An ethnographic study was conducted to determine what happens when teachers are placed in schools in which the students' cultural background differs dramatically from their own. Participants were five student teachers completing their internship in a low socioeconomic school in Tallahassee, Florida. Three methods were used to collect data: journals reflecting student teachers' thoughts and ideas about the teaching experience; participant observation; and qualitative ethnographic interviewing. Data analysis indicated that each student teacher experienced culture shock when beginning the internship, basing value judgments and expectations on norms established by their personal prior experience, and judging different experiences to be abnormal. Four of the five student teachers experienced difficulties with classroom management and control, attributing their difficulties to the background of the students being taught; and efforts to control students using the prepackaged technique of assertive discipline were unsuccessful. The five student teachers in this study indicated that their college experience had not prepared them for student teaching. The results of this study indicate the need for teacher educators to develop culturally literate teachers and to challenge prior personal experiences and attitudes of prospective teachers. (LL)