Cultural Interview

1. Cultural Interview Kristen Roberts EDUF 7235: Multicultural Education Dr. Sabrina Ross July 8, 2013

2. Interview Subject Dr. Moreno immigrated from Colombia to the United States in 1994. Please describe your immigration process. Did you come alone or with your husband? “I came with a student visa, during the 5 years of the Doctoral degree. Then I had a year of practical training, I changed my status to wife of a person with a work visa. I later got my work visa and now I have my residency (green card) Now I am in the process of citizenship.”

3. Perception of Cultural Differences Can you describe any specific family or cultural traditions that you hope to pass on to your children? "I would like my kids to have strong family traditions and values. Also to be able to value and respect themselves and their elders and value the ability to have a relationship with people of different ages and be able to learn from them." What are the biggest differences that you have observed between Colombian culture and the culture of the United States? "In many ways I feel we are similar but one thing that is different is the family relationships, I feel that in many cases there is lack of respect for elders, and there is not much closeness within the family.“ Do you have Colombian friends/relatives in the area, state, or United States that you keep in regular contact with? “There are a few Colombian families in the area and they have become our family here. We try to keep the traditions and their kids and ours easily identify with themselves. Our family values and the fact that we are all away from the family nuclei makes it important since the friendships makes us feel as we have a little of our country here.”

4. Educational Background of Participant What is your educational background? "Elementary and secondary schools were private schools Inmaculado Corazon de Maria and Liceo Benalcazar respectively. After high school, I did my undergraduate in a public university, Universidad del Valle, then I did my doctorate degree in Baylor University. After Baylor I did my post-doctorate work at Northwestern University."

5. Occupation of Dr. Moreno What is your profession? Do you believe that your occupation has certain advantages or disadvantages in terms of having the ability to attend school functions or meet any other needs your children may have? “I am a Lecturer, Lab Coordinator, and Instructor at a university. Many events are easy to attend but there are times that is not that easy to fully participate in school activities. One advantage is that I can volunteer in school also bringing chemistry demos for the school.”

6. Dr. Moreno's Children Maria is 13 and will be beginning the eighth grade in the fall. Valeria is 9 and will be entering the fourth grade. Where do they attend school? Is the school private or public? Did you purposely choose the school that they attend? If so, why that particular one? "Maria attended from preschool to 5th grade in Epiphany School (private, Catholic), she then transferred to a public Junior High School, but for 8th grade she wants to go back to Epiphany. Valeria has been enrolled from preschool to 4th grade at Epiphany School... I selected Catholic education because the year that we were looking into the public education, the school she was going to attend a kid brought a gun to school, but also I figured if everything was going to be different from how I was educated, at least my kids could have religion as part of the curriculum as I had in Colombia."

7. Dr. Moreno's Educational Goals for Children What do you hope for your children in terms of their education (now and in the future)? “I want my kids to have a well rounded education specially from their elementary junior and high school. I want them to go to college and develop in careers that allow them to use their talents. I want my kids to be at least bilinguals and open minded.” What does it mean to you to be a well-educated student? “A well educated student would be a student that has learned all the basics not only in math, science, literature but that also has some knowledge of the world, (geography, history and what is happening in the world right now). It is a student that can go to college and is excited about learning and sharing their knowledge. It is a student that knows how to effectively study to learn not to pass an exam.”

8. Cultural Issue: Assimilation How do you envision faculty and staff facilitating those hopes? Do you believe they are already facilitating them? If not, what can or should they be doing? I think they are doing what they can with their resources, but I think that some of them are not prepared enough to teach some of the things they teach. I also think that they need to challenge them so they are excited about learning. When a teacher is not motivated or if he or she has to deal with kids that are disruptive that diminishes the quality of the education. What do you think that teachers and administrators need to know about teaching students from various cultural background? I think they need to be open mindedby allowing their students or their parents to talk about where are they from and how things are different and the same. There is not only one way to do things and because they are done differently that does not mean it is the wrong way to do it.

9. Cultural Issue (continued) Do you think that your Colombian heritage has impacted your daughters' education? In other words, are there any advantages or disadvantages that they have because they do not belong to the white majority? The advantage my kids have is the ability to understand and speak another language. They have also traveled more than many of their class mates and I think that will give them the ability to move in two cultures. Along the lines of teaching your daughters to be bilingual as well as understand the histories of two countries, do they enjoy learning about Colombia? In our textbook, the authors talk about how some first-generation Americans try to assimilate as much as possible into U.S. culture because they don't want to be different from their peers, and because they aren't learning about their own culture in school. Do you feel this to be true for your daughters? My kids have the same issues as any kid about identity, I think they hear the history of Colombia as fun stories that could happen in a movie and are not real but I think they still get to learn from those stories. They are excited about us becoming citizens, I think they are proud of us for doing so, embracing their country and culture. I don't think they feel too different among their peers. They just know that they are american and they have Colombian culture in them.

10. My Approach: Multicultural Education

11. Why Multicultural Education? "Multicultural Education seeks to have all young people learn knowledge, values, and behavioral patterns that support cultural diversity, flexibility, and choice" (page 172) The Multicultural Education approach is to specifically promote the value of diversity and respect for others, which is something that Dr. Moreno alluded to in the interview.

12. Interventions: Diverse Perspectives Educators should make an effort to teach students about other cultures so that they can value differences that exist. Provide diverse viewpoints about various events in history, particularly information about the cultures of minority students in the classroom. Teach with an open mind so that students do not learn that one way, presumably their way, of thinking is the only way.

13. Benefits of Presenting Diverse Perspectives Dr. Moreno stated that her children often view Colombian history as stories that "happen in a movie." Although they still learn from those stories, they would benefit more from learning about their own culture in the classroom, where they are more likely to give that history the same importance that they give to the history of the United States.

14. Interventions: Multilingualism The world is becoming increasingly globalized. It is not uncommon for workers today to interact with others across the city, state, country, or even globe. Students should be taught at least one other language in school, as well as focus on the culture of the people who speak that language natively to promote a greater understanding and acceptance of others.

15. Benefits of Multilingualism Teaching students a second language and educating them in that language not only provides students with the opportunity to learn about and appreciate other cultures, but it also prepares them for interacting with others in the future. Students of the majority culture learn to respect those who speak another language, and those who natively speak a different language are not made to feel as though they belong in remedial courses.

16. Dr. Moreno's Involvement Please describe how involved you are with your daughters' schools. I volunteer in school in parties, park days, field trips and with chemistry demos, I have also talked to them about immigration and my immigration process and at sport days and lunch hours. Are your daughters learning anything in school about their heritage? If so, what are they learning? In their schools they are not learning about their heritage, they learn that from us and our family when we visit or they visit us. Do you supplement education with cultural education at home? If so, what do you teach them about? When we travel we visit historical places and we talk about those types of events that are similar or different to the US history. They get to share experiences in the Colombian environment and they get to see how things are done in Colombia.

17. What I Learned The educational attainment of a parent plays a significant role in how comfortable he or she is in approaching educators about problems. Because she has earned her Ph.D., and has received some of her education in the U.S., she is most likely more comfortable than her counterparts who have not had as much education. Dr. Moreno mentioned several times throughout the interview that, despite the cultural differences that do exist, much of the two cultures are the same, and that her children do not feel that they are different from their peers in a significant way, which was telling to me. While it is important to understand and accept cultural differences, I have learned that it is equally important to remember that even people who seem different in every way still have commonalities, which can be used to build greater understanding in spite of the differences.

18. References Diversity Awareness Month. (n.d.). Retrieved June 29, 2013, from http://www.slu.edu/cross-cultural-center/diversity-awareness-month Map of Colombia. (n.d.). Retrieved June 29, 2013, from http://www.forcedmigration.org/maps/colombia.gif/view Colombia Country Map. (n.d.). Retrieved June 29, 2013, from http://www.wordtravels.com/Travelguide/Countries/Colombia/Map San Agustín Archaeological Park: Mystery Carved in Stone. (n.d.). Retrieved June 29, 2013, from http://www.colombia.travel/en/international-tourist/sightseeing-what-to-do/history-and-tradition/archaeological-tourism/san-agustin-archaeological-park Sleeter, C. E. & Grant, C. A. (2009). Making choices for multicultural education: Five approaches to race, class, and gender (6th ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons. The Joropo International Tournament: the best excuse for surrendering to the spell of the Eastern Plains. (n.d.). Retrieved June 29, 2013, from http://www.colombia.travel/en/international-tourist/sightseeing-what-to-do/history-and-tradition/fairs-and-festivals/june/the-joropo-international-tournament