Since MCL is about being “uncompromisingly learner-centered,” we knew early on that the moniker of “student” just didn’t fit. The word “student” connotes compliance (following directions); passivity (waiting for direction); conformity of structure and task (coloring within the lines with everyone doing the same thing
This graphic says it all… implying that the student’s mind is a blank slate… An empty bucket to be filled with knowledge by the teacher.
The word “learner,” however, connotes a different picture . . . Here we have a complex picture of a learner’s mind VERY NATURALLY engaged and exploding with ideas and solutions!
This picture of the mind of a learner pushes us – even requires – that we think differently about the role of the “teacher”… now named “learning facilitator.”
If we say to you, “Students, Teachers, Classrooms, Schools,” you get a picture. If we say, “Learners, Learning Facilitators, Learning Opportunities, Learning Communities,” you get a very different picture.
Words have power. When you hear or read a word or label, your mind creates a picture and that picture makes a statement. We need to think before we choose the word that will create the vision we hope to communicate.
The words we use drive our THINKING. It’s what we SEE. Thus, what we CREATE.
And so . . . Changing our vocabulary became an early – and quite effective – breakthrough in working toward this MCL uncompromisingly learner-focused vision.