Lesson Plan on Jargon in Schools

FACILITATOR NOTES

Introduction: Lesson plan for a variable number of students and adults

Goal: When this session is complete, participants should be able to…

• Develop awareness of how language is used
• Define unknown terms
• Build community in school and have fun

Time: 60 minutes

Materials: A small flag for each person (people can make their own)

Space: None

Considerations: Language defines a group of people. You know you are in a group when you can “talk the talk”. In meetings, where a lot of jargons gets used, it’s important to provide a mechanism to break down the walls of exclusion that language can create. In introducing this technique, make sure you communicate fun. If people can treat it as a game, they won’t feel attacked if and when a flag is raised on them. This is also known as “Educationese 102.”

---

PROCEDURES

1. Hand out flags to everyone. Ask them to raise the flag every time someone uses a word they don’t understand. When a flag goes up, the person raising it says the word, and the person who said the word has to give a definition.
2. If you would like, turn it into a competition: Whom can have the fewest flags raised? The point is to have fun, while making sure people are communicating clearly.

You Might Like…

• Student/Adult Partnerships
• Understanding the Parts of the Education System