The words that we use as teachers have enormous power. Our choices of words can defuse difficult situations or inflame them. They can also change how risks and emotions are viewed.

It is widely accepted that phrases such as “ability grouping” come with perceptions and baggage that can have harmful effects on individuals’ outcomes. In the book Reassessing ‘Ability’ Grouping, Becky Francis and her colleagues Becky Taylor and Antonina Tereshchenko vividly describe the impact of being “bottom-set students”.

But let’s consider some of the other words and phrases that are in general use during this strange autumn term. Schools have been described as making “Herculean efforts” but also accused of “not doing enough”, while children must “catch up”, “persevere in tricky tasks” and have their “novice vocabulary enriched and recast”.

Teachers should be “instructing” and “providing purposeful practice”, as we support “struggling children” with “intensive catch-up in small groups” according to “our assessments of learners”.

As leaders, we should be “planning a recovery” to close the “attainment gap” and get young learners “back on track”, as we “implement the curriculum expectations, addressing gaps in knowledge and skills”.

We need to think harder about all of these words. I wonder what it feels like to be described as adversely affected, vulnerable and disadvantaged, or having gaps that need addressing. What message does “recovery” and “struggling” send out?

We can find clues that deficit language has not worked previously. The recent Education in England report by the Education Policy Institute suggests that the ways of working we have adopted over the past decade have lacked impact, even before the coronavirus struck. The pandemic may have simply exacerbated and highlighted challenges that were already prevalent and growing.

And the recent Unicef report card on the wellbeing of children and young people in rich countries does not paint a comfortable picture of life in the UK for this generation.

We need to stop talking at and about our pupils. Their thoughts, wishes, reflections and ideas are noticeably missing in the conversations that are informing decisions about how best to respond to the situation that we now find ourselves in. Perhaps we should ask them?

And in that conversation we may find reason to change the words we use.

Is it recovery or are we responding? Are we bouncing back or are we adjusting and adapting? Have we got a huge attainment gap, especially for the disadvantaged, or are we presented with new insight into the challenges faced by children, families and staff? Is this a problem or an opportunity to look afresh and with deeper perspective?

Let’s change the narrative. Because, right now, the words we are choosing don’t seem to be helping.

Megan Dixon is director of research and development at the Aspire Educational Trust

This article originally appeared in the 9 October 2020 issue under the headline “A word to the wise: sharpen up your vocab”