Diana Miculescu

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12 November 2018
Learner and Learning Reflection
As humans, we share the common life-long experience of learning. No person’s life is
void of learning. As we grow, we learn from our own experiences and the experiences of others.
The practices of science are especially important for human learning because they help “develop
abilities to scientifically approach problems” (Settlage, Southerland, Smetan, & Lottero-Perdue,
2018, p. 10). Like learning, human life is not void of problems, and we must learn methods
which help us observe and analyze problems which lead us to plan and create evidence-based
solutions. Since humans have greater control over the choices they make about their lives when
they are more scientifically proficient, it is necessary for educators to create and promote
learning environments which facilitate learning of scientific practices rather than learning
content (Settlage et al., 2018). While learning specific science concepts can possibly be
beneficial to a human’s life, it is the underlying science practices which allows humans to apply
disciplinary core ideas and crosscutting concepts across all domains, whether they are science-
based or not. Providing all students with access to these scientific practices is the goal of science
education, and promoting respect and supporting individual differences of ethnicity, race,
language, culture, gender, and ability is the method which educators create equitable educational
opportunities for all students.
To provide equitable opportunities, we must first learn about our students as individuals
and members of groups and communities they are part of. Before a student walks into my
classroom, they have already accumulated knowledge and behaviors that have been learned
within the context of their families and ethnic culture, communities, and groups they choose to
be a part of, previous classes they have been a part of, and social structures of our society. The
membership to a group of people who may have similar interests, values, expectancies, goals
(achievement, social, and career goals) is closely tied to an individual’s identity, so they cannot
be ignored when creating a learning environment which promotes respect and support for
difference of ethnicity, race, language, culture, gender, and ability (Ormrod, 2016).
How do we, as educators, begin to unravel the complexities of our students’ individual
identities as well as the communities in which they are members? This seems to be a difficult
task when it comes to learning about the differences among one-hundred and fifty students or
more; however, ignoring differences, essentializing individuals, and treating all students the
same have major repercussions in our diverse communities and classrooms (Settlage et al.,
2018). To begin, as educators, we can be aware and reflective of our own cultural biases,
assumptions, and values. Do we hold beliefs about achievement and learning that is rooted in
deficit mentality, meritocracy, or ethnocentrism? If we do, which most of us have at one point
used one or some of these beliefs to justify our treatment of a person or student, we must stop
this practice because it promotes educational failures for groups of diverse students. When we
become aware of and change our pre-existing beliefs about and behaviors towards a group of
people, we can create equity in our classrooms. We can then examine the instructional
congruence of a lesson with students’ lived experiences, which allows students to find the
content more accessible, meaningful, and relevant (Settlage et al., 2018).
In my field experience, I see students at all levels of educational achievement within each
class period. Differences among my students include personal and familial values regarding
education, achievement, and successfulness, familial and societal gender roles and abilities,
English reading and writing levels, personal beliefs about competence, self-worth, and
autonomy. As educators, we cannot blindly attribute academic failure to student competence or
failure of students to assimilate to mainstream culture. Students who engaged in the lesson
activities did not do so because they are good students, and students who did not engage in the
lesson activities did not do so because they are bad students (Haberman, 2010). Moreover, the
belief that only good students can learn and bad students cannot learn creates different
expectations for students which leads to a learning environment far from equitable. Educators
must step away from this persistent belief in deficit mentality that “individuals or groups have
differences that represent flaws, gaps, or limitations because of a non-mainstream cultural
background” (Settlage et al., 2018, p. 314). A belief in deficit mentality leaves little room for
students to be successful if they are different. It is so difficult as a student teacher in my field
placement to watch this deficit mentality perpetuate. In these situations, I wait until the class is
involved in cooperative learning (which occurs daily) which allows for personal and direct
communication between the students and me. During these moments, I take the time to examine
what is holding this student or this group of students back from engaging in the lesson and how
can I facilitate learning for these specific students. More often than not, I find myself
communicating with my students about their abilities, competence, self-worth, and autonomy
because I believe these are the aspects which the students are struggling with, and these are the
aspects at the core of motivation (Ormrod, 2016). I take into account their misconceptions about
how science relates to their everyday lives and present a different approach to thinking about and
learning science. In my future classroom, I will teach science culture as a basis for how students,
educators, and scientists engage in science and how scientific practices are useful inside the
classroom or lab, as well as in the real-world. In addition, as an educator, I will be intentional
about examining the cause of engagement and achievement of my students and be ready to
support students in achievement when they are struggling. This means being intentional about
the types of lessons and activities I choose for my students, always keeping in mind what can I
do as an educator for all my students to achieve.
Just as educators must be open to conceptual change, they must also promote conceptual
change in their students. Conceptual change is relevant in any classroom, but specifically
meaningful in science classrooms because of the very nature of science. The worldview of
science includes habits of mind, curiosity, openness to new ideas, skepticism, and emotions
(Settlage et al., 2018). We see that the culture of science promotes conclusions and judgments
that are evidence-based, which attempts to remove any bias and prejudice. Extending how
scientists view and participate in science culture to our students will allow students opportunities
to change their views that science classes are built on just memorizing facts about the natural
world, and it is instead “constructing and refining explanations” (Settlage et al., 2018, p. 8). In
my field experience, I am unfortunately seeing students interact with science in a way in which is
not conducive to learning science practices for all students. Some students do achieve passing
grades on worksheets, labs, and assessments, but it is not sufficient that some students achieve.
Educators must have high expectations for all students and should not lower expectations
because of biases towards groups or individual students. Promoting negative self-fulfilling
prophecies will only reinforce an individual’s fear, resentment, or disappointment and lead to
negative student outcomes (Settlage et al., 2018, p. 158). Also, negative self-fulfilling prophecies
reinforce the pedagogy of poverty, which regards the educator as a content giver instead of a
learning facilitator (Haberman, 2010). In replacing the systemic pedagogy of poverty with good
teaching in one’s classroom, educators can support student achievement among students from
different identities, backgrounds, academic levels, and so on.
 I see the clearest avenue to promoting respect and supporting individual differences to
create equitable educational opportunities for all students is to create a classroom culture based
in humanism and sociocultural theory. While all of Maslow’s proposals of human needs are
important, two essential needs that are typically not focused on during a general content-based
lesson focused on academic content is love and belonging needs and esteem needs (Ormrod,
2016, p. 430). Educators cannot expect these needs to be satisfied just because someone may be
a member of family, group, or classroom. These needs must be met with intention and action.
The Social Justice Standards focuses on anti-basis, multicultural, and social justice issues which
are many times not at the forefront of a lesson but dealt with as biases and social justice issues
arise. In my field experience, I have observed most of my students “develop positive social
identities based on their membership in multiple groups in society” and “develop language and
knowledge to accurately and respectfully describe how people are both similar to and different
from each other and others in their identity groups” (Southern Poverty Law Center, 2018). Some
students still struggle with these standards; For example, one student in my classes feels that she
cannot earn high grades while also having an active social life. She has an internal struggle to
achieve academically, while partly sacrificing her needs for love and belonging from her peer
groups. In such cases, a one-on-one discussion about the pressures she is dealing with may help
her see that maybe she is overwhelmed by this new experience of high school and that she can
navigate this new experience with support. Educators, mentors, and a student’s family can
provide “adequate instruction and personal supports for students” to meet social and academic
expectations” (Skiba, Ormiston, Martinez & Cummings, 2016, p. 124). These supports can be
broad or specific, but ultimately students tend to be more optimistic about their chances of
success when they are aware of the environmental supports provided to them (Ormrod, 2016). In
addition, using instructional strategies which support peer interaction, collaborative or
cooperative learning groups, and class discussions can provide students with opportunities to
develop productive group behaviors such as listening to others, responding respectfully, and
addressing differences of opinion amicably and constructively (Ormrod, 2016, p. 335). Providing
students with collaborative learning opportunities demonstrates to students that learning is many
times a social endeavor, rather than an individual task.
Placing the Social Justice Standards as important or more important than content
standards will lead to a classroom culture of acceptance, tolerance, and respect, fulfilling an
individual’s needs of love, belonging, and esteem (Southern Poverty Law Center, 2018). When
students observe educators to care more about them personally than the content they know,
students will feel encouraged and supported, creating a culturally responsive environment
(Brown, 2004). These practices minimize the instances of meritocracy, essentializing, and
ethnocentrism in the classroom, leading to equal opportunities for individual academic
achievement within the same learning environment. Educators’ commitment to intentional
implementation of classroom activities, both social and academic, and caring conduct towards
our students can transform the classroom from a place where students receive only content to a
place that students flourish socially and intellectually, providing all students with equitable
opportunities to advance in public education.
 References
Brown, D. F. (2004). Urban Teachers’ Professed Classroom Management Strategies: Reflections
of Culturally Responsive Teaching. Urban Education, 39(3), 266-289.
Haberman, M., (2010). The Pedagogy of Poverty versus Good Teaching. Phi Delta Kappan
92(2), 81-87. https://doi.org/10.1177/003172171009200223
Ormrod, J. E. (2016). Human Learning (7th ed.). Columbus, OH: Pearson-Merrill Prentice Hall.
Settlage, J., Southerland, S. A., Smetan, L., & Lottero-Perdue, P. (2018). Teaching science to
every child: Using culture as a starting point. 3rd Ed. New York, Routledge.
Skiba, R., Ormiston, H., Martinez S., & Cummings J. (2016). Teaching the Social Curriculum:
Classroom Management as Behavioral Instruction, Theory Into Practice, 55(2), 120-128.
Southern Poverty Law Center. (2018). Teaching Tolerance Anti-Bias Framework. Retrieved
from https://www.tolerance.org/sites/default/files/general/TT%20anti%20bias%20f
ramework%20pamphlet_final.pdf