AJUSTES DE VALORACIÓN

INTERVIEW, TARTU CASE STUDY—MAY 7, 2010, 9AM-12PM

Met with Director of School A

Offered Statistics (Oppeatutuse…) and explanations of the categories in English, general history of School A.

Two language immersion students came to help with translation and contribute to the interview.

Interviewer: Why do you offer language immersion?

Director: The opportunities that it affords students. Living in Estonia, they need to speak the national language for employment, study, etc.

I: As far as language of instruction goes, how many classes are taught in Russian and how many are taught in Estonian?

D: Half of the classes are taught in Estonian and half are in Russian.

Student 1: In the 6th form all subjects are taught in Estonian. We are part of a “special project” with the government. It is very hard and unusual, but interesting. Of course there are certain subjects that are not taught in Estonian, like biology or chemistry or physics. But not all of those are taught to the 6th form. And most teachers are bilingual.

I: (Directed to the students) What are your plans for the future, where would you like to study or go to university?

Student 2: Well really we have all possibilities. Personally I do not want to go to Russia, the degree doesn’t seem useful and it is very expensive.

S1: I think I would like to go to University of Tartu. Or in Parnu they have a tourism school, which I think is what I want to do. I also have relatives in Vladivostok(Russia), so maybe there.

S2: I really think it is better to study in English.

S1: It would be nice to study abroad. I think that would be a great opportunity.

I:(Directed to the Director) Which teachers have been here the longest, have the most history with this school? And have there been any problems transitioning to this new program?

D: I think I have been here the longest. 26 years. I used to teach Estonian language, so there never was a problem for me. Another teacher has been here 35 years—the Physics teacher, and he hasn’t been affected by the language immersion program.

I: What do you see as some of the problems facing the educational system?

D: Well, for years the student numbers have been decreasing across Estonia. Our numbers are growing again. I think it is because we are offering our students more opportunities. Recently, Russian language is becoming more popular. We have our big neighbor, and there are business relationships and jobs that come from this. In the 1990’s, people were not so receptive. It was very emotional, and people distanced themselves from Russia and Russian language. Now they have calmed down. Another thing is that the Russian population in Tartu is only 18%.

I: Do you see language as a problem for some of your teachers?

D: All of the bilingual teachers, the ones in the immersion program have no problems. The older ones normally only teach classes in Russian, so that is not a big problem. One thing that we have noticed here and many places is the imbalance between men and women teachers. We only have 6 male teachers.

I: What kind of extracurricular activities do you have? What kinds of programs are offered to students through the school?

S2: There is a driving school, and the gym can be rented or reserved for teams. There is a football club, national dance club, sometimes we get a bunch of people together and play volleyball in the gym. There are choirs that sing in all languages. We really have a lot to do.

D: We also have projects with other towns and schools. Sometimes we have student exchanges at Estonian language schools. Or video conferences. We get to communicate both ways. There are contests held between schools too. Some for singing or sports. One time there was a scavenger hunt. And a film contest.

I: It sounds very competitive! (Directed at the students) Do you feel about the competition? (Students shake their heads.)

D: I think the teachers feel the competition more than the students. They feel pressure sometimes to be better than the other schools. Perhaps it influences them more. But the students will feel the competition later in life.

I: Is the community very involved?

D: We have a very active community. Our school is 45 years old this week and we have been celebrating a lot. We took a walk from the old building that the housed the school to here, and then had a big party.

I: (Directed to the students) Do you get to use your language skills at home? Do your parents speak much Estonian?

S2: I have a brother who is also in the program. But mostly we speak Russian at home. My mom can speak a couple of words and phrases. But my dad doesn’t need to speak Estonian because he mainly works in Moscow.

S1: I live in a village outside of Tartu. When I was growing up I mainly spoke Estonian with my friends in the village, but we always spoke Russian at home. I think because of where I grew up, I started speaking more Estonian than a lot of the other students in our program.

*Students took Interviewer on tour of facilities, to sit in on a math class, to lunch, and to school presentation about art and culture—Minister of Culture gave talk (mostly in Estonian) about the implications of converting to the Euro in 2011.