The Spirit of the C Group
The letter C avoids some of the pitfalls of acronyms and even specific words: acronyms and words have a fixed, institutional feel about them, they pin you down, fix you in a formulated phrase. We need to be a bit looser, more ‘fancy free’.
A letter is more flexible and open to interpretation: its semantic openness can be filled by more than one concept or principle: it can certainly stand for Creative/ Creativity, which is the core of our grouping, but it need not end there. ‘Creativity’ alone is both too specific and too vague.
C allows for Critical, as in Critical Thinking, Critical Pedagogy, Critical Discourse Analysis. In this way, we are Connecting (another ‘C’) with the broader issues of language education and the wider world out there.
C is not a word but a shape. It is an open circle, not closed. It welcomes new members and it embraces difference - and even contradiction. It embraces human imperfection and diversity. ‘C’ allows the beholder to work on its imperfections with his or her own thoughts.
C is for Contradiction, the fact that some of us in the group are involved in assessment and publishing and we may all, in varying degrees, be dependent on them for our living. We need to be able to live with this complex and ambiguous relationship without abandoning our individual, professional integrity.
C is for Co-operation and Collaboration, which contradicts the isolation of excessive individualism, competition and fragmentation that neo-liberal political economy would impose on educators. Co-operation is opposed to the commercialization and atomization which defines examination bodies and publishers, who would make a business out of education.
C is for Conflict, which will be inevitable if we mean what we say. Not everyone will agree about everything. We should be able to live with that.
C also stands for Curiosity. We would promote the idea of teacher inquiry into the learning process. This could encompass both ‘research’ in the more formal sense but also the more informal investigation and inquiry by teachers.
One challenge for the C group would be to break free from the clutches of powerful commercial and academic bodies that would crush our creativity and need for collaboration. Hence, Critical thinking.
C is for Challenge: we challenge the power of money and profit over education. We challenge a market-driven view of language education. We challenge ourselves to work for creative change.
C is also about Communication – communicating our ideas to the wider community.
Our C group would be opposed to commercializing professional or academic presentations at conferences. We would agree to treat our colleagues as Colleagues – Collaborators, and not mere consumers, from whom we seek to profit.
Our C is about Classrooms as Communities, as groups working in solidarity.
The letter C avoids some of the pitfalls of acronyms and even specific words: acronyms and words have a fixed, institutional feel about them, they pin you down, fix you in a formulated phrase. We need to be a bit looser, more ‘fancy free’.
A letter is more flexible and open to interpretation: its semantic openness can be filled by more than one concept or principle: it can certainly stand for Creative/ Creativity, which is the core of our grouping, but it need not end there. ‘Creativity’ alone is both too specific and too vague.
C allows for Critical, as in Critical Thinking, Critical Pedagogy, Critical Discourse Analysis. In this way, we are Connecting (another ‘C’) with the broader issues of language education and the wider world out there.
C is not a word but a shape. It is an open circle, not closed. It welcomes new members and it embraces difference - and even contradiction. It embraces human imperfection and diversity. ‘C’ allows the beholder to work on its imperfections with his or her own thoughts.
C is for Contradiction, the fact that some of us in the group are involved in assessment and publishing and we may all, in varying degrees, be dependent on them for our living. We need to be able to live with this complex and ambiguous relationship without abandoning our individual, professional integrity.
C is for Co-operation and Collaboration, which contradicts the isolation of excessive individualism, competition and fragmentation that neo-liberal political economy would impose on educators. Co-operation is opposed to the commercialization and atomization which defines examination bodies and publishers, who would make a business out of education.
C is for Conflict, which will be inevitable if we mean what we say. Not everyone will agree about everything. We should be able to live with that.
C also stands for Curiosity. We would promote the idea of teacher inquiry into the learning process. This could encompass both ‘research’ in the more formal sense but also the more informal investigation and inquiry by teachers.
One challenge for the C group would be to break free from the clutches of powerful commercial and academic bodies that would crush our creativity and need for collaboration. Hence, Critical thinking.
C is for Challenge: we challenge the power of money and profit over education. We challenge a market-driven view of language education. We challenge ourselves to work for creative change.
C is also about Communication – communicating our ideas to the wider community.
Our C group would be opposed to commercializing professional or academic presentations at conferences. We would agree to treat our colleagues as Colleagues – Collaborators, and not mere consumers, from whom we seek to profit.
Our C is about Classrooms as Communities, as groups working in solidarity.