Fun With Words

Is it appropriate to expect our students to have the courage to be themselves when our schools do not always display that same courage?

Schools often talk about supporting students as they build an identity, develop the skills to think independently, and gain the confidence to express themselves authentically.

Yet schools tend to use the same handful of words, ad nauseam, in the same tone, even when they have wildly different operational models and philosophies. "CASE stands for Copy And Steal Everything," as many of my colleagues have said to me, only half-jokingly.

The English language is delightfully strange and full of possibilities. With such a powerful and charmingly chaotic tool at our disposal, it is a shame that we often choose to sound just like every other school.

There are a finite number of ways to describe a school, of course, and the similarities among many schools’ mission statements are evidence that we are converging on a proven, well-understood way to educate our students. But the homogeneity of language is impossible to ignore, and the Claude-ification of my LinkedIn feed suggests this phenomenon may be getting worse.

Tuition costs outpacing inflation, increased competition, and a market growing more skeptical of the independent school model all require a critical look at whether our language is helping us stand out or highlighting an unintended hypocrisy of being unwilling to do what we ask our students to do.