At least one teacher is fed up with students parroting words and phrases such as “non-negotiables, targets, levels, learning objectives or success criteria.” Recently, an anonymous teacher wrote a column in The Secret Teacher feature of The Guardian to air his/her* grievances for those who cherish jargon more than actual learning. As both an elementary school teacher and a mother, the writer sees students copying the vocabulary of teachers a) without knowing what the words mean and b) absorbing some of the stress that goes along with student assessment.

The teacher wrote of a student who was devastated by the thought that she might not be at the proper reading level. When asked why she was upset the student said: "Because I just don't think I'm going to get a level 6 in reading, and that's my target." The writer said that the student's panic about reading level is indicative of kids believing that the numbers matter more than anything.

The question most often asked of children in a lesson observation is: ‘What you are learning?’ Should the child dare to reply by enthusiastically telling the adult about what they are doing, then the teacher is [penalized] because the learning objective isn't clear enough. For many children, this is an extremely demanding question and one many will not be developmentally ready for. When a child plays with Legos they don't say, ‘I'm developing my sense of spatial awareness and 3D shapes, as well elementary engineering and architecture.’ Rather, they say: 'Look at the house I built!’ Should we really expect them to respond any differently?

The writer shares that she's/he's employed by a school administration that wants learning objectives to be met, and trusts the teachers to handle their students’ needs how they see fit. The writer is happy to be working in a trusting environment because the writer believes that teachers know what is best for their students and the writer encourages more teachers to use their professional expertise even as they are criticized for lacking the "right" method. Without jargon though, what will teachers place on today'sreport cards?

*The gender of the writer was not revealed in the original piece.

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What word would you like to toss out of educational parlance?