We are Jermaine, Petar, Firas, Ruben and Jesse (from left to right) and our subject is family life.
Firas: I am 15 years old. I'm originally from Iraq. I live in the Netherlands for 6 years now, with my parents and 2 younger brothers. My hobbies are soccer and I like kickboxing. Next year, I want to practice kickboxing. I play soccer 3 times a week. I play soccer on the street with a lot friends. I have a few fish as pets. My ambition for the future is to become a professional MMA fighter. Rico Verhoeven is my idol. My dream is to earn a lot of money to help others, like homeless people, refugees or people who live in a warzone.
Jermaine: I am 15 years old and my hobbies are gaming and read comics. I live with my parents and my younger brother. We have four pets: a bunny (Snuffie), a cavia (Torchic) and two hamsters(Harry and Bruce) My ambition for the future is to work in ICT: to make my own games.
Jesse(group leader): I am 14 years old. I live in the Netherlands. I live With my parents and two little brothers. My hobby's are gaming and making things. My ambition is being an architect
Part 2: Research
Materials
Eumind document with information
Whatsapp to share information
The information of each person
A laptop for to type information
Procedure
We chose our subject
We divided the tasks
Who in interviews the parents and who the grandparents
Who is the leader of the group
The interviews were not videotaped and no pictures were taken, because of the privacy of the interviewed persons. We descided to type along instead of filming, so we could write down all the answers. Later on, we made a summary about the interviews. (This is a school regulation)
2.1 People we interviewed
Father, Zoran, 56 years old, born in Bosnia and Herzegovina, moved to the Netherlands. Mother, Sladjana, 46 years old, born in Serbia, moved to the Netherlands. Father, Abbas, 44 years old, born in Iraq, moved to the Netherlands. Grandfather, Leo, 65 years old, born in the Netherlands. Grandmother, Hanneke, 65 years old, born in the Netherlands. Grandfather, Wim, 77 years old, born in the Netherlands. Grandmother, Margot, (age), born in the Netherlands.
2.2 Interview questions General questions:
A short description of the family.
Where did you live with your parents (please add map/ Google map)
Historical fact/event
Main question. Has the role of the family changed? Subquestions 1-5 are related to the time the people interviewed were about 14 years old.
Which family matters did your parents discuss with the children when you were a teenager?: free time, studies, holidays, purchases, renovation of the house?
What main values were taught by your parents when you were a teenager?
Was there any hierarchy in the family (father-mother-boys-girls)? Explain.
What did you like most in your family? Explain.
Can you remember one very special event/occasion that you really felt the importance of being member of a family?
Do you think that the role of a family has changed ?
What are the three most important characteristics of a family?
2.3 Interviews A summary of the interviews is given in the document below.
Part 3: Conclusion: Comparison and reflection
3.1 Comparison
Grandpa’s and grandma’s similarities They all liked it at their home and they all liked their childhood. They all remembered a historical event,
Grandpa’s and grandma’s differences They lived somewhere else in the Netherlands Jesse's grandparents had more people in their house. Jesse's grandfather had to work when he came home in his teenage years. Jermaine's grandfather had dance lessons so he had more spare time in his teenage years.
Mom and dad similarities They liked it at home and family life was important Both Firas’ parents and Petar’s parents fled from a war Values were important at home
Mom and dad differences Lived in different countries (Iraq and Bosnia and Herzegovina) Completely different jobs Different kind of things that parents learned their children.
The end conclusion is that every parent/grandparent is different. Some of them lived somewhere else. Some of the grandparents didn’t have spare time because they needed to work for the money. If you look now the parents have more jobs to choose of because of technology and machines. Most of the grandparents had less money. Nowadays we get pocket money and some of us can work to get some more money. We have more spare time and we spent it by playing soccer, or by gaming.
Important historical events that the (grandparents) remembered, were the flood in the Netherlands in 1953, WW2, and the wars in Yugoslavia and Iraq. These are mayor events they experienced.
3.2 Comparison with India
In India, the grandparents spent their spare time outdoor, as they did not have modern facilities. Most of the time, they spent with their family. The family always had lunch and dinner with all of the family members. The parents also had a lot of family life outdoor activities and picnics were common for them as well. Today, the family members are very busy and they don't have a lot of family time. The parents are working more, but the go on trips frequently every year. In the Netherlands, family time has also decrease due to working parents. This is the biggest similarity between the two countries. Family values in India are more important than in the Netherlands. In India, three generations live in one house, while in the Netherlands the grandparents are living in another place. Families in India are closer than in the Netherlands. Children have more respect towards parents and grandparents in India.
3.3 Answering the main question Answer to main question: Has the role of the family changed? Yes it has. In the time of the grandparents the family was much closer to each other. Now everyone is living his own life. People in the Netherlands live with 2 generations in 1 house. The grandparents live on their own or in a retirement home. In the past, values were more important than today. People used to teach their children more values. Today we are more dependant on the environment and the (social) media. The role of the family in India has also been changed. In the past, family members spent a lot of time together. People did not have a lot of facilities, so they were more dependant on each other. Later on, family time became less and now, with more people working in the family, the family time decreased. Still, families try to plan activities together.
3.4 Reflection We chose to work together, because we can work good together and it was really interesting to do because we learned that not all of the parents are the same. Sometimes, not all of us were working just as hard as one other. We had some problems with the whatsapp communication with India in the beginning, but later on, it went well. It took some of us a long time to do the interviews and to type them down. That is why the comparison took some time and more energy than we expected.