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As told to Sandy Schroepfer by

Beatriz Hadler

Country of birth: Salamina, Colombia

Date of Birth: Doesn’t want to answer

Country(ies) attended School: Colombia, South America

Name of City or Countryside where school was attended: Salamina (population 43,000) and Manizales (population approx. 120,000)

Size or population of the City or Countryside where school was attended: see above

Years of Education before coming to the U.S.: Primary and Secondary = 12 years; Technical College = 4 years in Bogata

Date(s) of Interview: August 2006

Please answer the following questions, relating to your experience.

1. How old were you when you first went to school? Where was the school and for how long did you go?……6 years old. I graduated from high school in Salamina. It was a private school. I went to Montessori School in Manizales for 2 years (4th and 5th grades).

2. Did you attend any other schools? Where were they and for how long did you go?

I attended 4 years of technical college in Bogata, Colombia.

3. Was there ever a time in your life that you did not go to school? If so, how old were you and why did you stop going to school?……It was approximately 8 years after I graduated from High School before I went to technical college.

4. What kind of school did you go to? (Public, private, etc)………….Private

5. How many students were in the classes?……23 were in my high school graduating class.

6. What hours of the day and what days of the week did you go to school?……Monday to Friday, 7:30 to 3:30.

7. What did the class look like?……Every student has a desk, in rows. All the students had the same background and all were from Colombia.

8. How did the students dress for school?……Uniforms: blue skirt, white blouse, blue sweaters.

9. Did you have recess? What games did you play?……yes……basketball.

10. How are schools in the city different from the schools in the countryside?……In the city was private. The country was government school (public).

11. Did you have to pay for school? How is school paid for?……yes……my parents

12. If you can’t pay, what did you do?……go to government school.

13. What did you study?…..primary grades: same as U.S., but more religion classes.

……secondary grades: no choices (studies were geometry, algebra, chemistry, physics, etc.)

……technical college: International business.

14. What kind of materials did you use in class?……Textbooks that we had to buy in all grades.

It was very expensive. Documentations import and export in technical college.

15. What was the structure of the class? Did the teacher lecture to you, ask the class questions, have you get into small groups?……We had small groups for some classes (like physics & economics). Teachers lectured and asked many questions. We had a lot of homework. If we didn’t do it, we had to stay after school to do it.

16. Who teaches the class? Does anyone else help out the class?……Teachers were nuns. Sometimes our parents were involved in our education. Some high school classes have different teachers come in from different schools.

17. As a student, what do you expect from yourself?……I expect to be able to understand the materials, to study and to do the homework and pass the test..

18. What is your idea of a perfect student?……The student who made or asked a lot of questions and read the materials.

19. In your country, how did the teachers act toward their students?……Very strict. We have a lot of respect for the teacher.

20. In your mind, how does an excellent teacher talk and behave?……Teacher who made class interesting and made the student participate in class.

21. How were you disciplined in school in your country?……Very strict. The teacher has a lot of support from parents, etc.

22. What happens if you don’t get the right answer or if you don’t do your work?……We have to stay after school until the homework is done.

23. What happens if you’re not in school – can you skip for any reason?……The secretary calls your home and we get in trouble.

24. How did you review your homework – where did you study after school?……The mom helps review or one other older brother or sister.

25. How did you get to school? Did teachers go to your house?……We walk or go by bus. No, teachers do not go to our house.

26. What happens if you were late to class?……When we don’t have excuse, we get in trouble.

27. How were your parents involved in your education? Did your parents meet the teachers?

Did you have report cards?……Parents helped with homework and with some activities at school. Yes, parents met with teachers. Yes, every trimester we have report cards.

28. In your family, what was more valued: your achievements, career and future – or the needs and desires of your family?……The achievements, career and future. The girls have to be well educated.

29. Who can go to college? What does a person have to do to get accepted?……Those who finish high school and you have to pass a very difficult test.

30. What are the tests like for college?……Similar to USA, more questions but not too many F/T questions. The test has a lot of graphs.

31. How do you get money to go to college?……I have to pay from my pocket but some people get a loan from the government. If the person works, the company helps pay half of the tuition for private schools.

32. What if you don’t have the money?……If it is a government university, you don’t have to pay. It’s free.

33. How were your teachers trained – did they go to college? How long did they go? Were there men and women teachers?……Trained very well. Many were trained in the U.S. and had degrees from American or European universities. They have to have degree, a Masters Degree. There were both women and men teachers.

34. In school did you sing songs about your country?……Yes, many. Now they sing a lot of songs in another language students are learning.

35. Did you have flags in your schools?……Yes.

36. How was religion involved in your education? Describe…….In every school everyone prayed every morning. 90% of Colombia people are Catholic, 60% of the schools are Catholic, 40% are government schools and they have Catholic education classes there.

37. Is the school system the same for boys and girls? What did people expect from girls in

school? Is this different than what was expected from the boys?……80% of the schools are girls only or boys only. The other 20% are mixed schools. Expectations were the same for both boys and girls.

38. What surprised you when you began to go to school in the United States?……The students don’t have respect for the teachers or adults.

39. What do you need the teachers, students and school to be like in order for you to be happy and comfortable in the classroom?……Respect for teachers. Respect and order in class. Respect for the students and for the other classmates.

40. What was the most important thing you learned in school in your home country?……Respect for others . my religion . respect for my parents.

41. What do you remember most about school in hour home country?……The teacher was a nun. They were very strict. If you have good grades you can make honor to the flag each month. In May, we make honor to the Virgin Mary instead.

42. Who made the most significant impact on your education?……One nun who spend a lot of time teaching me how to study. I had a difficult time learning. I have a good memory, but I had a hard time understanding.

43. If you could, what would you change about the educational system in your home country?……Teach other languages when students are younger. I was older (in 11th or 12th grade) when they taught me English.

44. If you could, what would you change about the educational system in the United States?……More religion in schools. More respect for teachers and other classmates. Teach Spanish in the schools.

45. What educational dreams do you have for yourself?……I wish I could take art classes.

46. What are your educational dreams that you have for your children?……My children both went to college. I’m so happy about that. I want them both to have very good jobs.

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