Ugly words – such as learning objectives, non-negotiables and targets – are meaningless to young pupils and put too much pressure on them too soon
What do you do when you get to school in the morning?” a colleague asked a younger member of my family recently. “Well, when we get to class, we get out our books and start on our non-negotiables,” replied the child, who is in year 2. “What are they?” the colleague inquired. “Don’t know” was the answer.
This is a perfect example of what is bothering me as a primary school teacher – educational jargon that is passed on to our children. At no point during my own education was I ever aware of non-negotiables, targets, levels, learning objectives or success criteria. But my teachers still taught me a great deal and it was pretty obvious that I was learning. Where I stood in the academic pecking order was the teacher’s business, not mine.
But the constant jargon that teachers are forced to use is rubbing off on our students. Not only is this meaningless for them but it’s increasingly making their academic performance their responsibility too. Do primary school children really need that kind of pressure when they’re so young?
Despite my objections, this year I prepared a group of year 6 children to have a go at the Sats level 6 papers. Level 6 is designed for children aged 14, but these students were very secure at level 5. One girl in particular found this process really difficult and, when I found her in tears after a practice test, it was clear from our conversation that however much I tried to explain that level 6 was miles ahead of where she was supposed to be, it hadn’t really sunk in.