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Interviewers will be represented by the letter I

María del Rosario Concha will be represented by the letter C

 

I: What initiatives do you want to take for female empowerment in the school?  

C: Well first, I want to make clear that the power we all have comes from within. It arises from our convictions, our beliefs, and our dreams. We build our reality according to what we dream of, and when we are capable of shaping our own reality, we can also change it for other people. 

Thus, I strongly believe that everyone has the power of choice. All of us are capable of making our own decisions based on what we desire. Of course, choices are not always easy to make, most of the time because of external factors that make decisions more complicated than they really are. However, in my opinion, external events represent obstacles, but they don’t determine anyone’s life. What happens in someone’s life is really a product of the daily decisions each person makes. Also, I think a person can’t rely on external circumstances in order to achieve their dreams. If present events are not in your favor, then you build your own path based on your personal decisions. 

Last but not least, confidence. It is all about the self-confidence and the trust I have in others. I trust myself because I trust other people, and based on that self-confidence I can develop empathy for the people around me. That is the place where the feeling of service comes from. I am capable of understanding and loving others without necessarily knowing them. An empowered woman is someone who tries to look for equality, more than for justice. With each person surrounding us, we generate a posture of service and benefit based on their own needs, looking for their own good. Each person should provide the world with the things each of us need in order to make a more equitable world. But for me, that is based on self-confidence, the confidence I have in people, and appreciation for others and for myself.        

 

I: How do you trust people? Due to the fact that sometimes trusting strangers can be difficult for some people, how do you do it?

C: There’s something that life has taught me and that is that I can’t and don’t have control over everything. If I am sure about myself and that I have strengths that allow me to be self confident, I don’t need to have control over everything and everyone because I believe in their capacities and I trust their ability to be responsible. I trust that others are also going to give the best of themselves, which is why I think at this point we are able to build with other people, but the only way of being able to build with others is by understanding that everybody is different and that everybody is going to give the best of themselves. 

I believe the main problem this kind of situation presents is  when I want things to work my own way and I convince others to make things happen the way I desire. In my perspective, that is not what a leader should be, that does not represent women empowerment. Nobody knows more about myself than I do, and by trying to persuade other people into doing what I want, it seems like I know what is best for them, which clearly isn’t true. That is why I can trust other people, because they know about themselves and they know what they want for themselves, and together we build our reality, which provides for change. For me that's women empowerment, the possibility to listen and build with others through difference. 

 

I: We think several aspects you just mentioned about the meaning of women empowerment for you, are similar to Pachas’ values, like for example that a Pacha shines from within and that shine is strong enough to shine towards others and is able to build with others. It just reminds us a lot about that. 

C: Those values are the ones that allow us to make a change and generate an impact. To be leaders who look for the well being of everyone, yet, we don’t look for the welfare we believe is the best, we listen to other’s necessities, and we help to creatively manage a new reality for those needs. That is something that makes a big difference because people sometimes want leaders to have amazing ideas and then you follow them, which is a kind of leadership, however, the other kind of leadership is the one that is based on listening to others' needs and building from them with the help of everyone.

 

I: We find that way of thinking quite interesting because basically what you just said is that a leader is not the one who just gives orders based on what they think is best.  A leader is the one who brings out the best in each person. Also, it can be related to feminism, because many people believe feminism consists in women being above everybody else, but it really tries to put everyone at the same level and take into account our differences in order to build an equitable society. 

C: Exactly, and from the strength everybody has. All of us have different abilities and a leader’s job is basically to bring out the best in everyone. They motivate others to always do better, to reach the top of their capabilities. 

 

I: What is your background in the academic world? What are your previous jobs, your previous experiences in educational institutions? C: Well, I studied psychology at the Universidad Javeriana. After graduating, I started working in a school called “Abraham Lincoln” as the preschool psychologist, and became the preschool coordinator afterwards. Then I was asked by the Universidad Javeriana to become a teacher to the 4th year students of a psychology major  which  had an emphasis on education, so I became an internship project coordinator. The main reason why I was called for the job was because I focused on changing the way of teaching literature, writing, and mathematics. The way I believe these models should be taught is by understanding the concept and not only trying to memorize everything. For example, it is not only to learn the letters of the alphabet, it is to understand that everybody can read and write, but in order to do this you need to learn the “code”. When you first enter school, maybe you don’t understand that the letter “m” represents the sound of “mmm” but that doesn’t mean you don’t comprehend that the letter is used to communicate. You learn to  understand the “why?” to learn, and add a meaning to learning other than a grade. However, teaching kids the importance of things can be a challenge. It is important to teach children that there are different ways of communicating. I have been talking about writing, but there is also music, art, etc. We need to understand there are other “languages”, several ways of representing and expressing the world, and all of them are accurate and wonderful. With the previous method of teaching I just mentioned I started working with the students in “La Javeriana” and we did practices in different places. One of the practices was with CASFA students. I came here for the first time, like 25 years ago, and I fell in love with this school, with its work with CASFA and the brotherhood both schools have. After being a teacher in “La Javeriana” for a long time, I continued doing university projects, and separate classes to some groups for a while, but then I quit and I decided to support my husband with the setting up of a personal project, a business, which is where I learned about administration and financial management, skills very useful for my current job as headmistress of this school. Later on I started working at Colegio Alcaparros as preschool coordinator. In my 19 years working there I fulfilled different jobs. I worked as a preschool teacher, I gave classes to teenagers about human development, and at the same time I was preschool coordinator. 

I am in love with education, especially in a specific curriculum called “high scope” which I plan on implementing to the educational program specially in preschool that consists of what I previously said; it focuses on the way kids learn better and understand better than the usual focus on the content itself. This is an innovative project because, while most educational projects expect children to adapt to specific models adults have created based on what we think kids should learn, this project is from a foundation located in the United States, that for more than 50 years has been researching how children learn in different stages. From this perspective, school curriculums should not put a limit on students, but instead they should promote that everyone reaches as far as they can. What I mean by this is when a curriculum is focused on content, for example in preschool, the girls of K4 have to learn to count and add until 10, but when a girl knows how to add with bigger numbers and counts further than 10, what does she do? When it is focused on the comprehension of the content, in the construction of the concept, it tries to make the child understand the concept of the number, that the number represents a quantity. When they understand that, it does not matter if they can count until 50, until a 100, until a 1,000 because the activities made for them does not measure how many numbers you can count, it measures the comprehension of the concept. This project is more about meaningful learning. 

 

I: We find this very important because most of the time, the educational curriculum is based on learning things by memory, rather than understanding what is being taught to us. Reason why sometimes we forget things we have learned in the past, because we never really understood them. This is frustrating for us, but is really the main way we have been taught how to learn, specially because of the grades. We study focusing on grades but not really trying to keep the knowledge for long. 

C: Something I frequently say is how we are aiming for an education (sorry for the spanish but it only makes sense in spanish) “conSentido '' which means it is meaningful, that I understand the why of things; it makes things have actual sense. Not only that,  but it also is “conSentida” which means it is good and makes sense to others through relations with the knowledge, understanding through that relationship what is what the other needs in order for me as an adult to know where to give my support. 

 

I: We think that this new technique (high scope) can help not only to improve the academic performance of the students, but also it could enhance creativity because something schools have is that the first years, in preschool, they teach you how to do things in a specific way, so it basically reduces your creativity. We understand that at that age it is important to learn to follow instructions, but we should put aside other skills, such as creativity, because of following orders. 

C: I completely agree. Let's see how contradicting education can be. They focus a lot on making children follow instructions but then they want them to be creative. How? Why do we expect kids to be creative when we have taught them otherwise? The solution I propose is to promote another element for women empowerment which is the ability of developing a growth mindset. What does this mean? That one should never stop learning and always believe they can be better and different. Over the years, one gains experience, and I believe that experience helps seeing things in different ways. Besides, it also forges resilience, and that factor helps to build a mindset which helps someone to keep learning, keep growing, and be able to adapt to the different uncertain realities that the world keeps challenging us with. That is why I think we should aim for that kind of education for the 21st century. We are teaching our kids to be ready for an unknown future. We never imagined that this pandemic was going to put us in this situation, nobody was able to predict it, and we don’t know what will happen in twenty or thirty years! All the information we need, we can find it on the internet or even on social media, but we need to learn how to think of the problems in a different way, in a creative way, in order to be able to solve them in a unique way.  This is where innovation comes from. That's what an empowered woman should be and that is where education, in my opinion, should be aimed. Still, I believe that in this school creativity is a strength because of the projects we are able to make when it comes to innovation. For example, when students have won robotics competitions, brilliant mind contests, or what they do in Makers and Inn-genius. It is important to think outside the box. 

 

I: How have you felt in school to this day? How has the environment been? What is your opinion regarding our school? 

C: I have been feeling very happy. I feel at home and very welcomed. I feel this is a community that is greatly interested in making others feel better because of their amity and their kindness. At Pachas, connections between people are important, as well as it is for me, so that I can be able to establish relationships that allow me to get to know and care for others. In addition, this school has a perspective of pedagogy which has the possibility to improve. I feel you are women who are able to think outside the box, who lead important projects, who dream and process things, and for me this has been amazing. For example, on Friday when the “líderes Prae” organized all the events, or the student council who are organizing the “semana cultural”. You are amazing girls because you are always active, trying to propose new things, and you carry those proposals out. It is not just words, but you make things happen. I love all of that, which is why I am so happy and I feel so comfortable here, because I can find here the kind of education that I believe in. 

 

I: You told us that in pachas you felt as if you were at home, a thought that we agree with. However, there was a time where we pachas felt like there was no relationship or connection between the people in this community; it felt like there was a kind of hierarchy. Since you arrived, we can see that you have lunch in the cafeteria as all of us do. And not only that, but  you also interact with students, teachers, workers, etc. We believe that in that  kind of environment it is where relationships begin to form, and we like this because we can see that somehow the Pacha’s essence is returning. 

C: Thank you for telling me this because for me, this kind of stuff is important. Even though sometimes I feel like there is so much to do that I can’t leave the office, for me having this time and spaces is important because, taking into account what I previously said, those moments is where the opportunity to connect with others is presented, to build with others, because if not, nothing of what I’m saying and what I believe in would make sense. 

 

I : Our next question is why did you want to come to pachas? We think you already answered that question though. 

C: Yeah I believe I have, but to complement, I come from a female school that nowadays doesn’t exist. It was known as “La Nena Cano”, it is just like everyone knows this school by Pachas but that is not the real name, get it? It was called Gimansio de Nuestra Señora and everyone called it Nena Cano. I had a lot of friends from this school and I always liked the profile the school had and currently has. 

 

I: Which do you consider are your best qualities?

C: I think that my ability to listen to others and that I have a big passion for what I do are the best ones. I know I can sometimes be inspiring to other people because when someone is very passionate about something, they transmit that passion. Also, even though I’m no longer 17, I am still curious and interested in learning. I believe that even though I have experience and knowledge, I don’t believe  I know it all. Actually,  I think you learn a lot  from the people that surround you. Finally, I care for others, I want the best for them and I consider I have a vocation for service from which I always try to look for ways I can make an impact on other people's lives. 

 

I: What is your zodiac sign?

C: I am Aries, I was born on March 23th. 

 

I: Did you ever imagine yourself as a headmistress? 

C: Well, yes, not exactly headmistress but I did imagine myself leading projects regarding education. Education has always been my passion, so I always dreamed of being able to communicate my educational ideas through leadership, because as I already said, the education I believe in is the one that transforms, not the one that remains within the walls of an institution, but the one that changes and has an impact on the students so that they can make changes around the world.