TitleDefinitionSee also
Absolute gapsThe lack of anyone in a group having an element at the level agreed as necessary for fulfilment of the core mission(s) of the groupsingle point of failure
ACHEActivist Celebrity Hustle Experiences. The occasions in which some (super-annuated) activist living off (other people’s?) past glories uses you as ego-fodder, facilpulating and framing dissidents as scape-goats. We’ve all been there: well, some of us have.
AllotropeAllotropes are different structural modifications of an element; the atoms of the element are bonded together in a different manner. An element might “mean” something different in different contexts!elements, isotopes
Assessment resourcesAssessment resources are resources – quizzes, tests etc – which enable an individual or group to have some sense of whether they are indeed functioning at a given level. They are indicative, not prescriptivedevelopment resources
BuddyYou can try to fly solo, but you’ll probably go Icarus. A buddy helps, they really do…
CompoundA group of elements which interact, and should be taken as an interaction. e.g. writing press releases and forming relationships with journalists – you can have one without the other, but why would you?elements
Core elementsElements which are central to a group – the group will fail to meet its goals if it does not have these elements, and at the appropriate levelElements
Development resourcesDevelopment resources are resources – found or created – which enable individuals and groups to either maintain a level or move towards a new level of an elementassessment descriptors
Element descriptorA brief summary of ‘what the element is’ – often accompanied by a short thought experiment on what would happen if an individual/group did not have the element
Element Overview EssayAn essay which sets out why the element matters, what it would mean to (co)develop the ability to be at a higher level on this element, how to combat skill decay and spread the love generally
ElementsElements are skill, knowledge, or more rarely relationships, which an active citizenship group might need to function. They can be either individual or group level. They are then described at existing at four levelscompounds
Group Development PlanA plan for a group to identify its core and peripheral elements, assess its absolute gaps, single points of failure, and scope for improvementpersonal development plan, absolute gap, single points of failure
isotopeIsotopes are variants of a particular chemical element which differ in neutron number, and consequently in nucleon number. All isotopes of a given element have the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons in each atom. So, different groups may define the element differently, and have different thresholds for what is novice, practitioner, expert and ninja…
Legitimate peripheral participationParticipation by supporters of a group, who may or may not be ‘paid up’ members in ways which are valorised, validated, and – as appropriate – assessed.
Level descriptorsElements are described at one of four levels – novice, practitioner, expert and ninja. These are relational and provisional. Ninjas mostly don’t exist, and are a two-edged sword if they do
meta-elementsElements which are about the construction, reconstruction and spread (?) of the Active Citizenship Toolkit
nongroup elementsElements from the larger long list which simply don’t matter (at the present) to the group, and can be ignored
Personal Development PlanA plan for an individual to maintain or increase their level at a number of elements, both for their own pleasure, but also to increase the robustness of a group (e.g. plugging absolute gaps and single points of failure)Group Development Plan, Absolute gaps, single points of failure
Peripheral elementsElements which, while nice to have, will only speed the group on its way to the sunny uplands. Not having them will slow things down, but not stop the glorious march of the proletariat
ScaffoldingThe supportive structures in place to enable an individual/group to achieve an improvement (consolidation in one level or moving to a next), within an element.Zone of Proximal Development
Sphere of ignoranceKnowledge is like a sphere, wrote the French philosopher and mathematician Blaise Pascal (1655/1973), the greater its volume, the larger its contact with the unknown. … Ignorance, from this point of view, is the shadow of knowledge. And being a mere shadow, ignorance is usually ignored.
Single Points of Failure (spf)Only one member of the group has the required element at the required level, leaving the group vulnerable if they leave, fry, turn out to have been an undercover cop all alongabsolute gaps
Skill decayInevitable (times’s winged chariot and all that) decay of skills because of either time, or because the task gets more complex and having a certain level of skill no longer makes you a ninja or an expert
Zone of proximal development (ZPD)out of your depth, but with waterwings and a lifeguard hovering… “the distance between what a learner can do without help, and what they can do with support from someone with more knowledge or expertise (“more knowledgeable other”)”