Is there value in trying to change language that is perjorative, but that resonates with people? For example, the term dropouts. We've tried interrupted education. Is there value in trying to change the term?
Yes there is great value in changing the language. If your boss can fire you, you can fire your boss. If your boss can replace you, you can replace your boss. You did not quit and by definition become a quitter. You fired your boss or you replaced your boss. The contract gives both parties freedom. As a 33 year teacher, I hate the word "dropout." It ranks with others that will go unmentioned. Bill Gates is a college dropout. The world is a much better place because he did dropout. Thomas Edison dropped out thanks to his mother. Think of all he would have learned that he could not do if he had stayed in school. Stephan Gary "Woz" Wozniak and Steven Jobs both dropped out and made the world better. Do not confuse schooling with education. Schooling is what you do in school. Education is what you do your whole life even while you are sleeping. Education never ends until you do. Schooling is a construct, an artificial creation that tries to monopolize education. Schooling did not, can not, and will not monopolize education. Remember Emerson and "The American Scholar?" Nature first, books second for your idle hours, and real life with real people third.
Is there value in trying to change language that is perjorative, but that resonates with people? For example, the term dropouts. We've tried interrupted education. Is there value in trying to change the term?
Yes there is great value in changing the language. If your boss can fire you, you can fire your boss. If your boss can replace you, you can replace your boss. You did not quit and by definition become a quitter. You fired your boss or you replaced your boss. The contract gives both parties freedom. As a 33 year teacher, I hate the word "dropout." It ranks with others that will go unmentioned. Bill Gates is a college dropout. The world is a much better place because he did dropout. Thomas Edison dropped out thanks to his mother. Think of all he would have learned that he could not do if he had stayed in school. Stephan Gary "Woz" Wozniak and Steven Jobs both dropped out and made the world better. Do not confuse schooling with education. Schooling is what you do in school. Education is what you do your whole life even while you are sleeping. Education never ends until you do. Schooling is a construct, an artificial creation that tries to monopolize education. Schooling did not, can not, and will not monopolize education. Remember Emerson and "The American Scholar?" Nature first, books second for your idle hours, and real life with real people third.