Eduspeak and Edubabble for beginners:

                    Eduspeak and Edubabble for beginners:

     Each year about this time, across the nation, hundreds of thousands, maybe over a million, bright eyed, intense and well intentioned kids are preparing for their first real teaching assignment. Some of them have gone through four or five year college education programs, maybe even a beneficial internship, where they have actually been allowed to teach actual students.

     Others, coming to Education via a different path, have met the academic requirements to be hired, but have little or no actual hands on experience. 

     In either case, an optimal outcome will be that you realize that you love the profession and as I came to believe, were meant to do it.  Regardless of background and/or outcome, there will be circumstances , situations and terms with which you haven't been prepared for. The following is an attempt to explain these terms and , possibly hint at some of these situations.

Stakeholders: Not, as I originally thought, the owners of a mining claim, but rather the eduspeak  term for parents and their student children. Sometimes expanded in context to include an entire community.  

Paradigm shift:  Sounds astronomical, I know, but it's the term used by edubabble  practioners when they mean to say "changing the way we focus on things."  The benefit here is that it sounds scientific and concrete. It's not.

Outcomes: results

Staff development: Meant to convey the collegial idea sharing which will help improve classroom outcomes. (outcome being edubabble for "result"). Unfortunately all too frequently this becomes instead a one way stream of "do it like this," which assumes the originator is an abler educator  than the receiver. Sometimes the case, more often, not.

Expert (sometimes also known as consultant): Generally, this refers to any person from outside the school district who owns their own briefcase and likes to travel. There are several keys to understanding these roving self proclaimed purveyors of pedagogy: 

              a) Frequently, they have little or no actual classroom experience  at  the public school level which has equipped them for helping you.

              b) They will have published very impressive papers, perhaps even books, justifying their existence and their theories. Unfortunately, some of their equally well credentialed colleagues will have published equally impressive works in direct refutation of those theories.  (see Payne, Ruby)

             c) They are paid well to come to town, make a flashy presentation, and leave, while you are expected to implement what they have shown, even though they may well have never done so.

             d) Because they are "experts,"  district level supervisors love them, because if the experts do it, they don't have to.

             e) Finally, and saddest of all, most of them are "flavor of the month" savants whose theories and/ or methods will fall from favor  eventually only to be replaced by the "next big thing" from California.

cohort, peer group, sample population:    Kids

Reflection:  A new fave, endorsed by an (Expert) man named Marzano who has never actually done what you do, but is really, really sure he could if he had to.  Some administrators like him because  his method makes the teacher do much  of what administrators should do if they had time, which they don't, because of all the extraneous bullshit heaped upon them by the higher ups.   A working definition of reflection might be: Thinking about what you prepared to do and did, after you did it. Yeah, I know, we all do that anyway, but now you have to write it down.  

Mentor : A term falling more and more into misuse. It means a senior, more experienced and proven professional who helps newbies reach their potential, by coaching, inspiring and guiding them. Unfortunately, for many reasons, we rarely use this resource much anymore. Apparently, upon reflection, consultants have induced a paradigm shift and decided that staff development will enable more successful outcomes for your cohort if  we use the "latest new thing" from the left coast instead of having an actual  experienced proven successful colleague assigned to mentor a new teacher.

I hope this helps you navigate the shoals a bit better. Good luck.