Buzzwords

There are numerous words that you can listen for in school to establish that the process is less than ideal. Let me provide a partial list.


One of the big things to look for is whether the schools embrace practical learning or if they rely on memorization. All of the following words indicate that a student is expected to memorize rather than learn: remember, forget, memory, repeat, review.

If a teacher says something about their material being fresh in their students minds, that also indicates memorization. The fresh arguments generally relate to the idea that you want to build off of memorized facts before they are forgotten. This also indicates that teachers expect their material to be forgotten.

Cramming is something that students do to help test scores. By waiting until close to a test then hitting the material hard, students are more likely to remember facts long enough score well on a test. This concept also relies on the idea that the material is forgotten. This is why they don't study sooner.

Lectures go even further than just memory. They push the idea that all children are expected to learn the exact same things in the exact same way at the exact same time. Individual needs can't be met through lectures.

If a teacher is talking about how students learn, listen for references to sight and sound. As a variant, they might talk about auditory and visual learners. These are methods of memorization rather than learning.

Education can be a buzzword if used improperly. If the term is used to reference schooling, it is a safe assumption that you are talking to someone who takes education for granted.

Special Needs adds a negative connotation to the human nature reality that we all have special needs. Although the term is used to refer to students with disabilities with an emphasis on learning disorders, their use of the term can actually harm any individual.

Kindergarten is a basic term that indicates roots in the flawed traditional system. Same can be said for terms like freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors. It is unlikely that an organization trying to create the best educational environment would come up with the same terminology. Similarly, watch out for grades, paricularly letter grades, and GPAs as they also indicate ties to traditional schooling.

If a syllabus is handed out, the course is probably too rigid to meet individual needs. This can be used to define a class. Classes are usually used in multiple forms (classroom settings and grade levels) to reflect students who are expected to be at the same levels even though children learn at different paces.

Some teachers might agree with me that standards are problematic. The idea behind standards is that all children are expected to get the same thing out of school. Ultimately, you can't standardize education because you can't standardize the individual.