A few words about 'words'...

Do you read some words, and assign meaning to them - beyond perhaps the intended message? Here are a few words that are often used in education that I prefer not to read:

• "delivery" (because it infers the learner is not scaffolding anything to their prior understandings - the "empty vessel" as Dewey describes as what education should not be.) I prefer "teaching", "collaborating"...
• "training" (because this implies a one-size fits all behavioral modification approach - to adjust learners to be compliant recipients of information.) I prefer "educating", "workshopping"...
• "professional development" (because this implies the participants are not "developed". I prefer, as others recommend, "professional learning" as an ongoing process.
• "classroom management" (because it infers that schooling is about classroom control, rather than classroom engagement. I prefer a proactive approach embracing "student leadership"...
• "data" (because it infers many novices to education such as Trustees, see data as a collapsed one page dashboard (or executive summary) that can be used to make serious decisions such as closing schools, firing people or mismanaging funds...) I prefer "evidence" as that can help all stakeholders see the complexities of education, and not be misguided by only viewing easy numbers (i.e. attendance, test scores, enrollment...).
• "accountability" (because this word is usually attached to an over-simplified vision of numbers or better yet unproven and unfounded 'matrixes'. It is odd that the dashboards or elaborately and technology-fused frameworks and matrixes do not have be so accountable...hmmmm... Accountable is a word that merges progress with past standards. Time for school systems to move beyond the use of such a backwards term. I prefer "engagement", "invention", "creativity", "critical thought" - all difficult to achieve when the forces of "accountability" are hell bent on keeping the system and present status quo in place.
• "innovation" (because too many people equate this to technology). I really wish everyone would use this word to define what new original and creative things are happening in schools including, and beyond, the wires and boxes. I do like the word "invention", but actually hope people will not assume that innovation can only be guided by the technology leaders in schools...
• "scaling" and "replicating" (because this implies all schools have the same people in them - and they don't. Management companies operate as if the people and the curriculum are widgets in assembly lines - putting together the cars of tomorrow...I prefer words like "original", "distinct", "compelling", "breaking through the ceiling", "new design", "one-of-a-kind" - with the full understanding that we can afford to have schools that are not cookie-cutter replicas of the ones down the street...or in other under-funded areas of the country...
• "School Choice" (because this hides the real issue of school improvement). Too many charter school managers think this is their distinguishing feature - to this I say "Big Deal". What's the point of having choice if the goal of managing education companies is to replicate the same school models of control, budgets and staffing... Be bold and insist on "school change", "small schools", "lower teacher-student ratios", "higher pay for teachers", "prestige physical school environments"...if such evidence was in place, now there could be some "school choice".
• "Managers"....j'amais.(never use)..all should be "leaders" on the education front. No one - students or teachers should be managed. They should be "inspired", "encouraged", and "engaged" - every one of them.

What words make you think twice about the message?