NO ONE ELSE BUT US - Day

12:34PM - it's a fine, fine line....

oh no. i am not talking about avenue q's bittersweet song. there is really is a fine, fine line between many binary opposites in the world. hell, there are even so many fine lines between things that shouldn't be in opposition anyway. just to throw in my two cent's worth. in another blogging service, my good buddy laid down his case against the pshs achievement tests. it generated 101 replies already. some commended him for bringing out sentiments which they couldn't bring out into the open, others chided him for bringing out the school's dirty laundry in...well the public sphere. we can argue day and night about the propriety of what had been done, but at the end of the day, we can only come up with one conclusion: there really is something wrong with the pshs achievement test if such a boring topic could actually generate so much attention and so many barbed comments from students, teachers, parents, alumni and bystanders. there really is a fine line between what we should put out for people, and what we should keep within the walls of our school. while it is true that pshs is a public school, and thus must be made accountable to the public which supports its continued existence, there still exist mechanisms within the school which could deal with these problems. i know that we can sometimes get so impatient because these processes take a lot of time, but the best way is to have a two pronged attack, do it both on the net and on campus too, preferably filing the complaint with administration before exposing it over the internet. after all as teachers, we also have duties not only towards our students but also towards the institution. i guess, some of us (including me) are just so tired in having our opinions, suggestions, and grievances brushed away most of the time. it's actually a tragedy that people have to go to the internet to air out their grievances. that simply implies that they are not being listened to, or people hear what they have to say then shove it out their other ear. i guess this is a malaise that has crept not only in pshs but in the entire country. after all, no matter how loud our voices have been against the current tenant of the palace, our cries have not been heeded. i admire martin for being an advocate of change, but i also believe in flor's call for caution as not all the tests were bad anyway. it's going to be a fine balancing act if we are to get things done with the least amount of blood shed. but it's the only way to go. in sum, the pshs has to take a hard look at its achievement test. and we're not simply talking about the items in the tests but also the rationale and the conduct of these exams. as job said when confronted by god, "i put my hand on my mouth, i have said too much already. i will say no more."

Current mood: pensive

Current music: believe