The Cultural Immersion Projects in the School of Education at Indiana University offer a student teaching experience for those seeking a non-traditional placement. The thirty students each year who choose to participate in the American Indian Project do their student teaching on an Indian Reservation in the American Southwest. Most of these students teach in the Navajo reservations in Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. Preparation for this unique experience requires a lot of work.
Students attend meetings and a workshop the year before their assignment begins.
They also read articles, prepare abstracts, and participate in group projects which help them learn about the culture they will encounter. Like most project participants, she lived in a dormitory with the students and worked about twenty hours a week tutoring students in the dorm for her room and board. Initially, Goudarzi said that she did not see much difference between the Navajo students and those in the midwestern schools. As her student teaching progressed, she noticed cultural differences and adapted her teaching style accordingly. For example, she allowed her students extra response time to answer questions.