Heard in the Forum: Challenges with Early Childhood Education Terminology

This week over on the Early Ed Forum we posted two short video clips that describe some of the challenges with language used in the early childhood education sphere. 

In the first clip Kelly Pollitt of the National Association for Elementary School Principals says the early childhood community uses different vocabulary than K-12 educators. This can create challenges when trying to encourage an elementary school principal, for example, to reach out to the directors of childcare centers that feed his school or to explain why his kindergarten teachers should meet with pre-kindergarten teachers; being able to make terms like “transition,” “continuum” and “alignment” more relevant and understandable is key.

In the second clip, Bridget Hamre of the Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning at the University of Virginia shares an example of the barriers that vocabulary can create. 

How have you overcome terminology barriers in your work? We encourage you to share your stories and lessons learned in the forum discussion area. While you are there, check out the various policy reports and research studies posted on the resource page. If you have suggestions for other helpful resources that should be added, let us know.

Hope to see you online!