Do you have a hard time decoding words used by school people when attending conferences and meetings, or reading policy papers and researches? You're not the only one grasping at its simple thoughts. Journalist Anya Kamenetz highlights how education speak is a common occurrence in the industry and while it is confusing, especially to parents, understanding its meaning can be easy.
Kamanetz came up with a list of jargons school people often use and attempted to decode the meaning via NPR. She sought the help of her Twitter followers to identify the most common words. "I set out to define these terms in language regular people could understand," she wrote.
Education Jargons Defined
Among the #edujargons Kamanetz decoded and defined were:
1. Best practices: Let's all do what the really good people do.
2. College and career ready: School should teach you how to learn and/or work.
3. Implement: You have a good idea. Making it happen is the hard part.
4. Project-based learning: Don't just write words and numbers. Do something.
5. Value-added: We can tell how good a teacher is by their students' work over time.
Some of her readers echoed the same sentiments about the big words being used. "Most of the terms are simply contrived buzzwords meant to lend a semblance of credibility and expertise when spoken by people who lack both," a commenter, Jose Bustamante, said. "As a teacher of English literature and composition, I cannot stand "eduspeak," said Marc Hamlin.
#Teacherpreneurs #pivot & the #grit implemented #scales! (Tired of jargon? Us too.) https://t.co/Hevlk2A2HS pic.twitter.com/HXwE5jGcHL
— NPR's Education Team (@npr_ed) April 12, 2016
Education Speak Makes It Harder For Parents To Help
Teach Thought highlights that education speak gets lost in translation with parents, thus it limits their ability to help their kids. The site suggests that schools and teachers must know their audience and talk in terms that can be followed. They must also clarify by offering examples. The same suggestions could apply when dealing with students.
Have you encountered communication difficulties with how school people talk? What's your take on education speak or edujargon? Let us know in the comments!
