Hello everyone. I am publishing this interview as I feel it would be of great help to some of you who are not from the Hispanic Culture but wish to learn more about it. I hope those of you who are Hispanic would help out by emailing me your opinions or any thing you wish to add to my answers so I can add to this article and forward them on to this teaching class. I hope you enjoy this article and find it helpful and enjoyable. Denise has given me permission to publish this interview, so please read, enjoy and weigh in.
Dear Denise,
Thank you for resending it, I will answer your questions below, please scroll down to view. After I have sent the answers to you I will publish a copy as an article. I really am looking forward to our interview. :0) here we go...
Rebecca
----- Original Message -----
From: Denise Campbellpart 2
To: hispanicculture@bellaonline.com
Sent: Tue, 21 Jun 2005 20:38:20 -0700
Subject: Re: Teaching Hispanic Children
Rebecca M. Cuevas De Caissie, I sent you this interview a week ago and my
husband told me that he got a respond back that you had received it, but on
further thought he is not sure and my sent message file doesn't show it so I
am resending in case it did not get sent. I apologize for the delay.
Denise Campbell
Good morning, this interview is for the purpose of learning about the
educational differences individuals of different cultures have received in
the United States and what educators can do to ensure that every child in
the classroom in given a equal education. The only way to do this is to
truly understand how people of different cultures view their individual
educational experience and to ask how they would change the system to be
make it better for future students of all cultures.
Interviewer:
Denise Campbell
Master of Elementary Education Program
Southwestern Assembly of God University (SAGU)
Waxahachie, Texas
Interviewee:
Rebecca M. Cuevas De Caissie
To begin with I am not exactly sure how to address you. My generation
always used either Miss, or Mrs to address women we were not personally
acquainted with. Now Ms is used by many but considered insult by women who
value marriage and their marriage status. I only use it if I do not know
the marriage status of the woman I am corresponding with. Secondly, I am
not positive about the correct usage of last name when it is composed of
more than one word. I would like to know: On the topic of last name, a single woman or man would use the last name (let's use mine as an example) (Rebecca Michelle) Cutlip de Cuevas. The first of the two hyphenated last names would be the mother's maiden name and the second last name would be the father's last name. When a man gets married his wife would adopt onto her last name the man's second last name or his father's last name. A woman would drop her mother's last name, keeping her father's last name and then add onto hers the second last name of her husband. This would tell you that the woman was born of the father's family and married into the husband's family. The children afterwords would then carry the last name combination like the wife, and so it goes. So to illustrate, when I was born I was named Rebecca Michelle Cutlip de Cuevas. I have since married and am now Rebecca Michelle Cuevas de Caissie. My boys will keep the last name in that order, my daughter will drop my last name in hers, keep her father's and add her husbands.
(Question 1)
What is the proper form of address we should use when writing or speaking to
Hispanic men and women? I apologize that I do not have a Spanish Keyboard but I will do my best without the Spanish N. For the sake of the further writing a capital N will be our Spanish N. To answer: seNor is the proper way to address any man older than yourself or who is unfamiliar. seNora is for married women, and seNorita is for single women. When addressing someone who is unfamiliar it is always best to deffer to the seNora as it shows a sign of respect and to be considered unmarried would in Hispanic culture be a greater sign of disrespect than to consider her married. So err on the side of caution by assuming she is married.
Most people I know are aware that the Hispanic culture is diverse, but we
are not sure about what words to use when referring to them as a culture. I
live in Texas where a large proportion are from Mexico and referred to
themselves as Mexican. Others prefer Latino or Tejano, and some classify
themselves as Hispanic. How one wishes to be referred to is more a personal decision than a cultural decision. It would have more to do with how one sees them self, what they value and what they plan for the future. Alot also has to do with political interests as well as how they have been perceived in the past to name a few reasons for the variety. There is a great misunderstanding amongst Anglophones in our identity but let me try to clear up this little area a bit. Anyone hailing from Mexico would not be opposed to being referred to as Mexican though they do prefer if it were pronounced properly, Mejicano X being pronounced as a J. Some Mexican immigrants have a strong tie to Spain and hence prefer to be called Hispanic or Latino as it references their Spanish ancestry or they prefer to be viewed in that context. A Tejano is someone who was born in Tejas of Hispanic ancestry but not necessarily of Mexican origin, yet as the majority of Hispanics born in Tejas are in fact of Mexican ancestry it has been viewed as that. In fact if you are of any origin really and born in Tejas, you would be in fact a Tejano. The one term I noticed missing from you list was Chicano. A Chicano is a person born in the States who is of Mexican Ancestry, basically a Mexican American. Within the defines of Mexicano, there are still more details and it can be broken down further by origin, but for the occasional interlude these defines should suffice.
A footnote, to the average Anglophone, the question arises as to why any of this is important if you are born in the States, and the answer to that is that as Hispanics we have a great pride in our heritage as well as our own person identity. Where as many immigrants left there country and forfeited their culture for a better life and adopted the melting into the mainstream, we do not see things that way and import with our family the love of our culture as well as the love of our race and homeland. Though we make this country our home, it is never a replacement for our birthplace as there is always part of the family there, usually our mom and dad. And no matter how poor in our country, family bonds are strong and so your heart is ever where you were born.
(Question 2)
If you do not know the country of origin or personal preference about
cultural titles is “Hispanic” the correct word to use? Actually, just asking is probably more correct as to ask where one is from amongst Hispanics almost as common as saying hello. We as Hispanic always wish to know where our new friends are from. It helps us to know them right away by custom and culture. For those in the Hispanic world it answers alot of questions for us by just knowing where someone is from.
(Question 3)
What is your cultural heritage? My mother is Anglophone/Blackfoot and my father is from Guatemala. The grandfather I grew up with was Puerto Rican, and I was raised in his house and very close to him.
(Question 4)
Where did you grow up and go to school? I grew up in Miami and went to school in the same.
(Question 5)
Did you speak Spanish as a first language, and when did you learn English? I spoke English first and then latter learned Spanish. I was taught English first as it is the dominate language in the U.S. and better fro my career. Also Hispanics are very forgiving if you do not speak every word exactly as they where as having an accent in English usually carries a nasty little backlash on how people view you in business as well as personal life. I have done the same for my children. The sad part is that you carry a great part of your culture in your language as you can not express yourself as well in English as in Spanish as Spanish is a more colorful language and more emotional as well. So the possibility of loosing some of ones culture is there, the lesser of the two evils at times.
(Question 6)
Do you feel that you received an equal education to students from other
cultures? At times I feel I have and other times I feel I have not. Over all I think your education is what you make out of it. One of the most successful men I have met, as well as happy and well adjusted was a man who had to drop out of school as he could not fulfill the requirements. He later went on to be a multimillionaire real estate tycoon and a great inspiration to me. He just aside, was anglophone. :0)
(Question 7)
What cultural issues do you believe most negatively affected your education? I experienced no negative cultural issues which is saying alot growing up in Miami itself. I have attended a majority African American school as well as predominately Hispanic school and a highly integrated school and have always had friends from all cultural groups. When I did go to college it was in an even larger diverse school as there were many students from other countries as well as teachers from the same and it gave me a great respect and understanding for their cultures as well as a greater love for my own. The greatest negative impact I would say had nothing to do with culture directly but with political misuse of funds that should go to the schools but is stolen and diverted to other areas leading to the decline is quality of education, but then that is an entirely different topic so I will digress from that topic.
(Question 8)
What cultural issues most positively affected your education? Learning about other cultures and finding a greater appreciation for my own culture.
(Question 9)
Did you feel “wanted” at school and consider it a good place to be? I felt wanted but public schools are not always a good place as we all know. I do not think the struggles are any more difficult for Hispanics as for anyone else. Different perhaps but we all have peer pressures exuded upon us in school as well as in life in which we must choose who we wish to be as humans and choose our path in life. It starts at the very first in life and continues on throughout our life. School is just a small and detached introduction into the way life will be while withholding the full weight of the consequences that adulthood inevitably brings to bear at our departing.
(Question 10)
What were the cultural backgrounds of your teachers? I have had teachers from almost every cultural background.
(Question 11)
How did your parents view the U.S. school system you attended? Were they
afraid that you would lose your cultural heritage? They viewed it positively. They were not afraid I would loose my cultural background, but I have been concerned about my own. When I was going to school, the schools taught education and left upbringing to the parents where as now it seems more and more the schools are taking on the larger role of parenting and less the role of education. At times it is necessary and other not so. I have worked in the schools and have a great compassion for the American teachers as they have to play the role of disciplinarian as well as educator. When I was a child the teacher's were supported by the parents more and so they were free to focus on teaching. It is a hard time.
(Question 12)
If you could “get the ear” of education policy makers in the United States,
what would you tell them about educating Hispanic children? What I would say I think is to stop trying to focus on teaching everyone to be the same and allow students the freedom to excel at what they are good at. If we all come out to be the same where would be the artists, musicians, inventors, dreamers, writers and true philosophers for our time. I note a great void in the appreciation of the individual and a push towards turning out clones. Many are the times when I have had conversations with teachers over the expression that my children have chosen to fulfill the requirements of an assignment. Also the philosophy that supports modern teaching is to centered on a Anglo style family or an ideal of American family, eg: father mother and two kids as opposed to the ideals that Hispanics consider important. There is an attempt at separation that is forged into the Hispanic family in American education that does not exist to the Hispanic culture. Eg: the teacher feels that the parents do not have full rights to know the goings on in a school concerning their child, the rights of the child's privacy are considered highly where as in the Hispanic household there are no secrets and the privacy of the family reigns supreme. We deal with everything as a family, the good and the bad, we are the support system, the core of our family is the family not the individual and that should be respected for not only Hispanics but all families.
END of INTERVIEW
I appreciate your participation in this project. Dr. Townsend has arranged
for your answers to be shared with the class who, will then contribute
questions to this conversation as they arise. I am excited about this
opportunity to get personal feedback which our group of teachers can use to
improve our teaching skills.
Sincerely,
Denise Campbell
I hope this helped and please feel free to send along any other questions that arise. I will publish this article and forward to you any responses that I get from my readers as they are quick to correct me when I am wrong or add to what I have written. I will specifically request responses to assist you as well as any others who are seeking the same knowledge.
Saludos,
Rebecca :0)
Return to part 1
To learn the Spanish Language, please see the links provided below to see resources available through Amazon.com
More Resources to Learning Spanish
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Lamentations of the Caves By Rebecca Cuevas De Caissie
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