Professional Learning: Language Matters

We hear a lot about training teachers and rewarding them when they perform well. Sounds like something people say about the family dog doesn’t it? “Max was great at his training today! He’s getting extra peanut butter in his kong as a reward!”  We all know that language matters—the words we choose convey more than literal meaning.  And sometimes the words we choose imply meaning we didn’t intend, and when that happens we have to step back and reexamine our language. So does it matter that we often use the same language for training animals when talking about professional learning for teachers? You bet it does, and Justin Minkel’s post, “You train a monkey. You ignite teachers,” explains why.