PRINCIPALLY SPEAKING JUNIOR SCHOOL MIDDLE & SENIOR SCHOOL WHOLE SCHOOL

PRINCIPALLY SPEAKING

Simon Brooks, Principal

‘Language is very powerful. Language does not just describe reality. Language creates the reality it describes’ - Desmond Tutu

This week at AISM all of our teachers in the Junior, Middle and Senior Schools have been thinking about how the language we use as educators and as parents might help or hinder our students becoming deeper thinkers and learners.

Our words have power. The language choices we make have the capacity to shift learners’ perceptions of themselves and of their learning.

For example, something our teachers at AISM have been exploring recently is the power of the phrase ‘What else?’ as opposed to ‘Anything else?’

Let’s say that I’m a History teacher asking my students to interpret a political cartoon and tell me what they think it means. One student has offered a possible interpretation. Another offers a theory. Then there is silence. “Anything else?” I might say.

The problem with “Anything else?” is that it allows for the possibility that there might be nothing else. When I say ‘“Anything else?” to my students, I inadvertently put a lid on their thinking, sending the message that it would be perfectly acceptable and understandable if there was nothing else to offer.

In contrast, “What else?” sends a very different message. When I say “What else?” I show that I believe in them. I show that I am open to more of their thinking. I send the message that there is no limit to their potential for new ideas, interpretations and theories.

Returning to the wise words of Desmond Tutu, the language that we choose is not just a description of the world around us but actually serves to shape it.

How might our choice of language as teachers and as parents be shaping the type of people our children and young people are becoming on a day-by-day basis?

PRINCIPALLY SPEAKING JUNIOR SCHOOL MIDDLE & SENIOR SCHOOL WHOLE SCHOOL
PRINCIPALLY SPEAKING JUNIOR SCHOOL MIDDLE & SENIOR SCHOOL WHOLE SCHOOL
PRINCIPALLY SPEAKING JUNIOR SCHOOL MIDDLE & SENIOR SCHOOL WHOLE SCHOOL