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<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Hi everyone</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>I am investigating Croft St Community Centre, and I
had a hunch 26th November would not be available: it's the Alternative Christmas
Market (do come if you can - it's very highly recommended!)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Can I suggest we move the meeting a week earlier?
(If most people can't make this, I assume we will stay at Mint St for the 26th
Nov session?) Croft St is free on 19th November, from 12 noon - 5pm, with a
lovely safe outdoor courtyard space, a full size hall, kitchen and smaller
meeting room available. £7 per hour for voluntary groups (£35 for the session,
with a possible extra charge for the kitchen). </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>My suggestion of engaging the children in preparing
a bring-and-share lunch would allow us some social time together with them, and
we could include a small group activity they could join in, following
lunch. I'm happy to lead on this.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Have a look for yourself: it's about 15 mins walk
from station.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial><A
href="mhtml:{9BBCBCC7-F955-4543-966B-BDBD903CAE9E}mid://00000214/!x-usc:http://www.croftstreetcentre.co.uk/">http://www.croftstreetcentre.co.uk/</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2 face=Arial>Sandie</FONT></DIV></FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=joss@josswinn.org href="mailto:joss@josswinn.org">Joss Winn</A>
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=ssc@lists.aktivix.org
href="mailto:ssc@lists.aktivix.org ssc@lists.aktivix.org">ssc@lists.aktivix.org
ssc@lists.aktivix.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Sunday, October 23, 2011 8:07
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [SSC] Meeting Notes 22-10-11
and related documents</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>I neglected to include David McAleavey on the list of attendees. Sorry
about that, David. </DIV>
<DIV><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE type="cite">
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV class=gmail_quote>On 22 October 2011 22:32, Joss Winn <SPAN
dir=ltr><<A
href="mailto:joss@josswinn.org">joss@josswinn.org</A>></SPAN> wrote:<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; PADDING-LEFT: 1ex"
class=gmail_quote>Dear all,<BR><BR>Here are my notes from today's meeting.
They are unedited and by no means confirmed 'minutes' but hopefully will
give you a sense of some of the discussions today. Perhaps other attendees
can offer further notes and corrections?<BR><BR>The papers referred to in
the notes are the following and attached to this email.<BR><BR>1. Student
Selection Notes<BR>2. Curriculum Development<BR>3. Quality and Peer
Review<BR>4. SSC Ethics/Values<BR><BR>Best wishes<BR>Joss<BR><BR>p.s. it
was a packed meeting (the agenda was full and so was the room) with new
attendees, kids playing in the next room and a real sense that the SSC is
a living, growing project supported by committed, experienced people. It's
a privilege to work with you all. We certainly need a bigger space and I'm
looking forward to seeing how the Croft Street Community Centre works out
for us. Sandie will confirm dates/time/place soon. See Item 9 for proposed
dates/times.<BR><BR><BR>Meeting Notes Saturday 22-10-11<BR>Mint Lane
12.30-5pm<BR><BR>Attending:<BR><BR>Jonathan Coope, Mike Neary, Richard
Keeble, David Young, Joel Lazurus, Joss Winn, Joyce Canaan, Sarah Amsler,
Mahmood ?, Ian Hewitt, Laura Stratford, Sandie Stratford, John Andrews,
Sara Motta.<BR><BR>1. Reviewed last month's minutes.<BR><BR>2. Matters
Arising: Update member details on website. Sandie to replace David as
counter-signatory on banking.<BR><BR>3. How to provide feedback positively
and critically. What is the purpose of the comments we will be giving. The
tone of our conversations is important.<BR><BR>4. Working
Groups:<BR><BR>a) Recruiting Scholars: Mike sent invites to 70+ people.
Please continue to send contact details of people to invite to Mike.
Current membership stands at 32. Need to update website with member biogs.
Please send short biog to Joss if you wish to be listed as a member on the
website.<BR><BR>b) Recruiting Students: Joss, Sandie, David, Richard.
Importance of something tangible to offer potential students. Particularly
school leavers. Application process followed by open day. Recruitment to
start in April. Students in Care a priority. Would involvement in the SSC
affect receipt of state benefits? No. Students with disabilities
accommodated and supported. Students requiring further support, directed
to parallel initiatives. Selection of students also based on interests and
availability of teaching members. Would like to see a written statement
describing the process. Concerns around the nature of exclusion. What
about excellent students who are reactionary? "The Fascist in the room".
Students with different experience, different levels, require different
'selection' processes. Co-op has a 'statement of identity' - values and
principles. Democracy, solidarity, community. Present a paper in a week.
Emphasis on collaborative, experimental process between teachers/students.
Not necessarily undertaking annual recruitment of students. 20 students is
a guide. May not take on students each year. May take on some students
outside the regular selection process. Interest in the Co-op movement in
HE co-ops. A need for conscious self-reflexivity around the nature and
evolution of the Centre.<BR><BR>c) Curricula: David, Jonathan, Joyce,
Laurence: Need for something practical in place, to offer students from
the start. Background to the ideas of SSC is 'Student as Producer' but not
necessarily its future. Are the 20 students all undergraduates? What about
PhDs? MAs? Is the curricula discipline based or thematically based?
Need to be concrete and start from where we are, not where we want to be.
Constant process of radicalisation of what we do, but building on where we
are at that point. Need to find agreement on the process of radicalisation
and to what extent we remain in and against the current model. What does
the SSC look like for potential students? What are the concrete attributes
of the SSC? Are there minimum requirements? Are there 'outcomes'? Can link
the SSC into the alternative economy (i.e. co-op). Good experience for SSC
students. The *process* of developing the SSC is the *political* project.
Would be useful to distinguish between more detailed, theoretical work and
long term objectives and the practical, clearly defined, concrete
expressions on the processes of the SSC. Subjects not normally covered by
teaching staff could be opportunities for teachers and students to learn
together. Need to start to identify teachers, what they can offer, their
availability, subjects, etc. Curriculum group to co-ordinate.<BR><BR>d)
Quality/Review: Sara, Sarah: Gave summary of their paper. Questions of
quality can be alienating. How to navigate the abstract nature of how to
measure 'quality'. What does it means to value something in the first
place? What does quality mean in the SSC? Ties in with the selection
process of students. Also, perhaps try to move away from the notion of
assessment? Co-produced a criteria of judgement. Do we need any standard
or rigour? [Had to leave the room - missed end of paper summary].
Establish a reading group on this subject to examine further. Assess
quality of work through its contribution to 'pro-sociality'. Judgement or
critique? Quality or radical equality/equivalence? We are part of
the peer-review process. Open peer-review? Quality is often the result of
something being hollowed out. Must maintain the complexity of the
educational process. Dialogue is key to the process. Should everything be
open, online? As open as possible? Should we video a meeting to allow
others to 'review' the process. Yes. Would be good to articulate that
we're open to integrating the emotional experience of
education/teaching/learning when presenting ourselves to others. What
pedagogies do we intend to use? Quote: What is new, often isn't very
pretty but rather raw. A different aesthetic. Must think about the literal
space that we use? What are the implications of the space that we use?
Need to investigate possible spaces for the SSC. Need to be 'collectively
mindful'. WEA - establishing the ground rules. Students part of that
process. 'Declare our distortion of emphasis' so that others are sensitive
to it. Issues of academic and student subjectivity that remain with
us.<BR><BR>5. Publicising the Centre: Need for a visual design for the
SSC? Members contribute to this collectively. Need a specific meeting.
'Social marketing' - face to face networking. Ask Ross Bryant(?)
about local designers (Biliminal). All bring an object/experience/photo to
contribute to the ideas. What about the aesthetic of Zines? Encourage more
use of the blog. Podcasts from members, too. Perhaps periodically change
the design. Our emphasis on locality requires a greater focus on
face-to-face and local pamphleteering. Hold an Open Day in March where
people can come and ask questions prior to the application/selection
process.<BR><BR>6. Values: Paper presented by John. Could look at
Co-operative movement's statement of values. Use of the word 'purpose'. As
a Co-op, the SSC should probably take Co-op values on board. Need to
consider what our critics would make of our statement of values. A
Mission Statement is only mimicking the corporate world. Working Group to
be formed on creating a Value statement. UN year of Co-operation starts
this year. Could look at that work. Perhaps select keywords that we can
build on, rather than develop a full statement. Working group to establish
the process of clarifying our values. Co-operation = Eutopism.<BR><BR>7.
Researching the Centre: Work on SSC is antithetical to our day jobs. We
need to capture this so as to use it to build on. We are co-researchers in
a project. Valuable to capture the 'memory' of the SSC. We are creating
something - sometimes we don't always know how we do it. Invite people to
write on blog.<BR><BR>8. AOB: Need to think about involvement of children
in meetings. Need to look for another space to accommodate the size of
meetings. Prepare lunch together, Eat together. Look at Croft Street
Community Centre. What about intragenerational inclusivity?<BR><BR>9.
Calendar of meetings: Nov 25th (graphics 7.30-9.30pm), Nov 26th (12-5pm),
January 5th (7.30-9.30pm).<BR><BR>Actions: Working group on values,
meeting about design (bring object), paper on student selection, Worker's
Enquiry Group, Synthesise curriculum paper and discussion.<BR><BR>Ending
remarks from participants: "Ambivalent, exciting, productive, grounding,
stable, questions, easier, fascinating, dynamic, radical questioning, very
very rewarding, interesting, constant process/struggle, creative
environment, inclusive, energising, making our voices heard, building
community, inspired, at a party, fun, serious at the same
time."<BR><BR><BR><BR>_______________________________________________<BR>SSC
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target=_blank>https://lists.aktivix.org/mailman/listinfo/ssc</A><BR><BR></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR>
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