Co-creation

My background is in the provision of quality public services which matter, public services which contribute to social cohesion, building a consensus for change and reducing inequality. When I became an English language teacher and moved to Barcelona I became aware that, despite many liberal and well-meaning intentions, much of what my new profession was doing was the opposite of what I had been doing previously and this did not make me feel at all comfortable. Over the last few years I have been lucky enough to involve myself in activities and combine with individuals and organisations that are committed to the ideals of "public service" mentioned at the outset. I have now had the opportunity to develop different concepts and practices in English language teaching which are geared towards inclusion rather than exclusion.

I must say, however, that my journey as an English teacher / coach has taken me into boardrooms of the private sector (as opposed to my almost exclusive experience of working with local government and NGOs) where I have encountered some quite remarkable people. What I have taken from these experiences and people is an enormous amount of reorientation and learning. Trying to do your best is simply not good enough and we need to adopt the best practices to ensure we are using our resources in the best manner and really delivering what people want. Maybe not so surprisingly, such people have really helped me reflect on what people (the customers) want and how best to deliver it, rather than what we think they want. One of these core ideas is the notion of co-creation - not just consultation and feedback but radically incorporating the service user in the design and delivery of the service. Everything which appears on this blog is part of that process and is informed by the insights and needs of my students (whether they be in the boardroom of a multi-national or the back room of a civic centre).

A particular example of this approach can be seen in the development of a Maletín Pedagócico where we have an evolving set of pre-pared teaching materials driven by the insights, experiences and creativity of students, La Federació de Salut Mental de Catalunya, educators in social clubs, and, last but certainly not least, the dynamic and socially responsible teachers co-operative, Serveis Linguístics de Barcelona.