Strategic Plan Goal #1
Undergraduate Experience that Enables
Students to Fulfill their Intellectual, Social,
and Career Objectives

Crossing Borders, Bridging Cultural Boundaries

The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that by the year 2050, Latinos will make up a quarter of the country’s population, with the major portion being people of Mexican descent. Nicholas Wysocki has been closely watching these changing demographics and recognizes the impact these immigrants will bring to this country’s classrooms.

Compelled by the striking census data, Wysocki, in conceptualization partnership with Professor Emeritus Ray Muston, created The Cultural Immersion Experience for Teacher Education Program Students. Designed to build relationships across cultural settings, UI teacher education students and Los Tezontles elementary school students and teachers in the poor, rural Mexican community of Xicotepec now have opportunities never before possible.

“Through this cultural immersion experience, our teacher education students will be better prepared and learn enhanced skills to work with Latino immigrants,” said Wysocki, a Social Foundations of Education doctoral student.

At Los Tezontles elementary school, one director, seven teachers, and one teacher’s aide teach over 300 students. Needless to say, the teachers were overwhelmed. Wysocki embraced the prospect for collaboration as he saw an opportunity for educational improvement, both in Mexico and in the United States.

“The exchange experience has a huge impact on U.S. educators,” Wysocki said. “They see that no matter how limited the resources are, people recognize the importance of education.“

The effect is just as big for the Xicotepec educators. The U.S. group brought thousands of dollars worth of books in Spanish to help reinforce their library. They livened up the white plaster walls by painting a mural in the library. They brought paint pencils and art supplies. But beyond the physical resources they offered the school, they also offered a unique partnership including a forum for discussion that the teachers at Los Tezontles might not have had otherwise.

Foreign Language Education student Todd Seifker was among the group of teacher education students who traveled to Xicotepec this spring. Seifker said the biggest lesson he learned was that while the lack of material resources available to a school may profoundly affect the quality of the educational experience for its students, it does not automatically mean that students cannot have a quality education.

“I made friends with teachers who have over 50 students in their cramped classrooms with no more than a piece of chalk to work with,” Seifker said. “No copy machine. No computer. No printer. No Internet. No school lunch program. Not even toilet paper in the bathroom—unless a student brought some. And the list could go on. Yet it really inspired and challenged me to see these teachers pouring themselves into their low-paying jobs with hardly any of the resources that I take for granted as a teacher. The Mexican teachers helped me see that anything is possible.”

In a school that previously had no library, no books, and up to 50 well-behaved students in each classroom, Wysocki said the UI teacher education students learned a great deal from the Los Tezontles teachers about classroom management and alternative teaching methods.

“By building relationships across cultural settings, we discover how much we can learn from each other,” Wysocki said. “We can gain a great deal from these teachers who don’t have a lot of resources, but have a huge commitment to their students.”