The Cultural Immersion Experience
Length: 5-7 pages
We too often fail to understand how many of our conflicts originate in an inability to connect to the cultures of others. As teachers we are very likely to have classrooms full of students whose backgrounds are very different from ours. Often, many of us are the least comfortable around those whose socioeconomic backgrounds differ from ours. Therefore, we need to learn to come to a greater understanding of the lives of those who very likely did not grow up as we did.
In this assignment, you will select a religious, cultural, spiritual or creative event to attend and fully engage in. There are countless opportunities at Morgan State University and throughout Baltimore, MD that will provide you with a cultural lens to explore. You will informally interview (really, have a meaningful conversation with) someone with a very different life experience from yours. (Example: You might find someone with a very different socioeconomic or cultural background). Explain to this person that you are writing a paper on the differences in life experiences of someone in a different position from you so that you can learn to better understand the lives of the students and families you may teach in the future.
Please Note: You will need to interview someone for this assignment. You will need to have have at minimum 3 interview questions. To authenticate this experience, you will also need to take photos/videos of this experience. You will need to provide at least one picture that include yourself (please markup photo for identification purposes).
Because of the nature of this assignment, you will need to brainstorm early in the semester to take full advantage of the requirements.
This paper will be broken into five (5) sections. If any section is missing, the paper will be incomplete. For ease of reading, please clearly identify each section using the title/topic.
Part 1: Your Cultural Autobiography:
In this section, tell/give the read some information about your background, family heritage, family make up, geographic history, religious or cultural history. You can pull information from your identity paper to complete this section.
Part 2: Selecting a Cultural immersion Experience
In this session, provide a rationale for selecting this particular cultural experience. Explain why and how you chose the experience.
Part 3: Cultural Immersion Experience
In this session, explain in detail what you did and what happened. Tell/Give the reader some insight into what happened, what you saw and what your experienced. (Think of this section as a play-by-play of the experience) – Here is where you can include your interview process.
Part 4: Critical Awareness
This is the most important section. Here you explain to the reader what you have learned from this process. Explain in detail what you have learned, how you have grown from this experience.
Part 5: Application to Practice
Explain/give examples of how this experience can be used in schools to help foster deeper cultural awareness and understanding. Your explanation should address your particular experience.
Please note, that you can include your pictures/videos and interview questions on a separate sheet of paper. (It will not count in the 5-7 page criteria – see rubric).
This Assignment is 30 points of your final grade
(A rubric will be provided for this assignment)
Please DO NOT include a HEADING
