Let's all sing from the same hymn-sheet

Words are important - they carry meaning, they convey ideas. But finding the right word to convey exactly what we want to say, and to be sure that our readers understand each other is not always easy. Especially when - as communicators - we have to venture into new territory.

Like all of us, in the VUB's English Master's programme. For most of us, we are moving in strange new lands, where people speak in many tongues. The only thing we have in common is a desire to conquer these new territories, and we can talk to each other in a shared language, English.

But, English is for almost all of us a foreign language as well. And we are not familiar with the specifics of the anglo-saxon terminology that describes our field of research: 'curriculum development' might mean the whole cycle from the political guidelines to the nitty-gritty of day-to-day teaching to one person, and just the broad content that a teacher needs to teach on a given subject to someone else.

I believe therefore that it is important that we come to a common understanding of what we mean when we use as certain word. The European Union's European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop) seems to share this point of view and and have developed a glossary - a list of term with  an explanation - on (quality in) education and training.

Do we share a common language on these issues, and are we sure we correctly understand the terms employed? For the EU-27, with its current 501 million citizens and single labour market, such questions are hardly academic: common understanding leads to common trust.

Cedefop’s new glossary is intended for all stakeholders in (vocational)  education and training, researchers, experts, those involved in improving learning curricula; and education and training providers. While it does not represent an exhaustive inventory of the terminology used by specialists, the glossary takes into account recent developments.

glos·sa·ry	/ˈgläsərē/
An alphabetical list of terms or words found in or relating to a specific subject, text, or dialect, with explanations; a brief dictionary.
Synonyms: vocabulary - lexicon - dictionary