We began the Future of Teaching blog in March of 2011 to further explore the ideas in Teaching 2030: What We Must Do for Our Students and Our Public Schools — Now and in the Future.
This vision document continues to influence our direction both as professionals and as members of the Center for Teaching Quality. However, over the past year we have decided that writing in reference to the future was not enough.
With the launch of the new Center for Teaching Quality Collaboratory we wanted to rebrand our work with a name that captured what we see as the direction EVERYONE concerned with education needs to move. We need to become Collaborateurs. The name seemed right because it implies a number of ideas in layers of meaning.
More and more we (Jose and John) have gravitated towards agitating for change NOW. We hope that our exchange of ideas has opened up similar conversations between our readers and their communities and that they join us in The Collaboratory.
Collaboration is the root of our work towards a better educational system and as coauthors on this blog. The name Collaborateurs points to partnerships beyond collegiality and connotes teamwork toward a common idea but not necessarily through a common method. There is a flavor of freestyle advocacy to the name.
The suffix, “eur” implies doing something. We realized we are not merely dreaming of the future of teaching in the year 2030, we are doing things to make it real. This is the reason CTQ has opened its doors to anyone with an interest in education while still keeping some places private so that teachers can speak honestly and openly with their peers, as we try to do on this blog. Some of the other words that come to mind when I think of The Collaborateurs are auteur, connoisseur, provocateur, raconteur, and voyageur. All of these words flavor the exchanges we hope to have in this common blog space. We hope that you will join us as Collaborateurs, instigating, critiquing, creating, reflecting, and constantly changing towards a better education for students and our schools in the future.
Starting now.
