Interview with Parents:
This is the
image: www.pbs.org/wholechild/ g_illus/parents.jpg
For this assignment we have
decided to focus on, and
learn more about recently
arrived male immigrants from Mexico. The parents that we interviewed are similar in that they are all from the southern state of
Yucatan, Spanish is the
primary
language at home, yet they are
familiar with and use
the Mayan language to communicate.
Francisco middle school is one of
the smallest middle
schools in the district of
San Francisco. Over 90%
of the school population qualifies for free or reduced lunch. Most of the
students who attend Francisco Middle School live in China town, the Tenderloin, Western addition and a few students live in the Mission
and Bayview Hunters
Point. Last year Francisco
Middle School received a large number of newcomer students, most of whom came from Latin
American countries. Currently Francisco has an ESL program, where
students are taught mostly in English. This year the school received an even larger number
of newcomer students, most of them male and from the southern state of
Yucatan
Mexico. For this assignment, I interviewed three
parents to find out how
they felt about the school.
Two
interviews were conducted
over the phone and one was done in person.
The
main questions asked were;
1. What do you think is the goal or
purpose of going to school or getting an education?
2. What are your hopes and dreams
you have for your child ?
3. What are your worries or what
worries you the most about your child’s future.
4. Do you have any suggestions for
the school, teachers and administrators
5. What
is the main difference between the Mexican education system and the U.S educational system.
Parent
# 1
* Father of male student in the 7th grade
* Whole family has been in the country for four months.
* Interview was conducted over the phone.
* Originally
from Yucatan Mexico
1. What do you think is the goal or
purpose of going to school or getting an education?
I
want my son to be safe and have a positive place where he can learn? I
want him to learn English and be able to function in this country. I would say that the
main purpose is for him to lean English, and I wish that his teachers would
only speak to him in English.
2. What are your hopes and
dreams you have for your child ?
At this
point I just want to keep him safe, I really worry about joining a gang or
starting to use drugs. His mother is not with us at this time and I think
its really starting to upset him. The schools calls me almost
everyday to let me know his doing something wrong. I try talking to him
and he seems to listen, yet when his on his own he does is own things and
forgets everything I told him. I worry that he will let a great
opportunity go by.
3. What are your worries?
As I mentioned before I worry that he will start to use drugs or just stop
listening to me and believe others over me. Gangs are a problem in our
country (Mexico) and I know how destructive they can be and I really
don’t want him to join a gang.
4. Do you have any suggestions for
the school, teachers and administration?
I really want the school to continue calling me when something is wrong,
its important that I know everything,
this way I can help my son. I think the school is doing a great job.
5. What is the main
difference between the Mexican education system and the U.S educational
system.
In
Mexico they would never call when their was a problem, I like the fact that
here they call you all the time. The communication is better here.
I think its important and at least we get to learn more about my son and his
behavior.
Parent
# 2
á Father of student in the 8th
grade
á Interview was conducted over the
phone
á Family has been in the country
for less than 3 months
á Family is originally from
Yucatan Mexico
1. What do you think is the goal or
purpose of going to school or getting an education?
I want
my son to be educated and go to the University, that is what he is here
for. As a family we had the option of having him stay in Mexico or
bringing him over with us. In a way this was an experiment, we wanted to
see if life was really easier over here. It was getting hard for us in
Mexico, we tried and tried yet things were still hard. Me and my
wife only made it to middle school because of economics or the lack of money in
the family we were not able to go on to high school. I want my son to go
all the way to the university.
2. What are your hopes and dreams
you have for your child ?
I want
him to be happy, safe and educated. Education is very important t o me and
my only hope at this time is that he learn English and continue his
education.
3. What are your worries or what
worries you the most about your child’s future.
Well
recently I’ve become very concern about my sons behavior, Personally I
see a big change in him. He used to talk to me and tell me about his day,
now he gets upset when I ask him and he prefers to not let me know what his
thinking. I think his having a hard time adjusting, yet he tells me that
he likes his new home and school. I’ve also noticed that he prefers
to spend more time with his friends and less with us or studying.
It’s no use for me to want him to go to school and learn more if he
prefers to run around with his friends and just have fun all the time. I
worry that he wont take education seriously and let a great opportunity
pass.
4. Do you have any suggestions for
the school, teachers and administrators
No I
have no suggestions for the school I like the way things sswork here, it makes
feel that the school really cares and wants to make things better for my
son. I especially like it when the schools calls me to let me know my son
did something wrong. I wish he would behave better, but as I mentioned
before his changing.
5. What is the main difference
between the Mexican education system and the U.S educational system.
Here they call you and in Mexico they never called, it was as if everything
was perfect al the time. And I know that there is no such
thing as a perfect student or person. The communication system is better
here.
Parent
# 3
* Mother of the student
* Interview conducted in person
* Family has been in the country
for less than five months
* Family is originally from
Yucatan Mexico
1. What do you think is the goal or purpose of going to
school or getting an education?
I think
that the purpose of going to school is number one to learn English and them to
learn about the world. All information is important but it’s urgent
that my son, learn English because no one else in the family is going to
school.
2. What are your the hopes and dreams you have for your child ?
I
really want my son to learn English, this would help the whole family and I
would really like it if he would go to a university, but if he decides not to
its also O.K
3. What are your worries or what worries you the most about your
child’s future.
I worry
that he will give up or that we wont have enough money to send him to school.
4. Do you have any suggestions for the school, teachers and administrators
No I
think things are good so far, I like it that there are people I can speak to in
Spanish.
5. What is the main difference between the Mexican education system and
the U.S educational system.
Things seem to be more organized here, but I don’t think I know enough yet to compare. So far things look good but I also liked the system in Mexico.
This is the
image: www.brontesworld.com/ images/parents.gif