Words making a difference: what's in a name?

Abstract

In doing a bit of television channel surfing the other day, I caught a short segment of a religious program that was debating the ‘power of words’ and the use of words for good and evil purposes. Whilst I didn’t necessarily agree with the arguments that I heard (in the two or three minutes before I moved on to another channel), I was certainly reminded of the need for us to consider our words and the effects they may have on the children we teach, on our colleagues, and on our work as teachers. What we say, and how we say it, can play a powerful role in our relationships with others and in the way we position ourselves and others within educational discourses.