21 ottobre 2023
Dr. Daniele Nappo, Legal Representative and Founder of the S. Freud Private School, places emphasis on the inclusive language that a teacher should always adopt in order to successfully connect with his or her students.
The experience of the pandemic with its restrictions has certainly influenced the way of communicating, of using words and especially of valuing them. It has determined a perhaps different, that is, a new way of communicating. Within a school setting, in a classroom, the ability to listen to and respect opinions different from one's own cannot be disregarded and neglected. With words, in a natural way, one expresses oneself daily and represents one's thoughts, moods, experiences, and relationships with others. Words therefore carry weight, they are important, they are the consequence between thought and action: they are important for every individual, they are a giant part of us and allow us to connect, help to create empathy, connection if used in a positive way. Certainly a wrong, incorrect use can, on the contrary, generate division or even contrast. In order to build within a classroom a serene relationship, where each student feels comfortable and above all where diversity can be valued, to express themselves freely, it is essential that the teacher conveys to his or her students and supports the use of inclusive language. The fragility of a young person allows us to discover values, to be faced with a resource, and language with its style and code can create an inclusive environment. What does it mean, however, to create an inclusive environment? It means using language that consists of words and phrases that reject prejudice, discrimination on the basis of diversity, race, gender, socio-economic status, qualities, abilities. It means that the teacher must be able to listen in open and sincere ways to his or her students. With inclusive language, the teacher connects with girls and boys by being able to understand them, comprehend them, welcome them by making them feel they are in the right place. This attitude manifests emotional intelligence, that is, being able to read one's own and students' emotions; this use can have a great impact on the sense of belonging and educational programming and generate values for the school. Making sure that an environment ready for the use of inclusive language develops and spreads within an institution is a challenge that must be met with determination, commitment and perseverance. Inclusive language enables, in the contemporary view, better participation in conditions of difficulty, the complexities of diversity, and disability by helping the teacher overcome the old branding and distorting ways that were often only capable of bordering on humiliation.
The new teacher is able to use inclusive language because it allows stimulating new and further thinking while respecting people, valuing the dignity and uniqueness of each and every one. Words, in themselves, are not wrong, but the way we put them together and how we use them to express thoughts can be incorrect. Those we choose give shape and life to the thought and the world around us; what we misquote gets stuck in prejudices most of the time. It is also true that our language has grammatical obstacles that perhaps make it rigid in the face of neutral usage. However, language must not stop at words alone; it must go further toward values and intentions. The inclusive language a teacher must use in school must be one that creates the best reality we can imagine, a world free of violence in all its forms and where everyone's life, identity, and experiences are precious.
