"Interview"

Roque del Tránsito González Correa, was born on August 15th, 1957 in San Fabian de Alico. His parents were Ignacio González and Gorja Correa. He was the 4th child of his family. H e studied in San Carlos. In this place he studied primary and secondary education. Later the studied in Talca and he obtained the title of "Teacher of Music". His life was very hard because he traveled from San Carlos to Talca by train every day. His mother worked very hard to buy him materials. His father worked very hard for his other children too.

Nowadays he works in Portezuelo"Liceo Nuestra Señora del Carmen".

1. What do you think about our "roots" in our country. Are they important?

I think that young people do not have conscience about their own roots, about their ancestors. They are worried about fashion, clothes, boyfriends, girlfriends, parties, etc. Many people are embarrased to have indigenous roots. This happens because they donot have information.

2. What is your experience as a teacher of music through your life?

My experience at the beginning was very strong. When I worked in Santiago I had a bad experience, one day. When I was teaching in a school I put my briefcase on the table and inside I had my salary. My own students stole me. It was a horrible situation. Later I came back to my region and I found a job there. I have had great satisfactions as a teacher. I had a recognition for my years of service. On the other hand, I went to Germany in 2000 for a Pasantia with other teachers of the country. It was a great experience for my work and myself.

3. When you went to Germany, What new experiences did you learn?

Wow, I could see a new culture. I was in class with children of that country. We shared with teachers of Germany and Chile too. We exchanged experiences, methods for teaching, we worked as a team. I learnt to make different instruments and later I was able to teach that. It is an excellent and interesting method to teach my students and they have more interest for music. We visited some countries too as France, Spain, Austria, Eslovaquia and Denmark. This trip was a great experience for me and my curriculum too, it was a gift that I will never forget.

4. How is your relationship between you and your students?

My relationship with my students is very good. My students respect me and I respect them too. Inside and outside of the class room have good comunication. I have a workshop of music in a different. There are many children and young people in my class, they have interest in learning. Every year we have a presentation in Portezuelo with students and other guests of other places. We have payadores, Folk groups, "cantoras", all about folk music. It is called "Encuentro de Payadores".

5. Tell me more about "Encuentro de Payadores"

Every year the "Encuentro de Payadores"is dedicated to an important representative of folk. This year was Victor Jara. This event started in 1991. There are 2 days when people show their faith to the virgin and they give thanks for the harvest. At the beginning they sing to the divine in the temple. The most important figure is the virgin. The "cantores" sing during the night in a vigil that is followed by many people.

The second day the "cantores" sing to the human where the payadores show their popular talents.

6. If you could make some changes in your class or improve something, what changes would you make and why?

I would like that every student could have their own instrument and the class could be more personal because when you have a lot of students in a class, you must have all the students busy working. However, this is not my problem because I know how manage to a class. I would like to have more instruments not only guitars and flutes. I would like to organize an orchestra with violins, violas, double basses, etc. but it´s still a project.