Tag: #woke

Chocolate Week 12-18 October

Can’t believe I nearly missed this. I was prompted by yesterday’s blog about Spoonerisms Day and wondered what was so special about this day/week.

I came across a website that lists awareness events by day/week/month. I usually only get to hear about theses things after the event.

There are some massive awareness events this month like Black History Month, National Cholesterol Month, Lupus Awareness Month, ADHD Awareness Month, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Go Sober for October, Baby Loss Awareness week, Arthritis week, Adoption week, and Work/Life week. But randomly thrown in is Chocolate week. I’m not sure that Chocolate Week has quite the same message as the others, in fact, does it actually contradict Cholesterol Month?

In all seriousness, there are some things that we need to elevate and become more aware of and actually do something about, whether its stamping out racism or looking after ourselves and others by being better informed.

Now that I’ve found this website http://www.awarenessdays.com I shall celebrate Chocolate Week whilst I read up and educate myself about the more serious issues that deserve our attention and action this month.

What does all this mean?

I listen to a number of different podcasts when I go out for my lunchtime walk. Some are for fun like Older and Wider, Table Manners and others for educational value such as Somethin Rhymes with Purple. I have just started listening to one called The High Low, a weekly conversation between writers Dolly Alderton and Pandora Sykes, that covers highbrow and lowbrow culture.

It’s mildly entertaining and informative. The thing that’s annoying me though is these words that they keep using all the time which just sound odd and I don’t really understand.  I literally had to Google one of them.

They frequently use the phrase “that’s woke” or “she/he is woke”. I do understand the meaning i.e. that someone or something is an awareness of some social injustice. It just sounds weird.

The one I had to look up was zeitgeist. Apparently its the defining mood or spirit of a particular period of history as shown by the ideas and beliefs of the time. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/zeitgeist

They use those phrases several times an episode. To be honest its a bit annoying.

The use of language and words or jargon does demonstrate ones education and background but it can also make others uncomfortable or intimidated if they don’t understand.

I sit in many a meeting where acronyms are used all the time. Sometimes I sit quietly and eventually figure it out but other times I have had to ask what they mean. Sometimes the reply can be patronising as if to say “duh, its obvious”. Its only obvious if its familiar.

#bellringing has an awful lot of jargon and weird names for things like “lead end” or “treble bobbing”. For a beginner its like a foreign language trying to navigate some of the terms. As #bellringing teachers we really must ensure that we explain things in a way that the learner can understand, and that might mean different ways to different people. As teachers we must become multilingual.

Baking also has some strange phrases such as to “blind bake” is not to wear a mask so you can’t see what you’re doing, but to pre bake something like a pie crust before putting the filling in it.

In all I do, say and communicate in whatever way, I prefer to use the KISS acronym Keep It Simple, Stupid. Say what you mean and mean what you say.