Change the practice by changing the words!

George Couros is a thought-provoking educator whose blog is a daily read for me. His post of today titled, "5 Terms We Need To Rethink In Education" has inspired me to write (which is one of the main reasons I read blogs!).

In his post, George asks us to rethink the terms we use in education, to unpack the perception of their meaning and the possibility of what they SHOULD mean. I agree completely, and write to extend the thinking.

My proposition is that our educational reality is strongly shaped by the words we choose to use. Let me illustrate.

A few years ago I was tasked with leading a K-12 school, which had not previously considered itself a "K-12" school. It had always had a Kindergarten program, elementary grade levels, middle school classes, and a high school. It was led by a Director, an Elementary Principal, and a Secondary Principal. But they had been "Divisional" principals. The culture had never been K-12.

So upon my arrival, with the leadership structure changing to include a K-12 Principal, I changed the words.

We began to use the word "sub-school" instead of "division". There was no longer an elementary division, a middle school division, or a high school division. We deliberately chose words to reinforce the thinking required to build a K-12 culture. We referred to the elementary subschool, the middle school subschool, and the high school subschool. A little bit wordy, but important. Now in year three of making that seemingly simple change, we are almost at the point where the word "division" is no longer used. Almost!

We also discussed the idea of banning the word "homework"! Not banning the activity of homework, but banning the word "homework" to describe the activity of doing school work at home. Instead, I was suggesting the terms "preview" and "review" be used. The ensuing discussion was one of the most animated, charged, emotional, informative, full-participation discussions I have ever experienced in a faculty meeting! Just to change a word!!!

A school-wide blanket ban of the word "homework" was a bridge too far for the present faculty, but a number of faculty members did rename their school-work-at-home and reflected that it did result in some changes in their practice.

As George prompts us to reimagine or rethink what the words we use in education mean, I am prompting you to be very critical when choosing which ones you will use. Words are very powerful influencers of practice.

What practices in your school or classroom can you change by changing the words you use to describe them?