Words We Don’t Use and Why We Don’t Use Them

The words educators use to refer to their field, their programs, and their learners both reflect and influence their understanding. For example, adult education practitioners describe participants in adult basic/foundational education as “emergent readers” rather than as “illiterate” as one way of acknowledging the whole person and foregrounding assets (reading skills as in development) rather than deficits (reading skills as absent). However, other deficit-focused terms persist in the larger educational context. Certain terms, such as “vocational,” have acquired limiting connotations over time and have given way to alternatives that present a wider perspective. Others, such as “basic skills deficient” and “limited English proficient,” characterize adults in terms of a deficit model that undercuts their abilities and potential.

This interactive presentation explores the ways that labels can encode a deficit-oriented or asset-oriented perspective, and how such a perspective can influence outcomes for both learners and teachers. By inviting participants to explore the messages that labels encode, the presentation enables them to make active choices about the language they use with and about their learners. They become able to choose asset-focused language and encourage their learners to do the same, creating a positive, strengths-based environment for learning and growth that learners can carry with them beyond the classroom.

All of Deborah Kennedy’s presentations use an interactive approach that engages participants in connecting new knowledge and skills to their own contexts. Presentations are one hour in length and can take place in face-to-face, online, or hybrid formats.