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Ryan Isch

Ivy Tech
Cultural Autobiography

InTASC Standards Rationale Page

Standard #4: Content Knowledge


The teacher understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the discipline(s)
he or she teaches and creates learning experiences that make these aspects of the discipline
accessible and meaningful for learners to assure mastery of the content.
Name of Artifact: Cultural Autobiography
Date: July 2, 2015
Course: EDUC 255
Brief Description:
This is a cultural autobiography, to see some of the different ways that my family has
grown and developed into what it is. It will be going over some of where my family has come
from, and what has contributed to the culture that makes me who I am.
Rationale:
To document my understanding of InTASC Standard 4, Content Knowledge, this cultural
biography will demonstrate that I know about my own lineage and that I know that different
cultures and upbringing change how people view the world. If you know how you are brought
up, you are going to be able to understand fully how others are brought up and how they are
different from all of the other people in this world.

Introduction
My family is one that has not come from a very diverse group of people. The Isch
household has all been from some of the similar places in life. Its a group of people that may be
different from what a lot of people have grown up and developed from in life. But it is where we
are from, and who we are, and thats what makes us, us.
Major Event #1
My great grandfather and grandmother from all sides of my family migrated from
Switzerland back in the 1940s. They originally all came to America from Switzerland, many
years ago when they heard that there was a chance for a better living in America. As they made
the journey they realized that there was going to be some hardships in America that there might
not have been back in Switzerland. In Switzerland at the time, there was not a lot of resources for
everyone, so most everyone lived in a state of close to poverty, so the chance to go to a place that
seemed to be doing quite well for itself on an economic standpoint.
The main problem that my great grandparents had integrating into America, was the
language barrier. Most everyone in Switzerland at the time spoke mainly German, and so to go to
a place so close to World War II, it definitely caused them some confusion and made it hard to
integrate. Learning an entire new language after being used to one specific language for so long
is going to be a hard transition for sure. Luckily for them though, they were able to find a way to
understand and were able to integrate themselves into America quite well then.
Once my great grandparents were able to be fully integrated into the culture, they moved
into the Indiana area. My family was made of natural farmers, and so rural Indiana made the
most sense of a place to locate themselves. As a place that was most known for its large empty
fields. They soon started up some of their own farmlands and begin the Isch Farms that is still
being passed down from generation to generation back in Bluffton Indiana. What started out as
just a way to escape from the less than ideal location of Switzerland, became a way for the Ischs
to have a successful life in the land of the free.

Major Event #2
One of the things that has been a big part of my life, is obviously my parents. And they
met in an interesting way I feel. I come from a very religious family, and one of the things that
our church does that is quite different from the rest of the world, is that we believe in faith
marriage, and not dating. One of the traditions that, that entails, is that we do not date, we simply
will pray and try to see where God is directing us to marry the person that He feels to be right for
us. And so my parents didnt know each other practically at all, they had seen each other around
church, but that was about it. Then my dad felt that God was telling him to marry my mom. She
felt like God was telling her the same thing, so they were married eventually. And through that
union I was brought into this world as well.
And this tradition of faith marriage in our family has continued on to the next generation,
I have never dated anyone and I plan to get married through the same way as well. Our family is
very religious, just as my grandparents were quite religious and were raised in the same church.
It is just one of the many traditions in our family that is something that keeps us different from
the rest of the world as well. And religion is one of the things that can really keep people unique
and can help people to feel that they are special and can help them to be different from the rest of
the world.
Major Event # 3
One of the family traditions that we as a do celebrate every year, is Christmas. Its a
holiday that we feel accurately captures our religion and allows us to get together and be able to
celebrate in a fun way of being able to all be together. One thing that we do enjoy doing for food
during this special holiday, is where one of the family members will select one of the courses that
we will be eating. Then another will pick another, until we all have picked one certain thing and
then we have a full course meal, with several courses, dessert, and appetizers. Last time we had
for some of the courses: steak, shrimp, green beans, and pie as a dessert. Its just one of the
traditions that my family has been doing for quite some time. And something that I would hope
to do for quite some time into the future.

Summary/Conclusion
Every family has different things that make them who they are. And my family has a rich
history and things that have just come together to make my family into what they are. And each
and every person who has their own different traditions and history will grow up differently and
have their own way of doing things. And once we can accept that everyone who is coming from
their own different paths of life, and traditions, then we can accept different people for who they
are, and not where they have come from. And everything we do in one family has come from
years of doing the same thing, people joining into that family will be wondering as to why they
do things the way they do. But that is what makes all different people so amazing in their own
specific different ways.

Reference Page

My father
My mother
My grandfather

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