Childhood and the Teenage Years
Concrete Experience
The interview conducted was on Kevin Johnson, a 76-year-old man who is my neighbor in my community who has been responsible for providing emotional and moral care two his two younger siblings namely Garry Johnson and Christine Rose. He noted that his father neglected them while growing up which prompted him to take up the role of providing care to the two children. He noted that his father by the name Clarence Johnson separated from his mother, Esther Johnson, due to the infidelity of the father who ended up fathering other children out wedlock with various women. From the interview, it became evident that Kevin was emotionally charged by recollections of his father’s philandering ways, which he claimed his younger brother and sister lacked any knowledge about, as this would be unsettling for them.
Observations and Reflections (What)
At the start of the interview, it became apparent that Kevin’s childhood was marked by pain and trauma, because of the absence of a father figure. In addition, I was also concerned with the ability and capacity of the subject to recollect various events and issues due to his old age. He notes that he had to endure living with a neglectful father until he was able to gain a capacity to move out with his younger brother and sister. We endured some problems in the interview in terms of accuracy in providing the appropriate information related to his father and even basic aspects such as his name and that of his mother, Esther Rose Johnson.
Concepts and Generalizations (So What)
I was fascinated by his vivid recollections especially on issues that related o his mother and siblings. Kevin Johnson noted that he was born in the year 1940 on February 27th in a rural town known as Bainbridge in Indiana.
Test of Implications (Now What)
Early and Middle Adulthood
Concrete Experience
Observations and Reflections
Concepts and Generalizations
Test of Implications
So What
I found her memories to be profoundly enlightening. I could tell that she had prepared for the
interview because she had names and dates all lined up. I was surprised that she would even have
thought that I was going to ask about her ancestors so believe she felt that information was important to
pass on. She is really the only one that possesses the historical knowledge of the family. Her only living
younger brother always lived away from home and her sister was born later in life. We discussed her
grandparents and life on a farm in rural Pennsylvania. Her memories of a post depression era are still
very clear and she felt it was a much simpler and happier life as compared to our current rushed society.
She spoke about the fact that her family was poor but she said that everyone was poor. She never
remembers being hungry, she said there was always enough food. She spoke of wearing hand-me-down
clothes and having holes in her shoes but even with these adversities, she had a very happy childhood
and early adulthood.
I was actually very amazed that her long-term memory seemed very robust and clear. In the text,
it refers to tertiary memory. She had not thought about her early childhood days in quite some time but
she was able to draw those memories and describe them pretty fully. The text states that the ability to
retrieve memories may decline with aging but I did not find that to be the case with mom, she seemed
able to relive the past without any difficulty.
During the interview, it became very apparent that she had a very happy childhood. The
Continuity Theory may be quite correct in her case. The Continuity Theory states that person’s
personality formations in their formative years will also determine their patterns of adaptations in their
later years. My mom described a very upbeat happy childhood and she maintains that positive attitude
even in the adversities that she has been through throughout her life. She is a very spiritual person as
well and has carried those beliefs though her lifetime. My father was diagnosed with cancer at the age of
52 and they fought the disease for over 25 years. In all that time, she maintained a positive attitude as
they went through those struggles.
One other theory that I think rings true for my mother is the Activity Theory. As per the text, the
activity theory states that the more active people are, mentally, physically and socially, the better adjusted
they are. My mom doesn’t drive and she is now a widow so she had periods of loneliness. She is a very
social person and loves to interact with people. During the winter months when she is more isolated, she
sometimes becomes a little depressed.
Now What
The experience of interviewing my mom was stressful at first but as we went through it, I was able
to gain some very important historical knowledge and learned things about mom’s life that I never took
the time to learn. I am very proud of my mother for her strength in handling life without dad. I am sure the
next interview will be a little harder as we discuss sadder times in her life but this has been a great
experience. I wish I lived closer to her so that I could devote more time to documenting all of her
memories. Add more here on what you will take from this experience and apply to your future
professional life
I have ordered an interview reflection but it was not done in the format the instructor wanted, I need this to be reformatted. Please use the information in the interview I submitted to my teacher as my draft and see what she wrote on it.
i want to make two reflections for the interview each reflection 2 pages using Lewinian Experiential Leaning Model you can find it on page 7 and 8 from The oral history Orientation attachment, it is the format in the sample reflection (using WHAT, SO WHAT, NOW WHAT). Also PLEASE include at least THREE terms in bold as in the sample for paper, in both reflection.
You can use the same terms in the reflection sample but change the ideas somehow. One reflection starts with Childhood and the Teenage Years questions (in the interview guide), and the other about the Early and Middle Adulthood questions + Later Adulthood questions (in the interview guide attachment). I want it to be in the same format as the sample reflection i attached. Thanks