You can call your groups anything you like and use our protocols and activities within them to great advantage. We suggest that you carefully avoid a name that feels like “jargon.” Some names seem to push people into an “us vs. them” situation, where “we” who know what the jargon means can inadvertently create separation from “them” who do not, which is exactly the opposite to the purposes of Critical Friends.
The name isn’t the magic, and frankly, the protocols in themselves aren’t, either. The combination of using our activities and protocols to build trust, making and honoring agreements, then using our materials regularly to efficiently and effectively deal with dilemmas and work issues … that’s where a small group of educators can have the most powerful effect. And if you’re in an environment where a number of CFG communities (or whatever you call them) work together towards common goals of student achievement, then “magic” happens regularly throughout your organization.
All that said, if you’re using our materials, you’ll need to keep our attribution, the NSRF name and contact information on them. Although the original NSRF materials were developed using grant funding designed to keep them open and available to anyone, the newer materials are copyrighted, and we do take that copyright seriously. You’re welcome to copy and use our protocols and activities within your meetings or classrooms, but for uses beyond those, please contact us by email or phone (812-330-2702) with your questions or requests.