Beliefs, Values and Attitudes

As a teacher understanding beliefs, values and attitudes is very important. I grew up understanding that “I believe therefore I am”. The person that has the beliefs holds great power. These beliefs can cause one to excel or hinder on success in life. One of the most important concepts in the article is how the statement in western culture the statement “I believe” usually constitutes as I know. Beliefs are not always based on factual evidence but can be more of ideas or generalization of what is true when giving meaning to phenomena. As a teacher one of our greatest desires is to get our students to belief that they are capable human beings with the capacity to become whatever their heart’s desire. In my experiences with people it is very difficult to change attitudes of themselves that perhaps have been transmitted to them through authority. One example of this transmission is how abuse parents profess that their children will never be anything, they are good for nothing, stupid, dumb and will never amount to any success in life. Now the child in this situation receives these words as true because they were dictated to them by an authority in their lives. Once they receive this poisonous profession they adopt these ideas as beliefs and attitudes of their selves. After discussing how “I believe” has the same or even more power than “I know” we can infer that when we belief certain statements about ourselves we are simply saying “I know”. I know I will never make it , I know I’m nothing. We give these statements power to mold our very being. Now if we take this example and use it in a positive way with our words and beliefs we can create people with power beyond measure. Beliefs are hard to change the only one who has the power to change beliefs is the believer. We often ignore evidence that does not support our beliefs and we embrace ideas that confirm our beliefs. The most important thing I learned was the definition of an attitude. Attitudes are also beliefs but they tend to have three observable components. These three components are Ideas, feelings and predisposition to action. Attitudes compared to values are action orientated. Understanding attitudes has given me much insight on how people view others and themselves. I couldn’t help but to think about how often do our behaviors and feelings reveal to other our attitudes. In closing this article contains viable information that can be beneficial as an educator and one who is seeking to increase their knowledge on beliefs, values and attitudes.