Good morning - and Happy Tuesday,
I am campaigning for the abolition of the word “work” in schools.
We should be talking about LEARNING instead.
Just listen to the way we use the word work:
-Start your work
-Do your work
-Get on with your work
-Have you finished your work?
Phrases like this about work, reinforce the following messages.
-We are focused on doing, not learning
-To be good, you have to be fast
-Task completion is more important than learning gains made
Are these messages we want to transmit to children?
Work is something you DO. It’s something you get on with. It comes from the world of grown ups.
You work because you HAVE to - and you learn because you WANT to.
It isn’t simply about replacing the word “work” with “learning”. Otherwise you end up just saying “Finish your learning” or “Do your learning” which defeats the object entirely.
We have to change the words we use around “learning”. This changes our mindset and attitudes about learning.
Instead try:
-Let’s learn how to…
-Keep practicing to learn how…
-This is helping you learn to…
-If you try X, it will help you learn Y
-Can I see how well you’re learning to…?
A simple word shift leads to a wider vocabulary shift - which can lead to a huge attitudinal shift - and…
…stronger LEARNING gains made.
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Until next time.
Best wishes,
Simon Bolger, That Wellbeing Guy
Website: www.thatwellbeingguy.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/thatwellbeingguy
Twitter: @simonbolger
Read more: thatwellbeingguy.substack.com