This article introduces the phrase I use to describe the people who act like politicians in the academic community. Maybe you have met some of them or have known them for years. Read the article below to know who the “acapols” are and what they do.
My linguistic background and understanding of the characteristics of language help me coin and create words and phrases that only my friends and I understand. In 2012, my mentor and I were talking about something when the word “acapols” came into being.
The Meaning of Acapols
Have you ever heard the word “acapols”? Chances are, you didn’t. You cannot find the word acapols in the dictionary.
The word “acapols” is actually composed of two words which my mentor coined. She loved the phrase I used, when I uttered: “They are like academic politicians,” referring to academicians who act like politicians. It was my mentor’s first time to hear such word.
The next time we met, I got surprised because she used the term, “acapols”. I didn’t understand it at first but she said that the word originated from me. Only then that I remembered the phrase “academic politicians.”
Who are the academic politicians?
Academic politicians are the people in the academe such as students, teachers, administrators and other stakeholders who would play politics in its real sense just to get something or take advantage of the opportunities before them. They do what the traditional politicians do to stay in power, to gain personal benefits, and to preserve their family and business interests.
“Politicians” now are occupying their niche in the academe. They make educational institutions as their bailiwick.
Well, I remember a friend saying that in education, it’s all about business and politics. Yes, there is already a paradigm shift happening in educational system. The nature of education before is quite different from what it is now. Or shall I say, it was already there before but now, it had become so obvious. Many of the academicians turned into academic politicians and the type of behavior they manifest spreads like a virus to our students.
But, is it bad to be like “acapols”?
Others will say that there is nothing wrong about being branded as academic politicians for as long as they have genuine love for the institution, and their motive for staying in power is for the good of the academic community.
Anyways, “politics” always exist in education. So whether “acapols” are desirable people or not in the field of education, the answer is yours. The reality is that they do exist, no longer as discreet as before but in broad display.
Are you an acapol?
