What Do We Mean by That?

Interrogating Familiar Expressions in Education

Laura Rychly, Steven P. Jones & Eric C. Sheffield, Laura Rychly

• Publisher: Myers Education Press
• Year: 2024
• Print ISBN: 9781975505844
• eBook ISBN: 9781975505868
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

What Do We Mean by That?: Interrogating Familiar Expressions in Education is a collection of essays that opens a space for all educational workers—teachers, teacher educators, administrators, politicians, and others—to unpack commonly used educational phrases and ideas.

The idea is to carefully examine what we say to one another when we talk about schools, curriculum, students, and other educational problems or issues—when we say things like "We have to meet students where they are," and "All children can learn," or "What does the data say?" What Do We Mean by That? challenges and clarifies such phrases and the how, and why, that they shape educational policies and practices.

The influential curricular theorist Dwayne Huebner charged us to always be aware of our "man-made tools," such as language, and said that since "all educators attempt to shape the world; theorists should call attention to the tools used for the shaping in order that the world being shaped can be more beautiful and just."

Language is a tool in educational practice in myriad ways: between administrators and teachers, teachers and students, teachers and parents, and students and students, as examples. A scripted curriculum is a tool intended to provide fixed language to teachers. It is normal for phrases to make their way into our everyday practices and get lodged there. But we need opportunities to interrupt ourselves and study our language tools to ensure they help create beauty and justice.

This collection of thoughtful essays seeks to be this interruption. It is an invaluable tool for improving the educational experience of students and schools.

Perfect for courses such as: Foundations of Education; Curriculum Studies; Diversity in Education; Educational Rhetoric and Policy

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• ONE Academic Language and Historic Linguicism
• TWO Prior Knowledge
• THREE “Just Be Creative!”
• FOUR hat Do We Truly Mean by Learning Loss?
• FIVE My Kids Can’t Do That!
• SIX “The Community.” What Is It Exactly?
• SEVEN Are We Really Friends? Examining Early Childhood Education’s (ECE’s) (Mis)Use of the Term
• EIGHT What Do We Mean by “Parent Involvement”? Rethinking Home-School Connections
• NINE The Right and the Responsibility: The Paradox “Self-Care” for Teachers and Educators
• TEN Apparently, “Good Teachers” Are Superhuman: Decoding Rhetoric That Perpetuates the “Good Teacher” Ideology
• ELEVEN Do It for the Kids: A Philosophy of Celebration and Coercion
• TWELVE On Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: What Do You Mean by That?
• THIRTEEN I Don’t See Color. I Just See My Students.
• FOURTEEN A Sticker Does Not A “Safe Space” Make, But You Can Affirm LGBTQ+ People Through Action
• FIFTEEN Interrogating the Digital Divide – Panacea or Panic in the Classroom?
• SIXTEEN “I Just Want My Child To Be Happy”: Examining What We Really Mean by That in the Field of Education Using a Simple Framework for Identifying and Dismantling White Supremacist Patriarchal (WSP) Ideology in Schools and Society
• About the Authors
• Index