It was a great experience to be interviewed by one of the country’s foremost columnists, Ms. Rina Jimenez-David of the Philippine Daily Inquirer last Friday, February 4, 2011.
She was very nice, but very incisive than anything else. She was friendly, but she spoke with solid integrity. I will be a hypocrite if I do not admit that I am big a fan of the writer for decades now, who has become very well known not only because of her columns but also for her appearances on TV shows as panelist or social critic, and for her causes relating to women’s concerns and community development.
Judging from the many columns that she has written which I have read previously, I really thought that her lengthy interview of me will be featured primarily as one of her four- to five-section column. To be interviewed by her was, indeed, honor enough. That she even spoke lengthily about what Darwin International School has been doing in educating the youth, devoting her whole column today on Darwin – its goals, dreams, activities, challenges and results – honors the school, its parents, its personnel and, most especially, its students no end.
To thank Ms. Jimenez-David is in order. But the best way, perhaps, of thanking her is to continue what I love doing, and to do it even more with faith for the youth and passion for educating the nation – teaching Filipino students well, with the solution of current educational problems in mind. And I say this with one objective truth in mind: no school can accomplish its goals in a vacuum. Society, culture, institutions, policies and the whole educational system all enhance or impinge on the effectiveness of a school to contribute to the community. Surely, teaching alone is no guarantee of contributing to social development; it could even aggravate problems if educating people is not seen as a prime tool in social engineering. But engineering social development is something that is easier said than done.
It takes a penetrating writer to delve into the heart of her interviewee. An ordinary writer uses words to ask, write about her topic and make a point. But a good writer uses her heart to feel the pounding of another heart; she uses her mind to talk to society at large. Words are mere slaves of her beliefs; she is the master of her piece. A writer is not just a commentator but a human who is capable of feeling trends and reading social forces. She is a social actor of her milieu. She co-writes with the rest of the people the history of freedom and progress we all hope to attain.
The title Ms. Jimenez-David gave her piece, “The Little School That Could”, speaks precisely of what I have always believed all along: that quality education is not just about big campuses but about big hearts for the learner’s yearnings; that teaching is not about perfect teachers but near-perfect love of teachers for teaching; not just about gargantuan facilities (though, there is nothing wrong with vast facilities per se) but about grand visions for the students’ future. It is not just about the process of working hard but of raising standards and working hard to achieve these for the benefit of the students.
Teaching well is working with disparate resources like musical instruments which, nonetheless, are capable of creating a harmonious melody. I thank Ms. Jimenez-David for giving Darwin a space to sing its song of hope amidst deafening despondency plaguing our nation at this juncture of our history.
8 February 2011
11:50 pm
FRIENDS:
You may follow this link to read the piece written by Ms. Rina Jimenez-David titled “THE LITTLE SCHOOL THAT COULD”.
http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20110208-319077/The-little-school-that-could
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