Reflection of Cultural Plunge Project

In deciding the type of cultural plunge project I wanted to do, I was really concerned with
focusing on one of the people groups in ​A Different Mirror​ by Ronald Takaki (2008) that I was
unfamiliar with. When I was at work one day, a coworker mentioned how she is Jewish. I had no
idea that she was Jewish, and neither did anyone else apparently. We were shocked. This
“shock” is why I decided to focus on the Jewish culture and faith in my plunge project.
For the actual plunge, I went over to her house one evening and had dinner with her
family. There we discussed what being a cultural Jew meant, what living in a highly Christian
community (like College Station) is like, how they celebrate the holidays, and what the children
do for school. Each moment of the conversation was enlightening. I realized how ignorant I was
to the Jewish culture and faith. The biggest part of the conversation that I took away was that her
children were homeschooled. Even though she works a nearly full-time job and is also working
on getting her Ph.D., she still found it necessary to homeschool her children. The rationale
behind this was that as a child, in the United States she did not feel comfortable in public
schools. Her teachers and her peers were generally very ignorant and geared anti-semitic
comments towards her too often. With the rise of Neo-Nazism throughout the country, she did
not even hesitate to ensure that her children were safe at home during the learning process (since
there is no Jewish Day School) in the area.
Her family was mostly killed during the Holocaust, so they have very limited extended
family. Both sets of her grandparents immigrated from Europe during that time, which is why I
decided to include a timeline of immigration on the website. Though it is not in the presentation I
have, I still felt it necessary to include.
For the next half of my plunge, my husband and I went to a Shabbat candle lighting
ceremony in town. We actually went with my friend because she wanted to explain what was
going on to me. The ceremony was short and sweet, but it was powerful to me. This
long-standing tradition is still mandated by rabbinical law, and there are no exceptions. I almost
felt as though I stepped back in time, as my religion (Christianity) has had many changes
throughout history and thus is not as traditional. Though I did not directly use these traditions in
my project, I used the concepts of them to help guide my words in how teachers should not be
angry at students that miss school for Jewish holidays. During these times, students are not just
sitting on the couch watching television (or at least my friend said they weren’t supposed to be).
They are actually in the temple praying for most of the eight days. They are also participating in
numerous other activities that are very traditional and sacred, and in those moments school is not
important. Their relationship with their god, their religion, and their family is important. Thus,
Jewish students should not be criticized for being involved spiritually.
This cultural plunge project has shown me how the world has changed but how the
Jewish people have not. I believe that this is why we have a lot of anti-semitism still in the
world. I hope that people that come across this website are more inclined to think about the
Jewish people in their society and schools and stop anti-semitism when they hear it.
 Drawing from Literature
Nearly every part of this project has come from outside resources. In some cases, I did
come up with my own solutions for how to help Jewish students in the classroom; however,
these decisions were only made after extensive research on the issues in the classroom.
Every section was backed up by resources (as seen through the script that I have made
with all parenthetical documentation inserted). I found extensive outside resources, including
websites from about Judaism, blogs, doctoral dissertations, news articles, and books, to help me
in my research process. During this time I was specifically looking for what the Jewish life was
like, how students fared in the public school system, what the pros and cons of students in the
public school system were, the holidays in the Jewish calendar, parents reaction to taking their
children out of school for the holidays, anti-semitism from students, anti-semitism from teachers
and administrators, and much, much more. I attempted to ensure that every claim I made was
backed up by sources and not from my own opinions. I do not have the cultural knowledge of
this culture, so I did not have the credibility to be drawing my own conclusions.
I also extensively used Takaki (2008) in the historical aspects of the Jewish culture. Since
his book is essentially history, that was really the only place I could use him. In creating the
timeline for the history of Jews in America, I referenced him. I also utilized his works in
discussing how anti-semitism actually has historical roots in the United States by discussing the
two waves of Jewish immigration that were shown in ​A Different Mirror.
I utilized a plethora of quotations from scholars, journalists, and Jewish people to help
inform my writing and increase my credibility. Furthermore, on my “resources” page, I have also
included extra external links to help my reader become more versed in the topics that I discussed.
During the first part of the presentation (where culture was being discussed), I found
scholars for the definition of culture and utilized the knowledge that I have gained in this course
to help me define culture in layman's terms.
Though I do not have many references for the ideas that I have come up with as possible
solutions for how to address anti-semitism, I would like to think that the teachings I have
acquired from Texas A&M throughout the last four years greatly influenced my suggestions.
With classes like INST 222 - Foundations of a Multicultural Society; TEFB 273 - Introduction to
Culture, Community, Society, and Schools; INST 362 & 363 - English as a Second Language I,
II; and this class, EDCI 602 - Cultural Foundations of Education, my knowledge base has greatly
expanded on how to appreciate, consider, and work culture in to my classrooms. Additionally, I
used the experience that I have had in the classroom at both Cypress Grove Intermediate and
Davila Middle School to help me in my responses to the classroom. Some are techniques that I
have seen, and other are techniques I think may have worked if been implemented in that school.
In other words, every part of this professional development has been influenced by
outside sources in one way or another. Drawing from literature and sources outside of myself
makes me more credible and this assignment more relevant.