title: What does 'self' refer to in a @classmethod?
body: <p>I thought I was starting to get a grip on "the Python way" of programming. Methods of a class accept self as the first parameter to refer to the instance of the class whose context the method is being called in. The @classmethod decorator refers to a method whose functionality is associated with the class, but which doesn't reference a specific instance.</p>
  
  <p>So, what does the first parameter of a @classmethod (canonically 'self') refer to if the method is meant to be called without an instance reference?</p>