Volume One of our handy glossary of commonly-used terms in U.K. education was such a success that our publishers have rushed out the second volume. We hope that you find this a useful tool in navigating the debates and discussion around education, both online and in real world situations.
assembly
/əˈsɛmbli/
noun
the action of gathering a group of children together in order to watch a short video of an athlete doing something inspiring to uplifting music.
Bjork, Robert A.
/bjɔːk/, ˈrɒbət ˈeɪ/
noun
cognitive psychologist, famous for his work on learning, memory and forgetting, and for his hit single “It’s Oh So Quiet”, which spent 15 weeks in the U.K. singles chart in 1995; he was hoping you’d forgotten about that.
cake
/keɪk/
noun
main fuel source of teachers during the latter weeks of a term; as a child, cake is something that someone buys you on your birthday; as a teacher, cake is something that you have to buy for everyone in your department on your own birthday; how did that happen?
Chartered College of Teaching
/ˈtʃɑːtəd ˈkɒlɪdʒ ɒv ˈtiːtʃɪŋ/
noun
see General Teaching Council for England (GTC).
Dead Poet’s Society
/dɛd ˈpəʊɪtz səˈsʌɪɪti/
noun
elaborate teacher recruitment video from the late 1980s; data shows that the two-thirds of teachers who remain in the profession after five years only stay on in the hope that their pupils will one day stand on their desks and declare “O Captain! My Captain!” at them.
detention
/dɪˈtɛnʃ(ə)n/
noun
punishment given out to teachers whereby they have to give up their break time, lunchtime or after school to spend time with someone who has previously been rude to them or otherwise ignored their instructions.
enquiry learning
/ɪnˈkwʌɪri ˈləːnɪŋ/
noun
for a clear understanding of the way that enquiry learning works, see entry for inquiry learning.
GCSE results day
/ˈdʒiːˈsiːˈɛsˈiː rɪˈzʌltz deɪ/
noun
the second most exciting day in the school calendar, after stationery order delivery day.
growth mindset
/ɡrəʊθ ˈmʌɪn(d)sɛt/
noun
a powerful incantation used as a magic word; legend has it that, if SLT and the board of governors hold hands in a circle with their eyes closed and chant the words ‘growth mindset’ three times, when they open their eyes the DfE will have made further cuts to their school budget.
inquiry learning
/ɪnˈkwʌɪri ˈləːnɪŋ/
noun
for a clear understanding of the way that inquiry learning works, see entry for enquiry learning.
lunchtime duty
/ˈlʌn(t)ʃtʌɪm ˈdjuːti/
noun
(Oops, sorry, I totally forgot to do this one – Ed.)
mastery
/ˈmɑːst(ə)ri/
noun
a Rorschach inkblot, often associated with a curriculum, which can be interpreted to mean absolutely anything a person sees in it when they look at it.
mindset
/ˈmʌɪn(d)sɛt/
noun
the mental attitude or disposition that predetermines a person’s responses to and interpretations of a situation; according to psychologists, there are three types: fixed and growth (Dweck), and dirty (Freud).
red pen
/rɛd pɛn/
noun
principle weapon of torture, used by teachers who don’t take children’s feelings into account (cf. the marking pen chart below, showing the range colours preferable to use when marking); red pen is also famously mentioned in the old adage of teacher lore that goes, “Red pen at night: normal. Red pen in the morning: I fell asleep doing my marking last night.”
retention deficit disorder (RDD)
/rɪˈtɛnʃ(ə)n/
noun
an employment disorder that can be found in the U.K. education sector; it is characterised by a person openly lamenting teacher turnover whilst they are simultaneously creating the conditions that cause teachers to leave their jobs, e.g., “Justine Greening spoke earnestly about the ‘challenges on recruitment and retention, but also on workload’, just before she announced a funding formula that will see 98% of state schools’ funding cut.”
self-assessment
/sɛlf əˈsɛsmənt/
noun
process in which children show that they have had enough of the topic being studied; this is sometimes done by the pupil displaying an emoticon of a smiley face, or through the use of traffic light colours, but is more commonly achieved by the children putting their thumbs up, as pioneered by Scottish pupil James Krankie in the late 1970s (see image below); however, it should be noted that Krankie is still at school some 40 years later, which may be an indication that this method is a flawed way of gauging a pupil’s learning.
Othmar's Trombone 
Reblogged this on The Echo Chamber.