could take so easily and / break across his knee like a stick the way his / own back is being broken” (Olds 26). As the woman on the subway keeps thinking about how unsafe she feels, she realizes that the man feels the same way. I occasionally feel the same absence of power in the presence of a man, like the woman feels in the presence of a black man. I can remember countless times where the catcalls and conversations I have received from a man in the streets have put me in a place where I feel powerless. No matter how prepared I thought I was, actually being in these situations is always terrifying. Now that I have experienced catcallers/random men wanting to approach me, I am now completely closed off. While reflecting on this poem, I have realized that not all men can have bad intentions, like the one on the subway. It makes me wonder if I am promoting the stereotypes surrounding men by protecting myself from them. I also question if I should give up my safety to see the good in men whom I don’t know. I think there is a balance between naivety and pessimism which, after reading this poem, I can start to search for. My thoughts stem from the sexist stereotypes surrounding men that I recognize. In the poem, the woman’s thoughts stem from racist and classist in addition to sexist stereotypes. Another text I have explored, Slumdog Millionaire, deals with classist stereotypes.

When a person is poor, they are automatically assumed to be uneducated which Jamal Malik combats. He is from the slums of Mumbai, India and competes on a game show where he wins 20 million rupees. He then must prove his innocence in winning. When the police inspectors were interrogating Jamal, they asked him why he knew the answer to a question. Jamal answers, ‘I wake up every morning wishing I didn’t know the answer to that question. If it wasn’t for Rama and Allah, I’d still have a mother.’ (Jamal). The magnitude of this scene shows that even though Jamal is not as educated as some people may think, his unfortunate experiences give him a different type of education, but is just powerful, proven by his results. As stereotypes affect all of us, I have witnessed many people in my life, including friends and family members who feel unintelligent because they do not thrive in school environments. However, these types of people are the smartest people I know when it comes to real-life scenarios. By watching the movie Slumdog Millionaire, I have realized that neither street smart or book smart is superior. It is what you do with this intelligence that makes a person smart, giving them power. The stereotype that poor people or unfit students can’t be smart, displays the invalid importance that we place on just marks.

To conclude, societal and physical stereotypes can create an oppressive imbalance of power, which can greatly influence our lives. Firstly, Sharon Olds showcases the stereotypes surrounding white women and black men in her poem, On The Subway. Secondly, the movie Slumdog Millionaire reveals the stereotypes that poor and rich people face. Stereotypes are a common factor that influences everyone’s lives. It is only when we recognize their effects that we will be able to make a change.

Beliefs can be said to be a proposition an individual knows as the truth, they come from personal experiences such as cultural societal and religious encounters and once a person accepts a belief as to the truth they are willing to defend it can be said to form a part of their belief system. Beliefs revolve entirely around what you value and do on a day to day basis, they form a general representation of everything going on around you and are very essential for every action we take, it can be as simple as waking up and making your bed, and having your bath. Every individual has their belief system, and we have to ensure that we don’t enforce our personal beliefs on other people by keeping our values in check this will help us determine our reactions to other people’s beliefs.

The real question is how much harm the beliefs might ultimately cause, either directly or indirectly. Beliefs can cause harm directly by promoting or justifying harm towards others. Beliefs can cause harm indirectly by promoting false representations of the world as knowledge while preventing believers from subjecting those representations to critical, skeptical scrutiny.

Unexamined beliefs have been unconsciously shared as ideas that may have developed from messages you were given directly or indirectly intentionally or unintentionally from your family friends the church, the media and others. sometimes they are cultural norms which we deem appropriate so it never occurs to you to question them. This has hindered soo many of us from thinking outside the box and unfortunately, most people find it hard to accept change and see that things can be done differently. Concerning unexamined beliefs and social work, we have policies and practices that are meant to guide us this means that social workers are expected to care about and to be committed to their work while following the codes of practice and not allowing personal beliefs come in between their actions towards the people they care for.

A typical example of how unexamined beliefs can get on the way of social work practice can be seen in a religious setting where the social worker while doing their duty has been groomed to see abortion as a grievous sin and meets this type of conviction where they are deeply conflicted with personal morals as they have been groomed to see abortion as being morally wrong, but your job requires you to advise the client about safe abortion without you getting your personal beliefs into their choice. But as far as this unexamined values go, the codes of practice ensures we make a conscious effort to keep our reactions to issue like this in check.

References

1. Cline, Austin. ‘What Does it Mean to Say ‘I Believe’ Something Is True?’ Learn Religions, Aug. 27, 2020, learnreligions.com/what-is-belief-249805.
2. Banks, S. (2012) Ethics and Values in Social Work, 4th edn. Basingtoke: Palgrave.
3. Parrott, L. (2014) Values and Ethics in Social Work Practice, 3rd edn. London: Learning Matters.

Introduction

Every one of us has a belief system ingrained in their mind. Some beliefs, core beliefs, are formed earlier in life, usually in early childhood, while other we acquire later in life through external influences, such as political beliefs. For the purposes of this essay, we will focus mainly on our core beliefs, how they are formed, how they impact us, and what can be done to ensure that our core beliefs serve us in leading a positive and fruitful life.

What Are “Beliefs”

The literature on beliefs is aplenty. Clearly throughout the ages, the concept of beliefs was a primary concern for many. From philosophers like Socrates and Plato to psychologists to neuroscientists to political and religious scholars, many researched and wrote books and theories on Beliefs. And not for nothing; the combination of all our beliefs, which form our belief system, is basically who we are. We are the summation of how we think, feel, act and behave. And if these are guided by our deep-seated beliefs, then we really are our beliefs.

So, what are beliefs and when are they formed? In their article, “How Beliefs Are Formed and How to Change Them”i the writers at Skilled at Life define beliefs simply as “…something we consider to be a fact. It is anything that we assume to be true”. In that same article, the writers go on to explain how beliefs are formed; its either by our own experiences, or something we were told, and we accepted as true. Amy Morin explains in “3 Important Ways Your Childhood Shaped Who You Are” about the beliefs we acquire during our childhood, how the way we see ourselves, others and the world are given to us from our parents, peers, school when we were children… We start shaping our own self-image and beliefs even before our brain finishes developing. In Psychology Today, Ralph Lewis, M.D writes in his article, “What Actually Is a Belief? And Why Is It So Hard to Change?”iii about how, as children, and later as adults, we tend to form our beliefs “Children are strongly predisposed to believe their parents, and, as adults, we are inclined to believe authorities”.

Other beliefs we acquire as adults, later in life, following our individual experiences and how we perceive the world through our own senses. As we experience new situations, such as failures, death of loved ones, loss and love, we start developing new patterns of thoughts, and beliefs. We will look for evidence to support such thoughts and hence new beliefs are formed.

How Our Beliefs Impact us

Once a belief is formed, it becomes a reality for its “owner”. Beliefs get stored in the subconscious and “direct” us unconsciously. In “Belief Systems: what they are and how they affect you”iv, Tim Retig explains the role that our beliefs play in our lives :” Your belief system is the invisible force behind your behavior… your belief system is one of the strongest forces that affects any decision that you are making”. So, in reality, our beliefs dictate what we say, do, think, the choices we make in every aspect of our life and how we perceive everything that is going on around us. This can be a positive thing but can also leave a negative impact. Let’s look at both.

Positive Impact

In its simplest form, our belief system helps us remain safe and fulfill the basic human need for survival; such as running away if attacked by an animal, or ensuring no cars are coming before crossing a road, or in our desires for marriage and procreation. These are simple actions based on basic beliefs we learned early on. More advanced beliefs can be quite empowering in life. If you believe you will do well on your exam because you prepared well, or if you believe that hard work will earn you that promotion, then most likely you will get both of those things. The subconscious mind is always looking for evidence to support our beliefs. And while faith and religious belief is far too complex to go into in this essay, a simple belief that God will take care of you always is a very powerful emotion that can help keep you sane and balanced during turbulent and testing times. In the article quoted above, Amy Morin explains how beliefs can turn into self-fulfilling prophecies “When you believe something to be true, you look for evidence that supports your idea. With each piece of evidence, the belief gets reinforced”. In these cases, and many more, your beliefs help you to grow, be happy and flourish.

Negative Impact

The other side of the coin however is that these self-fulfilling prophecies can turn into a major hurdle or what is otherwise referred to as limiting belief. If you believe that you are incapable of doing something, that you are not smart enough to succeed, or not worthy of love, or too old to change, then you will look for the evidence that that is true and you will effectively be the reason of your own failed efforts, or failed relationships and stunted personal development. But while a limiting belief is usually described as a core belief that holds you back, what is really a limiting belief? Dunja Radosavljevic digs a bit deeper in her article “What are Limiting Beliefs and What Causes Them?”v and describes them as follows “The essence of a limiting belief is emotion… And that core emotion is still within you, stored, waiting for a time you will be able to feel it, while also rearing its ugly head through tension, anxiety or challenges at work”.

So, our beliefs work for us. A belief can be positive, can be negative, or can move from positive to negative if it no longer serves us. But can we control and change our beliefs?

Can Beliefs Be Changed

The good news is, yes, beliefs CAN be changed. Of course, the very first step of is identifying and acknowledging our limiting beliefs. It is equally important to recognize that our limiting beliefs might have worked for us at a certain point in our lives, but as we go through life, develop and grow, these beliefs might move to the limiting side of the spectrum. The brain and the subconscious will naturally resist a change of belief. Ralph D. Lewis continues in his article “Radically restructuring our belief system and creating a new worldview engages parts of the brain involved in higher reasoning processes and computation, and is consequently more effortful, time- and energy-consuming. The brain often cannot afford such an investment… Another important factor accounting for resistance to changing our beliefs is the way our beliefs are so often intertwined with how we define ourselves as people— our self-concept…We want to feel that we are consistent, with our behavior aligning with our beliefs. …. It’s embarrassingand quite often costly in a variety of ways to admit that we are fundamentally wrong.”

Changing one’s belief is not easy and it does not come naturally, but once the decision has been made, there are multitudes of way to abolish old beliefs and create new ones. For the benefit of this essay, we will not go into details of the coaching processes that would wield lasting and positive change; what is important to mention though is that adopting new beliefs that are befitting to us in our current stage of life, and shedding old limiting beliefs is not only doable, but required if we want to fulfill our full potential in life. It requires hard work, commitment, follow through and most importantly the will to change.

Conclusion

“Man is what he believes” wrote Anton Chekovvi. And we are really the sum of our beliefs. Formed before the age of 7, our belief system will guide everything we do later in life. Some of this guidance will be positive, some will be negative. The most important thing we can do is understand our beliefs and those of the one around us if we chose to understand their behaviors. And the best news is, we actually have the power to change the beliefs we chose, to grow, develop and live to our full potential.