Lesson 1: Importance of understanding community dynamics and
community action.
OBJECTIVES:
● Compare and contrast the definitions of community using various
perspectives (social sciences, institutions, civil society, and local grassroots
level)
● Recognize essential characteristics of communities in terms of elements and
structures.
● Develop/affirm a sense of shared identity and willingness to contribute to the
attainment of the common good.
● Recognize diversities in communities
● Analyze the function of the communities in terms of structures and
typologies.
WHAT IS COMMUNITY?
COMMUNITY
A group of people living in the same place or having a particular
characteristic in common.
Most common notions defining community:
1) As shared political teritory and heritage
2) As network of interpersonal ties based on common interest.
3) As profound sharing of spiritual and/or emotional connection.
Community as shared political territory and heritage
● A traditional understanding of community refers to a group of people living in
the same geographical area (either as a neiborhood, village, town, or city)
● The community is viewed here as something that is situated within local
boundaries.
● GRASSROOTS PERSPECTIVES. – people living territorial enclaves (sitios,
villages or barangays)
Community as a network of interpersonal ties based on common interest
● These ties , in turn, provide mutual support, a sense of identity, and sense of
belongingness for the members.
● Sporting community, business community, or the Lesbian Gay Bi-sexual, and
Transsexual Community (LGBT) community.
● Virtual Online Community (NETIZENS)
● Make use of computer hardware and software applications in
order to support, mediate and facilitate social interaction and
solidarity.
● On the other hand, the notion of community as a network of interpersonal
ties is often applied to civil society organizations (CSOs)
● Built around the foundations of common interest in addressing social
problems.
● Given the varied understanding and uses of a community, it can be deduced
that a community is a social construct – meaning it is not JUST:
Community as profound sharing of spiritual and/or emotional connection
● This understanding of community pertains to a sense of spiritual and/or
emotional connection to others, or communion with others on the basis of
experience of a common problems.
Sense of Community
“A feeling that members have of belonging, a feeling that members matter to
one another and to the group, and a shared faith that members’ needs will be met
through their commitment to be together.”
● Four elements of the Sense of community
● Membership – refers to the feeling of belonging or of sharing a sense of
personal relatedness.
Boundaries – allowing others to belong and keep others out.
Emotional safety – feelings of security and trust in revealing how one
really feels.
Sense of belonging and identification – members’ feeling that they
belong, fit in, and are accepted by the community.
Personal investment – sacrifices made to maintain membership in the
community.
● Influence – refers to the sense of having importance or of feeling valued,
wherein there is balance between
Members feeling that they have a feeling that they have a say in
community and;
A community being a body that also has the power to make its
member conform.
• Integration and fulfillment of needs – refers to the feeling of fulfillment, which
stems from the personal investments that members make in maintaining
community membership or in participating in community activities and
affairs.
• Shared emotional connection – refers to a sense of shared cultural and
historical heritage and the feeling that common experiences will continue to
be shared in the future.
For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one
body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.
- 2 corinthians 12:12
COMMUNITY STRUCTURES
● 1. Community social structure
• Social Institutions – are established patterns of belief and behavior that are
centered on addressing basic social needs of people in the community.
Social groups – consist of 2 or more people in the community who regularly
interact with one another.
A. Primary group – family, peers, and neigborhood clusters
B. informal groups – groups bonded by common likes, interest, attitude
C. formal group – groups created by an organization to fulfill a task.
D. in group – those who strongly consider themselves as members of
the community
E. out group – those who are either considered transient or not even
part of community.
Status - refers to the position or rank a person holds, in relation to other
members of the community.
a. Ascribed status – assigned at birth or is involuntary acquired in the course
of one’s life.
b. Achieved status – acquired on the basis of merit or accomplishment in
one’s course of life.
Role – refers to the obligations or behaviors expected from an individual on
the basis
COMMUNITY TYPOLOGIES
● Typology means classifying things according to specific types.
Gemeinschaft and Gesselschaft
The are the ideal types of human associations found communities.
Gemeinschaft
Or communal society, refers to human associations that are characterized by
being intimate (having face to face relations) , caring, homogenous, and
group welfare-oriented.
● Gesselschaft
Or associational society, pertains to human associations that are
characterized by being impersonal, formal, rational, heterogeneous, and
individualistically oriented.
Urban, Rural, Suburban and Rurban Communities
1. Urban communities – are cities or big towns where there is a large, high dense,
heterogenous, population.
2. Rural communities – are territorial enclaves or villages where there is a small,
low density, and homogenous population. There are a lot spaces for vegetation and
the natural environment.
3. Suburban communities – are residential or mixed-used areas located at the
city outskirts or within the commuting distance of a city.
4. Rurban communities – are communities that both have urban and rural
characteristics
Local and Global Communities
Local community – is term often used to denote a geographically bounded
community such as territorial enclave, village, barangay, town, city
municipality, province, region, or even an entire country depending on the
point of reference.
Global community – is a term used to characterize the interconnectivity of
people or countries all over the world.
Community Sectors
refer to the subdivisions of society that represent clusters of social
institutions according to their social, economic, and political functions.
1. Private Sector
2. Public Sector
3. Voluntary Sector
4. For benefit sector
Social Space
is either a geographical or virtual community where people gather or network
with one due to common interests.
Lesson 2: COMMUNITY DYNAMICS
● Refer to the changes that occur in the community power structures and
community population composition over time.
○ Community Power – are hierarchal interrelationships that govern the
interaction of individuals among each other within a localized group
setting.
○ Community population composition – refers to common
demographic variables that describe the size, distribution, and
characteristics of population such as age structure, sex composition,
educational level, marital status, employment status.
Factors Affecting Community Power structure
● Authority
● Influence
○ Status
○ Wealth
○ Expertise
○ Charisma
Factors Affecting changes in the composition of people in the community
● Fertility
● Mortality
● Migration
Types of Community Power Structures
Interacting individuals involved in community power structures are called power
actors. They are the key persons or groups who control decision making functions in
community affairs.
There are different types of community power structures, namely 1.) pluralist 2.)
elitist 3.) factional 4.) amorphous
● PLURALIST – in this type of community power structure, power becomes an
attribute of an individual and it is widely distributed within the members of
the community.
Pluralism serves as the hallmark of participatory democracy where people
either;
a) Participate directly in community affairs
b) Participate by electing officials to represent the people’s will on
their behalf.
● ELITIST – in this type of community power structure generally conforms to
the system of hierarchical stratification and is associated with those who
possess corporate wealth and/or prestige due to traditional or religious
authority.
a) Class based theory of power – in this type, power belongs to those who
control the economic system of the community, or is distributed to those
who are able to accumulate capital.
b) The growth machine – they perceive community growth as economic
gain for themselves.
● FACTIONAL – in this type of community power structure, power resides in
numerous interest, groups that hold relatively equal power, but they are
struggling to control or dominate influence in community affairs.
● AMORPHOUS – this refers to a seeming absence of an identifiable power
structure in some communities.
● In amorphous communities, people do not see the necessity for change and
they lack initiative and direction.
Identifying Community Power Actors
Power actors are key persons or groups who control decision making function in
community affairs. They are aware of their position in the community.
● POSITIONAL METHOD – This involves making and updating a list of power
actors in positions of authority in the local government and in leading
economic, cultural, religious and voluntary organizations.
a) Determining relevant positions in the community;
b) Collecting incumbents’ names; and
c) Reviewing and updating the list annually.
● REPUTATIONAL METHOD – This involves the selection of many
knowledgeable community citizen who can provide a list of power actors.
The identified power actor would then be ranked according to their reputation
in influencing community affairs.
a) Making a list of knowledgeable community citizens;
b) Developing interview question and a pilot test
c) Interviewing knowledgeable community citizens
d) Deciding the criteria on who among the citizens in the list can be
part of the community power actor pool.
e) Repeating the process regularly
• DECISION- MAKING METHOD – this involves tracing the history of a
collective decision concerning at least one issue areas. Sources of
information for a collective decision include minutes of the meeting,
committee reports, and participant interview.
d) Deciding the criteria on who among the citizens in the list can be
part of the community power actor pool.
e) Repeating the process regularly
• DECISION- MAKING METHOD – this involves tracing the history of a
collective decision concerning at least one issue areas. Sources of
information for a collective decision include minutes of the meeting,
committee reports, and participant interview.
STEPS IN THE DECISION MAKING METHOD
a) Selecting representative community decision to focus on
b) Including relevant decisions areas
c) Creating a documents review guide
d) Developing interview question and a pilot test
e) Interviewing knowledgeable community citizens
f) Tracing the decision making process
g) Determining leaders in decisions
SOCIAL PARTICIPATION METHOD – this involves developing a list of leaders in
active participants in committee works in key community voluntary associations.
h) Selecting key community voluntary associations
i) Obtaining a list of association participants
j) Comparing and determining overlaps in officership and committee
work
k) Assigning a scoring system of social participation
l) Listing power actors with the highest degree of social participation.
Lesson 3: COMMUNITY ACTION
OBJECTIVES
• Recognize the value of undertaking community action modalities;
• Identify opportunities to contribute to community development through
solidarity;
• Show an appreciation of the value of citizenship education in community
engagement and nation – building (enrichment)
COMMUNITY ACTION
• Refers to collective efforts done by people directed toward addressing social
problems (e.g., social inequalities, environmental degradation and poverty) in
order to achieve social well being.
INGREDIENTS OF COMMUNITY ACTION
• Common context – people live in a similar setting and/or locality.
• Common experience - people encounter a comparable experience
individually or collectively.
• Common understanding of an issue – people have more or less the same
view of the issue at hand.
• Common analysis – people went through a process of analyzing the issue
and may have a similar take on the issue, partly or in a whole.
• An acceptable standard – people usually reach a minimum standard in
undertaking an action together.
• An action that is acceptable to the community – people discuss and
agree on what action to take, who will take the lead, who will do supporting
roles and will do other tasks.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
• The term engagement denotes interaction, sharing and relationships at
different levels.
• It can be defined as the partnership between two parties such as academic
institution and local communities for mutual benefits and characterized by
reciprocal relations.
• Refers to the process of developing partnerships and sustaining relationships
with and through groups of people affiliated by geographic proximity or
common interests for the purpose of working for the common good and of
addressing issues that affect their well-being.
GOAL OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
• Active collaboration
• Improves the quality of life
LEVELS AND MODALITIES OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
There are different appropriate levels of community engagement depending on
the issue that is being addressed in the community or the objectives of
engagement.
• INFORMATION
• is a one way relationship on disseminating information to community
members.
• It also includes more active measures to disseminate information
through community campaign awareness activities.
• CONSULTATION
• Involves obtaining stakeholders approval for a particular initiative.
• INVOLVEMENT
• Is about enlisting community stakeholders as volunteers and its
associated services.
• ACTIVE PARTICIPATION
• Allows the involvement of community members in the planning,
implementation, and overall assessment of development initiatives.
SOLIDARITY
• Refers to the firm and persevering determination to commit oneself to the
common good by mutually supporting and sustaining movements for social
change and social justice.
• Solidarity often entails establishing ties with people who are oppressed,
marginalized, and/or vulnerable.
In Philippine society, among the most common sectors that are often
vulnerable, oppressed, or marginalized are;
• Rural poor
• Urban poor
• Victims of human trafficking
• Poor children, women, youth, elderly and street families.
• Persons with Disabilities
• Prisoners and inmates
• Victims or survivors of disaster
Solidarity entails working with the vulnerable, oppressed, and/or marginalized
sectors to face a social problem and collectively work for their emancipation.
This means that solidarity requires action, not just approval or lip-service
support.
• EDUCATION FOR ALL
This refers to bringing the benefits of education to every citizen
in society.
• HEALTH FOR ALL
It pertains to the understanding that health – which is a state of
complete physical, mental, and social well-being.
• GOOD GOVERNANCE FOR ALL
This pertains to capacitating local communities and institutions
to manage and regulate their own welfare in terms of economic
security, sociopolitical well-being, and cultural preservation and
progress.
• ECONOMIC JUSTICE FOR ALL
This pertains to capacitating local communities and institutions
to manage and regulate their own welfare in terms of economic
security, sociopolitical well-being, and cultural preservation and
progress. .
• CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE FOR ALL
CITIZENSHIP
THERE ARE INTERRELATED DIMENSION OF CITIZEN
• LEGAL DIMENSION
A citizen refers to a person who enjoys;
• civil (freedom of speech and right to own property)
• political (right to vote and hold public office)
• social rights ( right to education, health and social security)
• POLITICAL DIMENSION
A citizen refers to a person who is a political agent and is actively
participating in society’s political institution and system.
• IDENTITY DIMENSION
A citizen that is considered a member of a political community (nation-state)
that actively shapes his or her cultural identity
Citizenship Education in the Philippines
• In the Philippines, every Filipino is expected to be a good citizen based on
core Filipino values that are considered integral components in nation
building.
We, the sovereign Filipino people, imploring the aid of Almighty God, in order
to build a just and humane society and establish a Government that shall embody
our ideals and aspirations, promote the common good, conserve and develop our
patrimony, and secure to ourselves and our posterity the blessings of independence
and democracy under the rule of law and a regime of truth, justice, freedom, love,
equality, and peace, do ordain and promulgate this Constitution.
CORE FILIPINO VALUES
• Pagkamaka-Diyos (being God)
this encompasses faith in the almighty God.
• Pagkamaka-Tao (being humane)
this includes the promotion of the common good and valuing of truth,
justice, freedom, love, equality and peace.
• Pagkamaka-Bayan (being nationalistic and patriotic)
this includes securing the blessings of democracy and respect for the
rule of law, the Philippine government, and its intrumentalities.
• Pagkamaka-Kalikasan (being caring for the environment)
This involves the conservation and development of the country’s
patrimony.
These core Filipino values are the bases of Filipino citizenship within the
dimension of national identity. They set the anchors of Filipino identity as defined by
the nation-state - that is, “Philippines for the Filipinos.”
aside from that, citizenship education in the country also takes the form of
political dimension through the nationally mandated service learning courses such
as the;
• The Citizenship Advancement Training (CAT)
aims to enhance the students’ social responsibility and commitment to
the development of their communities and development their ability to
uphold law and order.
IT HAS THREE COMPONENTS
• Military Orientation
• Community Service
• Public Safety and Law Enforcement Service
• National Service Training Program (NSTP)
is a program aimed at enhancing civic consciousness and defense
preparedness in the youth by developing the ethics of services and patriotism
IT HAS THREE COMPONENTS
• Reserved Officers Training Corps (ROTC)
• Literacy Training Service (LTS)
• Civic Welfare Training Service (CWTS)
SOCIAL CHANGE
• Refers to the alteration of social interactions, interactions, institutions,
stratification systems and elements of culture over time.
• Social change can be micro (subtle alterations in daily social interactions) or
macro (gradual transformation that occurs on a wide scale which affects
different aspects of society.)
The term is often associated to similar concepts such as;
• Evolution – development from simple to complex
• Revolution – overthrow of an existing social order or system
• Progress –change in direction toward a desired goal
• Development – planned change towards a desired goal.
FACTORS OF SOCIAL CHANGE
• Internal Factors – norms, values, beliefs, gender, social class, caste,
psychosocial characteristics, ethnicity and race.
• External Factors – These are beyond human control such as; demographic,
cultural, political, and economic.
• Demographic Factors
These refers to changes that occur in the number and composition
of people in the community brought about by variations in fertility rates,
mortality rates, and migration rates.
• Cultural Factors
These refers to changes that occur in the elements of culture
(symbols, language, norms, values and beliefs, rituals and artifacts due to
cultural diffusion, fission and convergence.
• Political Factors
These refers to changes that occur in the political structure and system
of society due to either reformist or radical approaches.
• Economic Factors
These refers to changes that occur in the economic structure and
system of society due to modernization.
THEORIES ON SOCIAL CHANGE
• Evolutionary
In this theory, communities are seen to go through series of linear
stages from simple to complex, all geared toward a higher and more
advanced stage of existence.
When the communities evolve, the evolved version is expected to be
better of what they are before.
• Cyclical
This theory presupposes that communities undergo a cycle of birth,
maturity, decline and death and that they undergo stages of ideational,
idealistic, and sensate culture.
After experiencing death, the community will be reborn to something
new and will go through the whole cycle all over
• Functional
This theory presents that communities always operate on equilibrium
where the social, cultural, political, and economic structures of the
community produce order, stability, and productivity.
• Conflict
This theory explains that changes takes place due to conflicts that
occur in societies. Conflict arises because of unequal relations among people
on the basis of class, gender, age, race and ethnicity.
• Symbolic Interactionism
This theory argues that people in society continuously interact with
one another, and it is through this interaction that they are able to construct
and alter existing social, cultural political and economic structures.
Lesson 4: Purpose of Community Action
The purpose of community action is for people to work in solidarity in order to
address a certain social problem but before we can address such, it is necessary to
first have a substantial understanding of the different social issues that affect the
poor and marginalized communities in developing countries today. Here are the five
major social issues that every Filipinos has been experiencing..
Education
Health
Livelihood
Environment
Disaster
WHAT ARE SOCIAL ISSUES?
A social issue (also called a social problem or a social ill) is an issue that relates
to society's perception of people's personal lives. Different societies have different
perceptions and what may be "normal" behaviour in one society may be a
significant social issue in another society. Social issues are distinguished from
economic issues. Some issues have both social and economic aspects, such
as immigration.
EDUCATION
• Poor facilities found in public schools (Non-working or poorly maintained
public comfort rooms, lack of classrooms, overcrowding in classrooms, poor
ventilation, unsanitary and crowded canteens)
• Low salary of public school teachers
Environment
• Pollution
• Global warming due to emission of greenhouse gase
• Overpopulation
• Natural resources depletion
• Waste disposal
Health
• Improve hospitals and health facilities. This is the most basic problem we
need to address. If we lack the facilities, the machines, and the medicines,
how can we treat our people?
• Employ more health workers (doctors, nurses, and midwives). We have a
surplus of around 200,000 nurses in the country.
• Lower the cost of medicines. The DOH is mandated to promote generic
medicines and to monitor the cost of essential medicines.
• Control the growing HIV-AIDS epidemic. Should HIV positive cases suddenly
increase in the Philippines as projected, then that will put a tremendous
strain on the health sector.
Disaster
• Capacity building for disaster preparedness
• Non-Early warning systems and evacuations
Livelihood
• Ethnicity and vulnerability
Role of Youth in Community Action
In the Philippines, the vital role of the youth in community has been enshrined
and incorporated the following documents…
• Philippine constitution(Article 2 section 13) the state recognize the vital
role of the youth in nation building and shall promote and protect their
physical ,moral ,spiritual ,intellectual and social well-being.
• 1991 Local Government Code provides for the youth participation and
local development and the establish of sangguniang kabataan (SK).
• Republic Act no.10742 or the sangguniang kabataan(SK) reformed
act allow meaningful youth participation in nation building.
The Philippine Youth Development Plan 2012-2016. Formulated by NYC
it main goals are to make the youth:.
Become accountable stakeholders of transparent and participatory
governance to.
become productive member of their respective families andhouseholds.
Become gainfully and decently employed
Become key partners in peace building and rule of law
Become pro active advocates and agents of environmental sustainability and
climate change adaptation.
LEVELS OF YOUTH PARTICIPATION IN COMMUNITY ACTION
Ladder of young people’s participation
-Roger hart (1997)
• His theory is one of the best known models of youth participation that can
help organizations identify and remove practices that stops the participation
of young people in community development.
• Harts Ladder was categorized in ascending order.
Manipulation (nonparticipation)
• Adults use young people’s ideas and voices for their own advantage. They
have complete authority over the young and they define and implement
policies without any input from the youth.
EXAMPLE
• Using pictures and voices of young people to sell products purportedly made
by the young people themselves, but actually produced and manufactured by
adults, for a cause.
LEVEL 1
Decoration (nonparticipation)
• The youth may be called in to decorate adult action through singing, dancing
or performing other entertaining activities. The youth may appear to have
taken part in the event, but only in a limited capacity and without an
opportunity to contribute in decision-making.
EXAMPLE
• When young people are given a script about youth problems, which are
written only by adults to be presented in a conference.
LEVEL 2
Tokenism (nonparticipation)
• The youth may be given a voice just to create a child-friendly image for
adults. In reality, the youth’s voices are not heard and they have little or no
choice at all about their role in a certain project.
EXAMPLE
• A young person is asked to sit in a committee or panel to represent the youth
sector, but he or she is not consulted or his or her inputs are not sought or
valued.
LEVEL 3
Assigned but informed
• Adults take the initiative to inform the youth about how and why they are
being assigned to perform a certain role. Only after the young ones
understand the projects goals and their roles in it will they decide whether or
not they will be involved in the project.
EXAMPLE
• The artists Philippines channel (GMA,ABS-CBN. Etc.)
LEVEL 4
CONSULTED AND INFORMED
• The youth are extensively consulted on projects designed and managed by
adults. The young people are informed on how their inputs will be used and
the extent through which their voices will be incorporated by the adults in
making the final decision. Adults also give the youth some feedback
regarding the ideas that were contributed. With this, adults make a joint and
structured effort to absorb the youth’s opinion in decision-making.
Example
• A party where lot of millennial will come.
LEVEL 5
ADULT INITIATED, SHARED DECISIONS WITH YOUNG PEOPLE
• Adults are the one who initiate programs and projects , but the youth is
involved in the decision-making process, which includes the planning and
actual implementation of the project.
EXAMPLE
• The adults thought of organizing a youth leadership camp, wherein the youth
would also be asked on how it could be more fun, attractive and meaningful
to the participants.
LEVEL 6
Young people lead and initiate action
• The youth themselves are the ones who conceive, organize, and direct to the
project, while the adults role is to help when needed. Adults only play a
supportive role and they generally trust the leadership of the young.
EXAMPLE
• Athlete's together with their parents
• Artist together with their parents
• Etc.
LEVEL 7
Youth initiated, shared decisions with adults
• This takes place when programs and projects are initiated by the youth, but
they involve adults in the decision-making process. This process empowers
young people while learning from adults through mentorship.
EXAMPLE
• Beginner in work/job
Goal of hart’s ladder
• To move away from nonparticipator practices toward a more meaningful and
higher level of youth participation. In terms of modalities in community
engagement.
• Level 1 to 3 can be considered transactional (“giving back” by making
donations or investing in the community (working with schools, providing
information about local impact of new developments, fundraising activities
with employees, or corporate-level gifts)
• Level 4 to 5 is transitional (“building bridges” by involving the community in
decision making (community surveys or public consultation for construction
projects)
• Level 6 to 8 is transformational (“changing society” through deep interactions
and integration with strategic community partners and joint projects (joint
project management, conflict resolution and strategic partnerships)
• Incorporating the youth’s abilities and strengths in designing and
implementing community development programs.
• Empowering the youth when it comes in planning, implementation,
monitoring and evaluation.
• Youth will be given the opportunity to perceive their situation and recognize
their collective ability to influence the world. They are given the power to
decide what they want to see changed and why and then to act toward those
changes.
Assessing Community Action Initiatives
Adherence to social justice
• This refers to fighting for equality and fairness in the treatment of human
beings, distribution and access to resources and giving of opportunity
structures and life chances that will allow people to live meaningful lives.
• Hence, commitment to social justice requires fighting against poverty, unjust
forms of inequalities, climate change injustice and occupational injustice.
Respect, protection and fulfillment of human rights
• People should neither be deprived of their rights nor should one be allowed to
violate another’s rights. There must be a conscious effort to help people
achieve a life of dignity. This would require anchoring the process of human
development on international human rights standards and corresponding
obligations establishment by international law.
Promotion of gender equality and equity
• This refers to giving equal opportunity to men and women so that they may
develop their personal abilities and attain fairness of treatment for both, in
accordance to their respective needs.
Ensuring people’s empowerment
• This pertains to the development of one’s capacity to make effective choices
or having the ability to produce desired changes in one’s life, community or
larger society
Safeguard of people’s participation in the development process
• This calls for provoking the involvement of a local population especially the
poor, the helpless/powerless, and the marginalized in creating policies and in
planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating development programs
and projects designed to empower them.
Use of advocacy
• This refer to helping the marginalized to conscientized the general public ,
government , policymaker, or people in authority, so that these power
holders may be influenced to address the marginalized and attain long-
lasting positive changes.
Guarantee of environmental sustainability
• This ensures the attainment of people well being without destroying
resources and without depleting the ecosystem , upon which the life of future
generation depends on.
“The aforementioned principles and values serve as reminders that while the goal of
community action is to solve social problems, the end does not justify the means.
Hence, people must be conscious of their actions because the process of attaining
development is as important as its outcomes.”
GOODLUCK, GALINGAN NIYO SA EXAM!