Assignment overview and requirements

Personal Philosophy

Society tells us what is right and what is wrong. In America, there are laws that make things legal or illegal. In addition to this, there are social regulations which determine what, though not illegal, is immoral and thus equally inappropriate behavior. Besides these two factors, there are the peer pressures of our individual dialogue groups which have influence on society as well. For example, religious groups determine what is appropriate for their followers. As teachers, it is important to understand the events and experiences which have shaped our own personalities and thus try to ensure that our students have the most positive experiences possible. Equally important is for a teacher to know the traumas we have faced and how they have affected us, thus allowing us to understand that similar traumas may have affected out students.

I was raised in a neighborhood where we were the only family of a different faith from the majority. When the uniqueness of the situation was discovered by fellow students, it caused many to ostracize me. In a predominantly same-minded environment, this difference was unacceptable to some. Several of my classmates would tell me that their parents would no longer allow them to associate with me because of my family's religious beliefs. I have noticed similar ostracism from native-born American children against immigrant students and vice-versa. In schools where the native-born is in the majority, differentiation is noted and mocked. In one middle school I have worked at, the majority of the student body is first or second-generation immigrants from Mexico. Consequently, the African-American or Caucasian kids are made to feel like outsiders. Having never been a part of the in group, whether because of religious differences or the personality clashes between "cool" and "uncool," I cannot say what the experiences are like for students who do not feel like outsiders. I can vouch for the uncool kids, those who feel like they do not fit in. This is an important group to identify with because these are often the kids that become depressed and, later in their school careers, tend to get into academic trouble.

Another factor in student discouragement is a student's socioeconomic standing. Growing up, I was very poor. My clothes came from thrift stores. I didn't have more than one pair of shoes. My parents didn't drive fancy or expensive cars. Kids today are still living in poverty, but it is such a different thing. I see kids who don't have coats but they are texting away on their cell phones. There are kids without health insurance who are listening to iPods. The priorities are changing. America is a material society becoming all the more so as the years progress. A six-year-old told me the other day that he wanted an iPhone for his birthday and that if he didn't have one, he wouldn't be cool. I remember in school that the kid who had gotten a new basketball for his birthday and brought it to school would be envied. Nowadays it takes expensive electronic luxuries to produce the same reaction. Students are getting more and more accustomed to getting what they want and so they have become less adept at working to achieve their goals. As a group, American students are growing lazier because they are used to getting what they want. The parents are changing as well. They have become more pal than paragon and many modern parents give their children fancy technologies and expensive gifts. They also give the students excuses. In olden days if a student got a bad grade on the test, a parent would yell at the child and tell them to study harder for next time. Modern parents tend to see a bad grade and blame the teacher who gave it. One parent accused me of hiding her child's homework so that I could give the student a zero. Parents are teaching their children that it is not hard work that will get you ahead, but blaming someone else for your failures.

I believe it is important to build up both a child's self-esteem and self-efficacy. Kathleen Berger (2010). differentiates between self-esteem and self-efficacy. Self-esteem is defined as "a person's evaluation of his or her own worth, either in specifics or overall." Self-efficacy is more concerned with how much a person believes him or herself to be capable of. Both these terms relate back to self-concept which is "a person's understanding of who he or she is, in relation to self-esteem, appearance, personality, and various traits." Self-esteem and self-efficacy both relate to the creation of a person's identity. The former is how much value a person places in himself or herself. The latter is what a person believes he or she can do.

A child who lacks self-efficacy believes that they cannot accomplish anything, or that they can accomplish very little. Due to this psychological issue, the child will be less likely to work at anything in a classroom, particularly if it is at all mentally or physically challenging. Usually a child who has an issue a lack of self-efficacy will act out in the classroom, particularly when it is time for individual work. Either behavior will be loud and disruptive or, antithetically the child will shut down and neither speak nor agree to participate.

It is possible for a child to have self-esteem without self-efficacy, however it is uncommon. A child can believe themselves to have worth in certain areas. For example, a child who is adept at sports might have self-esteem for accomplishments on the field without believing themselves capable of learning mathematics. For that child, the value of sports and athletics has a higher place than academics. With students like this hypothetical one, it is very easy to get frustrated. I say this from experience. When you have a child who is certain that they cannot perform no matter what you may say to them, it can get difficult, particularly if that child is disrupting the other students and making the learning process a problem for them. The best remedy is patience. In my experience, extra time is needed to build up a child's self-efficacy. This can be done by giving the child small assignments at or below their level which they can do easily. This will increase the students feeling of accomplishment and will build their self-efficacy slowly to the point that they feel confident enough to face challenges.