- Why did your parents choose this school?
interview 1
Name and age: Kees, 73 years old. man
How many people were there in your parents’ family?
Five people. Six people lived there (grandma)
What was the profession of your father / mother?
Father was a technical officer
Where did you live with your parents?
Papendrecht
Do you remember any historical fact / event when you were a teenager
(between 12 and 16 years old) either in India or in EU or worldwide? Why
were you impressed by that event?
The assassination of President Kennedy in 1963. He was a worldwide popular president who was brutally shot while on a tour while everyone could see it on TV.
What type of school (for students 12-18 years old) did you go to as a
teenager?
Gymnasium.
Why did your parents choose this school?
They Chose it because I could handle it.
Were there schools for boys and separate schools for girls?
There were separate schools for girls; M.M.S.
Was your school a religious school (hindu, moslim, catholic, protestant,
...) ? It was a Protestant school.
Was there a difference between religious schools and non-religious
schools? There was not much difference.
Was religion a compulsory subject?
yes
How many lessons did you have per day?
About six subjects per day.
Were most subjects compulsory?
Yes most were required.
Did most students prefer sciences or languages or
history/geography/biology?
It was not a matter of preference, all subjects were compulsory.
How did you appreciate the quality of the teaching?
The quality of the education was good.
What kinds of extra-curricular activities were organised at your school?
Extra-curricular sports were organized.
When did you start and finish school every day? When did you get
home? My school day began at 8:30 and ended at 16:30
Did you have a lot of homework to make?
There was quite a load of homework
How did you go to school (bus, on foot)?
By bike to Dordrecht
Were teachers esteemed by parents and students? Explain.
Teacher gave good explanation
Were you allowed to ask about everything you wanted to know?
You could ask anything
What was the relationship between teachers and students like?
It was more hierarchical
What about discipline at school? What types of punishment were used?
You could stay longer
Was there any kind of coaching for students with problems?
There was almost no coaching
Did you like going to school? Explain.
I thought learning was fun
Do you think that most teenagers study harder nowadays than when you
were young? No
interview 2
General questions to the people
Name and age; female, Cisca Soeters.
How many people were there in your parents’ family?
A father, mother, 3 sons and a sister.
How many people lived in the same house?
5 people.
Nuclear or extended family? Explain.
Nuclear.
What was the profession of your father / mother?
Father worked in the military/ mother didn’t work (she did all the chores)
Where did you live with your parents?
I lived in Sliedrecht.
Do you remember any historical fact / event when you were a teenager
Yes, the watersnoodramp happened when I was 4 years old. I was very impressed because is was very little back then.
What type of school (for students 12-18 years old) did you go to as a
teenager?
I went to a school for fashion.
Why did your parents choose this school?
I chose the school myself because it seemed fun.
Were there schools for boys and separate schools for girls?
The where, but I went to a combined school.
Was your school a religious school (hindu, moslim, catholic, protestant)
I went to a catholic elementary school.
Was there a difference between religious schools and non-religious
schools?
Yes the’re was.
2. Subjects
How many lessons did you have per day?
I had 6-7 lesson a day.
Were most subjects compulsory?
yes
Did most students prefer sciences or languages or
history/geography/biology?
I don’t know it about others, but I preferred languages.
How did you appreciate the quality of the teaching?
Yes I do.
What kinds of extra-curricular activities were organised at your school?
Nothing.
3. Timeschedule
When did you start and finish school every day? When did you get
home?
I starded most of the time around 8:30 and ended at around 16:00
Did you have a lot of homework to make?
I had very little homework.
How did you go to school (bus, on foot)?
I went to school by bike.
4. Teachers
Were teachers esteemed by parents and students? Explain.
Yes.
Were you allowed to ask about everything you wanted to know?
About the same questions you could ask today to a teacher.
What was the relationship between teachers and students like?
It was okay.
What about discipline at school? What types of punishment were used?
About the same, you could get suspended and such.
Was there any kind of coaching for students with problems?
No, not at all
Did you like going to school? Explain.
Yes, I liked it with my friends.
Do you think that most teenagers study harder nowadays than when you
were young? Yes I do.
interview 3
Interview
Info of participant
Name : Gol Sangarkhail
Mother
Age : 45
Born in Afghanistan and migrated to the Netherlands at the age of 19
How many people were there in your parents’ family?
How many people lived in the same house?
6 people
What was the profession of your father / mother?
Her father was a military general and her mother didn’t have any profession
Where did you live with your parents
Kabul, Kandahar.
Do you remember any historical fact / event when you were a teenager
(between 12 and 16 years old) either in India or in EU or worldwide? Why
were you impressed by that event?
No not really.
What type of school (for students 12-18 years old) did you go to as a
teenager?
It was a all girls school.
Why did your parents choose this school?
It was one of the bests in the area and it was nearby.
Were there schools for boys and separate schools for girls?
A all girls school
Was your school a religious schoo
It was a school which was islamic
Was there a difference between religious schools and non-religious
schools?
All the schools were religious
Was religion a compulsory subject?
Yes it was
How many lessons did you have per day?
5-6 per day
Were most subjects compulsory?
Yes they were
Did most students prefer sciences or languages or
history/geography/biology?
Most people preferred science
How did you appreciate the quality of the teaching?
For that time it was quite good
What kinds of extra-curricular activities were organised at your school?
Sometimes there were small fairs or special days
When did you start and finish school every day? When did you get
home?
It was from 9 o’clock till 2
Did you have a lot of homework to make
Yes
How did you go to school (bus, on foot)?
She got brought by her own personal chauffeur
Were teachers esteemed by parents and students
Yes they were
Were you allowed to ask about everything you wanted to know?
Yes
What was the relationship between teachers and students like?
They were very formal
What about discipline at school? What types of punishment were used?
There was a lot of discipline, people would get punished.
Was there any kind of coaching for students with problems?
Not really but people sometimes had their own private coaches
Did you like going to school?
Yes She wanted to learn more things because she was always curious about things
Do you think that most teenagers study harder nowadays than when you
were young?
No, people have more opportunities to study and it’s more accessible and easier.
interview 4
Name/age: Sahar Apistola
How many people did you live with in the same house?
4 people my parents and my one sister.
What was ur parents profession?
he works at an paper print office.
Where did you live with your parents?
we lived in Tehran in Iran.
Do you remember any historical fact or event?
nothing special.
What type of schools did you go to as a teenager?
just a regular school.
Was your school religious?
We didn’t really have an religious school but pretty much almost everyone was Muslim.
How many lessons did you get per day?
about 6 a day.
What types of class did your class like the most?
gym.
How did you appreciate the quality of your lessons?
it was the worse for us.
What kind of curricular activities were organized by ur school?
we had none.
When did your school start and when did it end?
7:30 till 14:00.
Did you have a lot of homework?
we had a lot.
How did you go to school?
I went walking for about 20 min.
Were teachers esteemed by students and parents?
yes.
Could you ask anything from your teachers you wanted to know?
yes that was their job.
What was the relationship between students and teachers?
distance.
What was the discipline on your school?
they checked if our nails were short enough and if we didn’t wear makeup it was very strictly.
Was there any help for children with problems?
yea there was support for children with a hard time studying.
Do you think kids study harder nowadays?
no when I was young we studied a lot more but we didn’t have as much distraction.
Did you like going to school?
no it wasn’t really fun or intresting.
interview 5
Topic 3. School Life
Topic: School life
Main question. Do students have to work harder to be successful at school nowadays than at the time your grandparents/parents were teenagers?
General questions to the people
Name and age; M/F?
Name: Anniek Lenselink
Age: 48
Female
How many people were there in your parents’ family?
How many people lived in the same house?
Nuclear or extended family? Explain.
”Father, mother and three daughters.”
“5 people”
“Only nuclear family”
“We just lived in the same house with 5 people.”
What was the profession of your father / mother?
“My father and mother were both history teachers.”
Where did you live with your parents (please add map - Google Maps)?
“We lived in Hoevelaken, which is a small town which had 10k inhabitants at the time”
Do you remember any historical fact / event when you were a teenager (between 12 and 16 years old) either in India or in EU or worldwide? Why were you impressed by that event?
“The fall of the wall in Berlin, and the crumbling of the Soviet Union, also the tragedy of Chernobyl. All of these events changed the entire world significantly.” (Age: 17)
What type of school (for students 12-18 years old) did you go to as a teenager?
“I went to a “Gymnasium”, the highest level of schooling available.”
Why did your parents choose this school?
“Because I was smart, and the school was within biking distance.”
Were there schools for boys and separate schools for girls?
“No.”
Was your school a religious school (hindu, moslim, catholic, protestant, ...) ?
“No, it was a public school”
Was there a difference between religious schools and non-religious schools?
”Yes definitely, there were different traditions for certain festivities, and there was variation in the lessons provided such as the subject religion.”
Was religion a compulsory subject?
”No.”
How many lessons did you have per day?
“Approximately 6 that is about 30 hours per week, 5 days a week.”
Were most subjects compulsory?
“Yes they were.”
Did most students prefer sciences or languages or history/geography/biology?
“It was very diverse, I liked languages the most, but history was fun too.”
How did you appreciate the quality of the teaching?
“It was of pretty good quality in my opinion, because there were a few teachers who could really motivate the class.”
What kinds of extra-curricular activities were organised at your school?
“Yes, there were things such as school parties and excursions also a yearly school play.”
When did you start and finish school every day? When did you get home?
“I always started at 8:30am and was at school until 14:30 (2:30pm) and then I’d be home at 15:15 (3:15pm) 45 minutes later.”
Did you have a lot of homework to make?
”A decent amount, about 2,5 hours of homework per day.”
How did you go to school (bus, on foot)?
”By bike, there were a few things slowing me down such as rain and hard wind. Oh and also flat tires.”
4. Teachers
Were teachers esteemed by parents and students? Explain.
“Yes definitely, you always had to be polite, it was very different from now. Parents had to be friendlier than nowadays and didn’t rummage through the lesson’s contents. But had faith that the teacher knew what they were talking about.”
Were you allowed to ask about everything you wanted to know?
”Yes of course. Teachers never had problems with awnsering any questions you had, you were allowed to be curious.”
What was the relationship between teachers and students like?
”Very polite, from both sides. The teacher knew more than the student and was always ready to help. There was always a type of distance between a student and teacher based on knowledge (and power).”
What about discipline at school? What types of punishment were
used?
”A very strict school for Dutch standards, the punishments were things such as being sent out of class to go to the principals office. Sometimes detentions were enforced. And if you were to skip school you had to come back on Saturday morning to clean up trash.”
Was there any kind of coaching for students with problems?
”No, if you needed any help you had to arrange for it yourself outside of school.”
5. Did you like going to school? Explain.
“I thought that the day started too early. But further than that it was alright, just a tad bit much if homework for my liking. I had a few friends and it was always pretty fun to spend time together, and most subjects were interesting”
“I was a good student, I always listened and did my work on time, I never got held back”
6. Do you think that most teenagers study harder nowadays than when you were young?
“I think less actually, but it really depends per level and school.”
interview 6
Eveline visser – 42 – female
Questions
1.1How many people were there in your parents’ family?
How many people lived in the same house?
Nuclear or extended family? Explain.
4
1.2. What was the profession of your father / mother?
My mother was housewife and my father was a financial director.
1.3 Where did you live with your parents (please add map - Google Maps)?
1.4 Do you remember any historical fact / event when you were a teenager (between 12 and 16 years old) either in India or in EU or worldwide? Why were you impressed by that event?
I lived in papendrecht
What type of school (for students 12-18 years old) did you go to as a teenager?
I went to Willem de Zwijger school in Papendrecht.
Why did your parents choose this school?
I liked this school.
Were there schools for boys and separate schools for girls?
No.
Was your school a religious school (hindu, moslim, catholic, protestant, ...) ?
No.
Was there a difference between religious schools and non-religious schools?
Yes on religious schools they got religion related subjects while I did not.
Was religion a compulsory subject?
No only on religious schools.
How many lessons did you have per day?
usually about 7 or 8
Were most subjects compulsory?
Yes they where
Did most students prefer sciences or languages or history/geography/biology?
It was varying.
How did you appreciate the quality of the teaching?
It was good quality teaching
What kinds of extra-curricular activities were organised at your school?
only dance lessons
When did you start and finish school every day? When did you get home?
usually I was home around 3 o clock.
Did you have a lot of homework to make?
Yes I did.
How did you go to school (bus, on foot)?
By foot or by bicycle.
Were teachers esteemed by parents and students? Explain.
yes.
Were you allowed to ask about everything you wanted to know?
Yes.
What was the relationship between teachers and students like?
Very distant.
What about discipline at school?
it was not that strikt.
What types of punishment were used?
Coping lines and you needed to stay longer at school.
Did you like going to school? Explain.
Yes i liked it very much.
Do you think that most teenagers study harder nowadays than when you were young?
i think we’re studying the same amount.
interview 7
Name: Hugo Bink
Age: 46
Male
How many people were there in your parents’ family?
How many people lived in the same house?
Nuclear or extended family? Explain.
“Total of 3 brother and a Total of 5 family members all nuclear.”
What was the profession of your father / mother?
“Father was a farmer and the co-owner of a tree nursery and mother was also a co-owner in the same tree nursery.”
Where did you live with your parents
“In a rural agricultural farm.”
Do you remember any historical fact / event when you were a teenager (between 12 and 16 years old) either in India or in EU or worldwide? Why were you impressed by that event?
“Probably the fall of the Berlin Wall, I don’t remember much.”
What type of school (for students 12-18 years old) did you go to as a teenager?
“To a “vwo” school.”
Why did your parents choose this school?
“There was only one high school in the neighbourhood which had all available levels of schooling.”
Were there schools for boys and separate schools for girls?
“No”
Was your school a religious school (hindu, moslim, catholic, protestant, ...) ?
“No it was public.”
Was there a difference between religious schools and non-religious schools?
“I don’t know never seen a religious school because there was only one school.” “I did go to a catholic elementary school it was just like a regular school, the only difference was that we had to start with a prayer at the beginning of the day.”
Was religion a compulsory subject?
“No”
How many lessons did you have per day?
“I don’t remember.”
Were most subjects compulsory?
“Yes”
Did most students prefer sciences or languages or history/geography/biology?
“The preference across students was very diverse, my personal preference were the exact/beta subjects.”
How did you appreciate the quality of the teaching?
“I don’t remember the quality.”
What kinds of extra-curricular activities were organised at your school?
“I don’t exactly remember, we went to school followed a lesson and went home. I don’t remember any curricular activities.”“I did organise some activities myself, me and a friend runned the gym. We did a lot of exercises and training and would train other students.”
When did you start and finish school every day? When did you get home?
“Started at 8:15, when we ended really depended on the day/amount of lessons.”
Did you have a lot of homework to make?
“I think so, I always did the minimal amount of work.”
How did you go to school (bus, on foot)?
“First by bike and when I turned 16 I got a moped and then when I turned 18 I received a card for public transport and took the bus.” “4 years bike, 2 years moped and 3 months bus.”
Were teachers esteemed by parents and students? Explain
“Yes, some of them. For some I had respect others struggled with having control over the class.”
Were you allowed to ask about everything you wanted to know?
“Yes I don’t remember any taboos.”
What was the relationship between teachers and students like?
“Well, most of the time the teachers were open and not very conservative so most were quite liberal and open minded.”
What about discipline at school? What types of punishment were used?
“We had to report to the director. I had to report sometimes but was never expelled they did however give me some strong warnings.”
Was there any kind of coaching for students with problems?
“I don’t remember.”
Did you like going to school? Explain.
“Well yes because my friends were there.” “We were always in the common rooms all the way in the back, looming over what the rest was doing trying to cause the occasional problems without getting caught.”
Do you think that most teenagers study harder nowadays than when you were young?
“No, I think nothing changed.”
“Maybe there’s a bit more support nowadays but you guys still do the exact same stuff as I did.”
interview 8
Name/age: Andre Apistola
How many people did you live with in the same house?
5 my parents and I have 3 brothers.
What was ur parents profession?
they worked on the market.
Where did you live with your parents?
we lived in a place called Zoetermeer in the Netherlands.
Do you remember any historical fact or event?
nothing special.
What type of schools did you go to as a teenager?
just a regular school.
Was your school religious?
It was just a regular school for our country so some people were religious but others just weren’t.
How many lessons did you get per day?
bout 5 or 6 per day.
What types of class did your class like the most?
german classes were the best.
How did you appreciate the quality of your lessons?
it was okay.
What kind of curricular activities were organized by ur school?
we didn’t have much but I remember there being a kind of reading event every week.
When did your school start and when did it end?
8:30 till about 14:30.
Did you have a lot of homework?
e had a bunch of homework.
How did you go to school?
I went by bycicle.
Were teachers esteemed by students and parents?
yes.
Could you ask anything from your teachers you wanted to know?
yes atleast most of the time.
What was the relationship between students and teachers?
they kind of bonded but not much but there was a time where I went to help checking tests with the teacher.
What was the discipline on your school?
you had like some responsibility but they gave you help with it so if you didn’t finish work you had to make extra in order to keep up.
Was there any help for children with problems?
yea there was support for children with a hard time studying.
Do you think kids study harder nowadays?
do think that nowadays kids study harder because I notice kids being able to pickup things much quicker making them more motivated than back in the days.
Did you like going to school?
it was okay I did my work and just finished it.