Borrowing the title of Raymond Williams' famous study, the following reflections — sometimes collective and sometimes individual — are based on a series of “Keywords”, specifically: “fear” “community” and  “creativity”. By reflecting on the meanings these words have for us today, we attempt to capture their dialogical character, posing them as sites of contestation and struggle, and thereby developing a language of both resistance and hope in the face of neoliberal and neoconservative attacks on education. These reflections continue a series of arguments in defence of the profession first presented in the publication “Only connect”: English teaching, schooling and community in 2006.