Post-Grad Interviews

1) My first interview was with one of my older brothers, Aaron, who is 29.

In response to my questions on his sentiment towards schooling he

had chuckled and said the following,“you know me, it was just about

working the system.” He later explained how he had several older friends

who had saved their tests and notes and would pass them on to him.

Aaron stated, “Honestly we didn’t just work the system, we cheated

the system. If we didn’t cheat we found out what the teachers wanted

and then played the game. We played the part so that teachers

thought they were in control, but in my opinion we just did what we

wanted.”

As far as higher education goes, Aaron never finished college. “I

understand that it’s really hard to get a job without getting a degree.

But college isn’t for everybody. It wasn’t for me, at least not at that

point in my life. I have been able to do what I want to do without

finishing at a university. When people ask me about my degree I tell

them I went to Appalachian and then transferred to Wilmington. I

don’t tell them I didn’t finish, and no one asks to see my diploma.

I think a lot of it has to do with ambition and connections.” Aaron

also expressed that he thinks a lot of his friends wasted their time in

school. “The reality is that you can learn just as much by reading and

teaching yourself than from being in the classroom.”

2) I also interviewed a friend from my hometown, Peter Boardman, he is

26.

I asked him, what the first thing that came to mind was when he thought

of his schooling. “The first thing I think of is that it was pretty easy, I

don’t think I was challenged enough.”

He expressed that his overall feelings were positive and that he had

especially enjoyed college. He described a certain professor from Clemson

University that he had especially appreciated. “Professor Crosston was

relatable. He was young and it was obvious that he wanted to be able

to “hang” with the college kids, but man, was he smart. He had a way

of playing devil’s advocate that left everyone searching for truth and

softening all of us up to the reality of different perspectives. He was

interested in individuals students and would meet with us at coffee

shops to talk politics or even just to talk about life.”

On the flip side Peter briefly mentioned one of his seventh grade teachers,

whom he had not enjoyed. “It was the fear of most students to be

placed in Ms. Honeycutt’s class. She was a teacher that resented the

fact that she taught. She was not supportive, always seemed bitter

and had a very short temper. I’m not kidding when I say that she was

one of the most negative people I have ever met. Her attitude was

projected onto all student’s and I recall that class as my least favorite

ever taken.”

3) My third interview was with my mentor, Erin Rodriguez, she is 32 and

hearing impaired.

She stated, “My experience with public schooling is perhaps a bit

different than most because of my hearing impairment. I went to a

special “deaf school” when I was in primary school, the focus of our

learning was often spent on communication strategies. Specifically

how to have effective communication and how to recognize and

repair communication break downs.” My parents recognized

my impairment but wanted to combat any isolation I might feel

from it. They encouraged me to be engaged, supported my gifts

and with the help of, therapists, family and friends. I made a

relatively easy transition into public school in middle school. (It

helps that my twin sister Laura is also deaf).

I’m not sure if I had to work harder than my peers, but I know

that the learning I did was just very different, I had to be

very aware and others had to be aware of me. I know many

hearing impaired people who struggle with feeling alone, I

had my sister Laura. But I also had a community of people that

wanted to see me succeed, both in school and out of school.

All of my teachers tried to be sensitive to my needs… and how

I communicate, reading lips etc. I had a math teacher who

was also my soccer coach who was highly influential. She had

influence because she encouraged. It’s incredible to think of

how different my schooling would be if not for her presence

in my life. To this day we still keep up. Those are the types of

teachers we need more of.

I don’t think school wounded me. If anything it would have

been my “circumstances” and how people responded to me.

As a whole all of my teachers were helpful and supportive.

I was in an encouraging and safe environment and I’m sure

that made all of the difference. I can’t imagine being in an

environment where I wasn’t supported and encouraged to

succeed with or with out “special needs.”

Overall feelings seemed positive. The first two interviews reflected on

the lack of challenge they faced. How they were able to manipulate

and work the system. The last interview focused on the support and

encouragement that she received making her schooling a positive

experience.

Parents' Age Interviews

Matthew Davis grew up as a missionary kid in Honduras, he was homeschooled by his mom for a while but when he was about 12 she gave birth to twins and couldn't handle taking care of them while homeschooling Matthew and his brothers, Pat and Ricky. "I remember she sat down with me at the table in our little house, she had on a blue dress and was sweating. We sweated all the time. She said to me,' Matty, I am just plum worn out, don't hold it against me, I love you' . With that I went to school" He attended the an American school in a little neighboring village, one mile from where his family lived, and his dad worked in a little medical practice. He remember walking to school, his mom would always make sure that he had his shoes on when he left the house, but he took them off as soon as he passed the big flower bush. He hated the American school. There were 7 kids, 2 were his own sibilngs. There were several boys that constantly gave matthew's brother a hard time. Matthew was continually having to protect and watch over his brother. This put incredible pressure on Matthew. He dreaded going to school and remember skipping numerous days,escaping from the responsability of protecting Pat. Sometimes he felt a little guilty about not going to school. On the days that he skipped he would just explore around the village or make tree-forts. His teacher, Miss. Scott, was very laid back, he remembered her being a young volunteer that just graduated from school.. He never knew why she was there. It was obvious that she didn't like it. She would sigh, and would constantly complain about her bug bites. He never saw any of her bug bites. She left after a couple months and was replaced by a older man, Mr Smitley. He was more strict, but cared for the kids, and challenged them to think. With more discipline the bullies were no longer an issue. Matthew was more motivated to learn. He liked coming into class knowing that the teacher had high expectations.

Cheryl Elstag born in New Jersey. Her father was in the air force so her family moved constantly. She was in a different school every year until she was 10. Due to some serious problems in their marriage, Cheryl's mother left her father. She took Cheryl and her little brother and they moved to Roanoke, VA. Cheryl's remember the first year in Roanoke being hard. Every morning she woke up and asked her mom if they were moving. Every morning her mother would tell her, "Honey, my feet are glued right here to this floor, I am not moving anywhere" Of course her feet weren't really glued, but her mom was determind to not uproot her kids, so they didn't move. Cheryl spent the rest of her school career right in that little VA town. In the 7th grade cheryl remembered having a typing teacher that would walk around inspecting his students typing form. If he happened to see any misuse of the typewriter the offender has to kiss the typewriter and walk around the room four times reciting the 5 proper techniques of typwriting. Cheryl remembered once that a boy stumbled while walking to his desk, fell, and toppled one of the machines to the floor. The teacher inforced the same discipline, but when the boy leaned in for the kiss his lip got stuck on in the typwriter. Cheryl recollects," I can remember squealing, blood and teachers flocking from all over the school. The fire truck came and a firefighter had to disassemble the typewriter, I don't know why that was his job, it didn't have anything to do with fire." As she reflected on that experience she realized that she had developed fear of of teachers. Maybe it was just a little one, but from then on she rarely spoke up in the classroom, never gave her opinion about a topic, and she was always afraid that she didn't accomplish the assignment correctly. It wasn't until she moved on to college that she developed some confidence.

Robbin Ervin was a petite little girl. Her mother was a teacher at the elementary school that she attended. Having a mom as a teacher procured her a special place in the refrigerator of the teacher's lounge. She remembered clicking down the linoleum hall to the lounge to get her cold glass bottle of grape juice feeling so special and important. She moved from classrooms year to year, interested in her subjects but insecure. Perhaps this insecurity could be attributed to her home life, or her classroom but, no matter the source of the issue,the reality was, she felt the drive to succeed in school, simply to please the teachers. Teacher's pet, that is what she strived to be all during elementary and middle school. The classroom was a strictly disciplined place that relied heavily on memorization. . In 9th grade, she remembered going to the library with her group of friends, and making fun of the librarian. He was a quirky man that none of the kids liked, and constantly made fun of. One day he had enough. Furious, he called out four children from the group, including Robbin. He told them: I have had quite enough of this disrespective reticule, You all deserve a good spanking, so I am going to give you one." She remembered that she didn't believe that he would actually carry through with it, but he did. She was spanked in the 9th grade.

Primary and Secondary Students

It was really interesting to sit down and discuss educational experiences with the

younger generation.

I began my interviews with a six-year-old names Ian. He is incredibly bright for

his age, but, as most six-year-olds are, Ian was very easily distracted and wanted to

talk about anything except for what I asked him. Despite this, he was my favorite

to interview because it gave me some insight on the generation and age group that

I will be teaching in a few years. Selections from Ian’s interview are transcribed

below.

So when you get to school, what’s the first thing you do?

“Well um, we sometimes… like the night before when we had… when we brought

our stuff home, Ms. Whitson, she takes our folders while everybody sits in the circle

while she takes the folders. And they play the announcements so we say the Pledge

(of Allegiance) and that’s where we put our hands on our hearts and we have to face

the flag and everything.”

And what do you do after that?

Well then we get to see who gets to be the leader of the day. It’s my turn sometimes.

I think like four or five… um, like, uh… a few weeks ago.

And what does the leader of the day get to do?

We like go to the front of the line when we walk to the lunchroom and we get to pick

out the book before naptime and stuff.

Do you always have naptime?

Yeah, after lunch but I can never sleep.

What’s your favorite thing to do in class?

Oh well on Fridays, we get to rotate stations and we go from the computers and

the sandbox and the finger painting one and the big teeth that you can brush but I

always want more time with um… with the Native American teepee because you can

wear head dresses and write on the walls. That’s my favorite.

How often to you get to use the computers?

Well just when we um, when we do stations or if we have a book on the Internet.

And we have to share them because there’s lots of students but only like, um, ten

computers.

What do you like about your teacher?

Ms. Whitson? She’s pretty nice I guess. She sometimes gets mad cause like… people

will be talking. But she’s really nice when she gives us extra time on the playground

if we’re good all week and she’s a pretty good teacher I guess.

I got the idea from Ian’s interview that technology is not a focal point in their

Kindergarten classroom. They have limited and shared access to computers, but

it certainly doesn’t dominate the lessons. From what he described, everything

sounded like a typical Kindergarten class. They even say the Pledge of Allegiance on

a daily basis, which seemed a bit traditional to me.

My next interview hit home, literally. I talked to my thirteen-year-old brother, Jonah,

about his seventh grade classroom experiences. Selections from his interview are

included here.

Can you tell me how your typical day is set up?

Well, I get up early to catch the bus to school, and it comes at 6:40. And then when

we get to school we sit it the gym until 7:50, and they release us by grade to go to

Raider Time (homeroom). And then we go to class. I have math first, then social

studies, then we go to our electives. I have band, then P. E., then woodshop. Then

I go to language arts and finish with science. And when the early bell rings I get to

leave and get on the bus to go to West (High School) for track practice.

That sounds like a lot in one day. Is this how things are always set up?

Yeah, for the most part. We have A days and B days, but that’s just to say if we have

to change out for P. E. and if we don’t we just have a health lesson.

Can you tell me about some of your teachers?

Well Mrs. Batson teaches math and she’s okay. She’s like, nice and everything but

she’s kind of boring. She plays along with our jokes though. It’s hard to make her

mad. And Mr. Nock teaches social studies. He’s probably my favorite. He’s only

twenty-two so he’s super cool, but he gets really mad if we try to joke with him and

he won’t let any of us be his friend on Facebook. I mean, I understand I guess but

he’s just really touchy sometimes. Like he’s trying to be powerful and everything.

Do you guys get to use computers for a lot of assignments?

Yeah, a couple times we’ve gone to the computer lab to work on assignments for the

literary magazine in language arts, and right now we’re learning how to do research

with databases. And whenever we have assignments to turn in we do it on Moodle.

I got the idea from Jonah’s interview that technology becomes a much bigger part of

classrooms as the children get older. I also found it very interesting that they pack

so many subjects into one day, and that they have the same classes every day.

My last interview was with Kelly, and eighteen-year-old senior in high school. Kelly

was the first of the three that was really able to make meaningful connections to

her educational experiences as she compared what she had experienced in the past

to the things that she was currently learning. Selections from her interview are

included below.

How is a typical day set up for you?

Well, it depends on the day. We have A days and B days. These help with AP classes

and means that we only have them every other day. So on A days I have Foods II,

AP Chemistry, AP Language, and Honors Yearbook. And on B days I still have Foods

and Yearbook, but instead of Chemistry I have AP Calculus and instead of Language I

have AP Literature.

What do you think the benefits of AP classes are?

I think that they’re a really good opportunity just because I know that if I pass the

test at the end of the year, I’ll be ahead when I get to college because they can get

you college credits if you score high enough. Colleges also look at students who

take these classes because I guess they see them as competitive students. I don’t

really think that AP classes help you to be more prepared for college unless you’re

retaking the same class because the setting is way different. But I could be totally

wrong I guess. I guess I’ll figure it out once I get there.

Any plans on where you’re going to end up next year?

I’m still kind of undecided. I’d planned on going to Wilmington for nursing, but I

think it might be smarter just to start out at Tech because it saves a lot of money. So

I don’t really know for sure, I just know that I need to end up somewhere because I

know that today no one can get a job without some kind of degree.

And why do you think that is?

I don’t know, I guess it has to do with the economy. And jobs are scarce so people

have to be competitive. If you have a degree, you look better on paper and nine

times out of ten, businesses will hire people who seem to have more qualifications.

Do you remember any teachers emphasizing the importance of college when you were

growing up?

Not really. I mean, maybe in middle school, but it’s nothing they really talked a

lot about until high school. In middle school we were placed on either a college or

technical prep course but we really didn’t get to decide which one we were placed

on. The teachers kind of just did it for us and nothing else was said about it… wow,

when you say that it sounds pretty bad. But I mean, at that age no kid can really

decide the fate of their future.

Her last quote haunted me. A teacher deciding the fate of their students before they

even reach their teens seems like an absurd idea. How could this even be possible?

But, as Kelly said it, the poor state of the economy has public schools producing a

highly competitive generation of students. Whether it’s kindergarteners learning the

basics of computer skills, middle school students turning in all of their assignments

on Moodle, or high school students taking four college courses in one year, the idea

is clear. Students and teachers of the youngest generation must learn to adapt to the

digital advances and competitive nature of society.

Grandparents Generation

The following information was given to me from a mid-70 year-old woman named Janice, all of these words are her own:

When I think of my school years, I have many, many positive and happy thoughts.

I started to school at age 5 in (private) kindergarten in the home of Mrs. Rose. There were about 15 children in the class. Mrs. Rose was wheelchair bound, though we never thought that was so unusual, and it certainly did not negatively affect her interactions with us nor the activities that we enjoyed together, including singing (with her playing piano), dancing, games, listening to read-aloud stories, dramatic play, painting, drawing, making crafts, and exploring through many projects. It was evident that Mrs. Rose loved us by the way she responded to us. Our days were happy and fulfilling. That was a wonderful way to begin my formal school years, and the years that followed were much the same.

In first grade my teacher was Miss Janet Rose who had just finished college and my class was her first; she was wonderful, and there is no doubt that I was her pet, as the saying goes. She brought the class to my house when I had to be absent due to measles. They stood on the sidewalk outside my house, and Mother let me walk onto the porch to wave to them and say hello.

I also remember that in grades 1-4, we had reading groups meeting with the teacher, who used a big book to teach reading. Then we were given individual texts of the same story to read with a partner and to ourselves. I loved this experience and it helped broaden and cement my love of reading. There was no doubt that my teachers loved children and teaching --what a joy! Until I got much older, I thought that all teachers loved children and teaching.

My relationship with all my teachers, except one, was positive, caring, and appropriately affectionate. (I had one teacher (4th grade) who evidently didn't like children or her job, it seemed. She was sharp, snappy, and quick to grab a ruler and hit the palm of an unfortunate student. I was on the receiving end of that ruler at least once or twice. Another one of her practices was to draw a small circle on the blackboard and, if a child misbehaved, he or she was to stand with his or her nose in the circle for a long, designated time. Talk about embarassment and humiliation, that was it.) I recall all my other teachers as being truly interested in students. They made sure each child understood lesson content and they always helped when it was needed. Students were also allowed to assist others in the class in an appropriate way, not giving answers, but explaining carefully, etc. All through my schooling up through 12th grade, we students were expected to "behave" in polite and mannerly ways. We were to show respect to everyone in our class including our teachers. That positive expectation was in the configuration of a circle where respect was given and received by all in the classroom.

My kindergarten teacher, my first grade teacher and my second grade teacher as well as my seventh grade teacher and my high school English teacher all stand out in my mind as teachers who not only taught me but who inspired me not only to learn and do my best, but to be the best person I could be. Their love for what they taught was evident, and it appeared to be a cycle, where the teacher and her love for teaching and learning was given, and we as students received it and then returned it to the teacher, and the cyclical pattern continued.

My desire to teach was fueled by the inspiration these teachers ignited in my life, and I am thankful for what they have meant to me and others.

I never doubted that I would attend college. My parents expected me to go to college; it was a given. I was definitely supported by my parents and later, my husband.

When I was a teenage helper in the nursery at my church where I assisted a teacher with the young children during the church hour in another meeting room, I found that children were following me almost like the Pied Piper. I found that I had a special talent for recoginizing children's needs, concerns, likes, and feelings. The empathy that I exhibited to them made a special bond between us, and they trusted me, a trust not to be treated lightly. I've called this talent a sixth sense and it has served me well in my many years of teaching.

Having an education is one of the most important things that a person can pursue. I say pursue because education does not have a final date of completion; it continues long after you stop learning in a formal setting like elementary, middle, high school and college. Learning should be a life-long pursuit, not only as a means to learn "something" but as a pattern of life that broadens one's perspective and extends one's tolerance and understanding of others. Interactions with others where one is patient in hearing someone else's ideas and thoughts, even those that differ from one's own, make for a fruitful and rewarding life. Pursuing an education is not always a means to an end, but a beginning of self understanding as well as respect and understanding of others and the world around us.

The next interview was with my grandmother, KK, who is 80:

When I asked KK what comes to mind when she thinks back on her schooling, she said she only thinks the happiest of thoughts. School was such a great time for her and so many positive things came from her educational experience.

KK claims to have had the best teachers any child could wish for and she grew up thinking that everyone had it as great as she did. She could tell that the teachers loved their jobs and because of that, the feeling was reciprocated.

KK met all of her friends early on in life. She literally knew every person in her school and easily fell into a close-knit group of girls that did everything together.

When asked about furthering her education KK said, "My parents raised me with the idea that girls should have a solid educations just as boys were expected to. Like when Sunday rolled around, you didn't ask, 'Are you going to church?' It was just expected. That is how it was with furthering my education. I truly felt that I needed it to get through life."

The final interview was with an elderly woman in my community, Cora Katie:

Upon asking Cora Katie about her educational experiences, her face immediately lit up with a smile. She said that not a single teacher came to her mind that wasn't a great teacher- that didn't enjoy her job. All of her teachers were either from her hometown or right outside of it, meaning most of her teachers knew her family personally, which she enjoyed.

Like KK, Cora Katie also met all of her closest friends early on at school. The bonds made in the classroom have literally lasted a lifetime.

Although Cora Katie did not pursue a college level education, she says that doesn't in any way lessen her thoughts on the importance of education. When she was growing up, most girls were in no way expected to further their education and Cora Katie married shortly after graduating from high school. Since raising her own family though, Cora Katie has always stressed the importance in challenging oneself and striving to learn new things at every opportunity.