We asked educators on social media to share their least favorite education 鈥渂uzzword鈥� and why it grinds their gears.
Hundreds of them weighed in across multiple posts, and from 鈥渄ifferentiation鈥� to 鈥渟elf-care,鈥� there鈥檚 a lot to unpack鈥攅rr, analyze.
Here are the most popular words or phrases that educators are sick of hearing鈥攁nd why. (Keep scrolling to see even more terms our audience found off-putting, visualized in a word cloud.)
1. Rigor
鈥淩igor. Being told that something doesn鈥檛 appear rigorous or intellectually challenging when they know nothing (or next to nothing) about that child or group of children. Then having to explain how and why it is. Or having to explain that the activity is a step and that we鈥檙e moving toward a certain goal. I work with 5 and 6 year olds鈥攖hey are just beginning to understand that there IS a thought process.鈥�
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"[Rigor] implies that having fun while learning is not raising the bar 鈥� or that slowing down when kids don鈥檛 get it is somehow failing. To me, true 鈥榬igor鈥� is the ability to push each student just a tidge past their comfort zone so that they still can be encouraged that they can indeed succeed.鈥�
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鈥淩igor. The actual definition connotes nothing but unpleasantness. And its implementation often translates into more work with no consideration of quality, relevance, or importance.鈥�
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鈥淩igor. So vague. Also makes me think of rigor mortis. Stiffening up instead of joyful learning.鈥�
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鈥淩igor for 1000000, Alex. Admin likes to use this to mean challenging, but in reality they have no concrete metrics for determining if a teacher has met the mark.鈥�
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2. Fidelity
鈥淔idelity. Definition: Follow this script, in the prescribed amount of time, whether or not it鈥檚 too fast or slow, or even if it sucks. If you follow it with FIDELITY, all our challenges in education will disappear. Poof!鈥�
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"[W]hen administrators use the word 鈥榝idelity,鈥� they are saying they don鈥檛 trust teachers to think for themselves and make appropriate decisions. ... Requiring teachers to follow ultra-specific guidelines and 鈥榬obotic鈥� actions in order to use a program or curriculum is a CYA move. It keeps lousy teachers from totally blowing it and prevents disasters, but it crushes the great teachers and prevents them from doing their magic.鈥�
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鈥淔idelity: Copy and reproduce regardless of applying professional knowledge.鈥�
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"[F]idelity. [Because] there is NO black and white in teaching children.鈥�
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3. Pivot
鈥淧ivot - After hearing it for two straight years, we knew what we needed to do in order to provide for our students during a pandemic. We didn鈥檛 need a new buzzword, we are adults who can think on our feet already, we do it 1000s of times a day as it is.鈥�
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鈥淧ivot: Throw out what you are doing because we say so, regardless of what you think.鈥�
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鈥淧ivot - cause I鈥檝e never seen an admin do it.鈥�
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4. Self-care
鈥淪elf-care, it implies teacher burnout is the result of something they are doing wrong as individuals and not a systematic problem.鈥�
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鈥溾�楽elf-care.鈥� As in 鈥榩lease do this, that, and the other thing. And remember today鈥檚 after-school staff meeting and grades being due tomorrow by 8 a.m. Oh, and don鈥檛 forget to be sure to practice 鈥榮elf-care鈥�.鈥欌��
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"[Self-care] demands teachers maintain a healthy balance in their lives without addressing pay/added responsibilities/poor conditions & blames them for struggling.鈥�
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5. Grit
鈥淕rit. Most of the children schools emphasize grit for are already 鈥榞ritty.鈥� Already resilient. Already handling situations and circumstances most of their educators have never encountered.鈥�
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鈥淕rit ... why should students have to persevere in educational environments? They should just be able to flourish and be great in environments that love and appreciate them for who they are and will be in the future.鈥�
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鈥淕rit. It is awesome our kids have to overcome barriers? Really?鈥�
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"[Grit] assumes kids aren鈥檛 dealing with harsh realities outside school so should suffer in the classroom.鈥�
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6. Unpack
鈥溾�楿npack鈥� It sounds so stupid鈥攋ust use the word 鈥榓nalyze鈥�.鈥�
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鈥淯npack. Unpack the curriculum, unpack the standards, unpack the resources ... SO annoying. I don鈥檛 see any luggage here.鈥�
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鈥淯npack - a lesson should not be so complicated that it needs unpacking.鈥�
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鈥淯npack - who is actually responsible for the unpacking?鈥�
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7. Learning loss
鈥溾�楲earning loss鈥� because it ignores the trauma and stress kids have experienced in order to quickly cram information into kids鈥� heads instead of meeting kids where they are and moving them forward.鈥�
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鈥溾�楻igor鈥� used to be my most hated word ... But now a new phrase has unseated the champ: 鈥榣earning loss鈥�. It demeans the work students, families, and staff did during the pandemic.鈥�
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鈥溾�楲earning loss鈥� because it鈥檚 a loss compared to what? According to what, and according to whom?鈥�
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8. Differentiation
"馃挴 differentiation. It鈥檚 another way of saying 鈥榞ive more work to the advanced and mark out two of the four multiple choice on the test for everyone else.鈥欌��
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鈥溾�楧ifferentiation.鈥� It鈥檚 been misused to increase class sizes and place more and more and more responsibilities on classroom teachers and expect more and more results with the same amount of limited resources.鈥�
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鈥淒ifferentiation - I always hated that word, because when you have 32 students and one teacher, it鈥檚 an impossible burden put on teachers to be everything to everyone, and teacher training does not adequately support differentiation.鈥�
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9. Kiddos
鈥淜iddos - usually only said by those who do not work with them on a daily basis (admin, coaches, etc.).鈥�
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鈥淲hen adults call high school kids kiddos. Like nails on a chalk board. To me, it means they don鈥檛 hold students accountable because they are just kiddos.鈥�
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10. Accountability
鈥淎ccountability鈥攏ot parents or politicians. Who [is] punished? Overworked educators and students.鈥�
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鈥淎ccountability (or 鈥榟olding folks accountable鈥�) implies that educators don鈥檛 do the best they can unless an administrative boogeyman is chasing them toward success. Where else in the universe does that make sense to anyone?鈥�
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鈥淎ccountability. Accountability is a one-way street. Those who make the state accountability laws and those who make the specific accountability formulas do not have the same public accountability.鈥�
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