Watching our language
Valuing diversity and difference is a key aspect of becoming more internationally minded and is an important goal of all IB programs. This needs to be reflected in the language we use in the classroom and, of course, in our learning materials. The relativist perspective on language recognizes that our words reflect our values, assumptions, and worldviews - and that, in expressing them, we actively shape our understanding of reality.
Language use
We should refer to individuals living with a mental health disorder rather than describing them as mentally ill people. Similarly, we say children with ADHD, people who use a wheelchair instead of those confined to a wheelchair, and people with depression rather than people suffering from depression. I was reminded of the importance of language choices when searching for an image to illustrate confusion in communication for this blog. The image I found was appropriate, but it was labeled “two neurotic women look anxiously at each other.” The point about the use of language cannot be made too often, it seems!
It is also important to use gender-neutral language, ‘they’ when talking in general of people whose gender we do not know and when gender is irrelevant to the topic. We should not assume that a house builder is male and a kindergarten teacher is female, for example. If we do, we are perpetuating stereotypes and making the point to girls that they cannot aspire to work in the building trade and to boys that teaching small children is not work for men.
Culture and language
When we write and speak about the influences of culture on behavior, we now refer when relevant to Indigenous cultures rather than using terms like ‘Aboriginal.’ This video, produced by CBC, provides a good explanation of why the term ‘Indigenous’ is preferred and what it means to the people of the Canadian Indigenous cultures. There are also helpful materials on different cultural approaches throughout the course. Just run a search on ‘Indigenous cultures.’
In the classroom
In addition to modeling inclusive language in the classroom and course materials, this topic also provides a valuable opportunity for class discussion. Many of our psychology students explore the relationship between language and knowledge in their Theory of Knowledge (TOK) course, where they learn about the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis - the idea that our perception of the world is shaped by the concepts available to us, which are, in turn, expressed through language.
Language is one of the processes students may explore within the learning and cognition context, but it also connects closely to broader concepts. Each approach to content and research—biological, cognitive, sociocultural, etic, and emic—has its own language that shapes how behavior is understood. Our responsibility to use language ethically is clear: if we aim to reduce prejudice in today’s world, we must begin by changing the way we speak about it. Finally, many of our classrooms involve cross-cultural communication. A new InThinking activity provides insight into some of the challenges associated with this.