Examples Of Instructor Beliefs About Language Teaching

In his often cited essay, “The Formation of In-Groups,” Gordon Allport offers his theory on how the groups with which one identifies directly influence the development of one’s individual identity. An “in-group” is a group where members share common traits such as societal status, religion, values or sexual orientation. All the members are alike in some way and that similarity unites them as a group. Allport suggests that one belongs to many in-groups throughout his or her lifetime. Individuals are born into some in-groups, such as one’s family, race or socio-economic level; this Allport terms as an “ascribed status”. People also obtain “achieved status” in a group such as one’s circle

It is a well-known fact that belonging to a group can make an individual feel not only accepted, but more powerful that if they were on their own. Whether it is a community, youth group or even religion, belonging is an everyday occurrence of like that many of us do not even realise. Belonging to a group is more influential than belonging to an individual. We can see this in the texts The Crucible by Arthur Miller, 1984 by George Orwell and the listening task. Belonging to a group can give you a feeling of acceptance, but also can help you not to be targeted or marginalised. Also, people who appear to belong to groups, when looked at closer, in truth do not belong. Belonging to a group can also give you more power as a

It is a primary psychological driver of children and young people to ‘belong’. Young people are compelled to identify with a particular group to satisfying their need for belonging, even if the group is at odds with another group.

Conducting research to further my knowledge in this subject area, will allow me to be more prepared for teaching ELA courses and provide a better teaching style when subbing for ELA teachers. The final ah-ha moment for me was learning that you should not directly correct a student, when an improper syntax is being used. After reading this in the WebQuest, I began to review my method of correcting students and found that when doing so, I become more of a Traditionalist teacher. I expect the students to stop talking, when I am correcting how something is said or read incorrectly, so that they can listen to the correct way to read or say a word or phrase. I go about correcting students in this manner, because of how I was trained or taught from former educators. I was taught that if there are corrections that need to be made, stop the student(s) and address the proper way to complete the assignment or to say a word or phrase. I have been taught that if you address an issue right away, then the behavior will most likely not continue. I use this method of correcting student, when it comes to learning concepts and behavior

"A sense of belonging can emerge from connections made with people, places, groups, communites, and the larger world." Throughout the selected texts this statement displays the constant social need for acceptance and belonging. But why is it that we feel the need to fit in? I as most of you lnow am an wxchange student and i know what its like to belomg amd/or not belonf. theough lersonal expievece ive leadned that despite what anyone thinks, belonging is imvenibly desired. everhome wants to belomg amd wvehome wills steive to fir in somewgere. but we as humans almost seem ro to tale for granted the favt that we have a olace to fit. before leaving america i mever thought about the favt that i had friences, i just always knew i had them. but as soom as i got to australia i realised how much i actually needed them. cmong to a new country was

As an ESL instructor, I teach a diverse classroom full of migrants with a variety of backgrounds. It’s as multicultural as a classroom can be! I try to incorporate my students’ cultures into our lessons. After all, everything we know and understand comes from the lens of our culture. Take for example our own education. Think about how much influence our point of view had on our education. Now, how much is our point of view affected by culture? I try to be as culturally responsive as possible. However, I know that there is always room for improvement.

As human beings, each person on earth possesses a desire to belong. In order to meet this need, one must find a way to fit in with a group. Yet somehow, once a group has been joined, humans tend to take on the ideas and opinions of the group without analyzing the situation for themselves. Doris Lessing, in her essay, “Group Minds”, proposes the idea that humans spend their whole life going along with the group because they fail to analyze the reasons behind their actions. While Lessing’s idea is valid, no one has yet successfully implemented her plan.

This need to fit in has an evolutionary basis, too. Humans have a “core social motive to belong” (Fiske 315), an evolutionary need to stick together for protection.

In this reading, Forsyth (2017) discusses the importance of belonging from an evolutionary psychological perspective and how belonging to a group relates to our sense of self, our self-esteem and our self approbation. Forsyth, examines what it means to belong to a group from the forming to the adjourning stages, and how it can positively and negatively affect our behaviour, ideas, and decision making.

When a person wants to be associated with a group accepting and believing the groups view this is called identification.

Emotional safety in the classroom is a vital element for students. If a student does not feel emotionally safe in the classroom his or her learning is greatly effected. I have learned this first hand this school year when my student got transferred to a different school within the district. On the first day at the new school her original learning support teacher was there to greet her. Being in a new environment was overwhelming for her, but having the familiarity of her learning support teacher for her original school and myself was reassuring to her. However, this teacher was only there for the morning of her first day, this made the afternoon more difficult. After reading the article Creating an Emotionally Safe Classroom, I realize this

The first step in classroom management is to create an environment where students feel cared for and valued. To do accomplish this, teachers need to build positive student-teacher relationships. Marazano (2003) reports in his book, Classroom Management That Works, which is cited in the Jones and Jones (2013) book, that “Positive teacher-student relationships were the foundation of effective classroom management” (p.56). I am committed to creating a safe learning environment that is organized, structured and conducive to student learning. While influencing a classroom of community learners, I strive to also build positive teacher-student relationship with all of my

Nathan DeWall, a Psychologist at the University of Kentucky says that “Humans have a fundamental need to belong. Just as we have needs for food and water, we also have needs for positive and lasting relationships.” The need to belong can be so strong that we are willing to change who we are just to belong to a group. Most times it is small changes. For people who are people pleasers, we will go out of our way to help others, even if that means we are neglecting ourselves, just to get their approval.

Teachers should know that the errors and the mistakes are a part of the learning process. At the same time, the teacher should be aware of the mistakes and errors of their students and they should work on it to correct it. The correction process should be done in a way that is not humiliating for the student. The teacher should put in mind that the students could feel insulted if their mistakes were corrected in front of everybody in the class and that would let the student reluctant to talk or express himself.

An individual’s identity is shaped and created by many factors such as family, culture, and friendship groups (Trepte, S. 2206). The individual’s personal identity of “self” may alter when interacting with any of these groups due to the influence and the characteristics these groups possess (Burke, PJ. Sets, JE. 2000). The human desire to feel a sense of belonging is the driving force for individuals to create themselves around particular groups (Trepte, S. 2206). When people find out that their experiences, thoughts and feelings are mirrored by other people, an immediately connection is formed due to the understanding that they are not isolated in their experiences (Rogers, W.S. 2011). The common ground individuals find in others, allows for the formation of groups (Trepte, S. 2206). The “commonality” amongst certain groups of people allow for Social Categorization (Burke, PJ. Sets, JE. 2000). Social