Interview with Mrs. Maru Fernández
Today we are interviewing Maru Fernández, Child Psychologist at the Alborán School and Counselor of the same for more than 20 years.
«Closeness, respect and good treatment with everyone."
Hans: 1. First of all, how are you feeling? What expectations do you have from this interview?
Maru: – I feel very comfortable with you and I really want you to do the interview, since I've known you for many years, although I don't know how it will be… (laughs discreetly).
Hans: 2. Well, now we are starting the interview, why did you take the path of Psychology?
Maru: To be honest with you (says calmly), I originally wanted to study Medicine, which was what I liked the most at the time. For this I agreed to Psychology, since then they allowed you to enter said career if you had the first approved course of other careers, among which was Psychology. But when I was in my first year I really liked it and so I decided to stay. That's how I ended up in psychology. And I have always been very happy.
Hans: 3. What was your first job? What can you tell us about him?
Maru: If we talk about a job related to my degree, the very first position I got was a rehabilitation association for alcoholics. They did group therapy there. It was a tough experience from which I learned a lot. Later, and perhaps for this reason, I specialized in children, I began to take very interesting courses in Child Psychology, as well as a Master's Degree in Guidance for Primary, Secondary and Baccalaureate. I love working with minors and young people, and "one of my goals is to reach them with love, diversity and respect."
Thus, I began to work in a nursery, coordinating the psychological care of small children and this experience was enriching for me.
I have also worked in academies and assisting children in the private sphere, until 19 years ago I started working at the Alborán School.
Hans: 4. Continuing with all of the above, how did the Alborán school become your final destination?
Maru: Well, I knew the "cole" because my little sister was studying here when the school was inaugurated, in fact, hers was the First Promotion. She was very happy at school and she transmitted her enthusiasm to me. That is why I had contact with him and his environment, thus getting to know Santiago and Milagros. In this way, with great enthusiasm, I did the final internship in the Guidance Department of the Alborán College.
Hans: 5. And what can you tell us? How is the atmosphere here?
Maru: If there is something that I want to highlight about this environment, it is first of all, that when you enter here you feel very comfortable with the type of relationship we have with all the students, from the youngest to the oldest. Also the relationship with colleagues is currently very good. Although we are all different from each other, we work together with a feeling of well-being helping and supporting each other in everything.
In addition, dealing with management positions is magnificent. You can always debate from respect and tolerance with them.
It is, in short, the set of all these personal interactions that makes this a unique environment. Closeness, respect and good treatment with everyone members of the school, something not always found in work settings.
In this way, it is not surprising that every morning you wake up wanting to go to work, which is very important. Something very curious happens, for example, when you return from vacation, and that is that when you return to your job it gives the feeling of not having returned to work. We are not only colleagues, but we are friends who are all working in the same direction.
Hans: 7. Is your intervention usual, as a psychologist? How often?
Maru: Yes, I participate in the decisions that concern me, those related to the students. And I know that they count on me in making decisions for methodological change. It also helps to organize the Tutorial Action Plan. I have always been taken into account and asked my opinion I have no complaints in that regard. (says satisfied).
Hans: 6. How has the general behavior of the students evolved over the years?
Maru: Behavior has changed a lot, because that's how society has changed. The standards have changed a lot and very quickly since I came here, the arrival of new technologies have been, without a doubt (she tells us, convinced), a factor of great influence. Communicative immediacy, for example, has made you, the students, want things immediately and your way of learning follows another path and goes at a different pace. We teachers have had to adapt to this change and to your new interests. This has led to the absolute need to make a methodological change, since it is what the student has demanded. In short, yes, there is a student different from the one that existed in the past and a different teaching staff, which adapts to the new times.
Hans: 7. Do you think that this change has one or several concrete causes?
Maru: It's a broad topic. In addition to new technologies, there are new family models. Parental authority has been reduced with respect to children. Before, the authority of the teaching staff was unquestionable (he says emphatically), but now some parents question us. And I'm talking about society in general, not specifically about this school where parents tend to be very helpful.. That is something we have to continually fight against. Easy access to all kinds of information makes us all "know everything" and leads us to be questioned, as is our authority. Our figure does not have the transcendence that it used to have.
Hans: 8. How do you feel when solving the conflicts that arise?
Mark: I help children in all educational stages, in all aspects, not only in their learning, but also on a personal and social level.
When you help solve a problem, of whatever kind, the satisfaction is enormous. Seeing that a student has some kind of difficulty, and that thanks to your contribution they manage to overcome a bump, or resolve a conflict, is priceless (she says, moved).
It is the best thing about this job, the satisfaction of advising and of providing my help. I love that children and young people see in me a counselor who accompanies them at many times.
In addition, I help and advise families on learning difficulties and we seek solutions. Families get very involved and this team search for educational strategies and solutions is also an exciting task.
Hans 9. Finally, and related to all the previous questions, why is the role of a psychologist in a center so important? Do you lay the foundations for his future?
Maru: It is difficult to lay the foundations for their future, since there are many factors that influence the educational process, although they do contribute a grain of sand. Sometimes they can be taught something that influences their decisions, but doesn't define them.
The Guidance Department of a center it is rather a mediating and guiding figure for students and teachers. In my experience, I deal a lot with teachers and tutors, as well as with the students, since they are the ones who have direct contact with the latter. I advise them and propose ideas and together we put them into practice, involving the families in the whole process.
Now the issue of emotional intelligence is very present: know, control and identify our emotions and those of others. It is essential to transmit this to the student, as it allows him to direct his emotions, benefiting himself and relationships with others. Emotions have always existed, what happens is that now they have been studied and seen how their identification and control are important in the correct psychological development of the person.
The interview ends in a very relaxed and relaxed atmosphere, in which the interviewer and interviewee are satisfied. One of them comments that the interview has been pleasant, and the other confirms it with a: without a doubt.
