Date: Sat, 25 May 1996 20:56:00 -0400

From: Beverly Flanigan FLANIGAN[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]OUVAXA.CATS.OHIOU.EDU

Subject: (in)service, v.t.



"Inservice" as a noun has been around quite a while, I believe.

However, I heard a variant of the verb form just the other day and now,

serendipitously, have a chance to sound off about it. A K-12 teacher

called about getting ESL validation in our summer program and talked,

with naive approval, of how she incorporates kids of limited English

proficiency into her special ed. classes. When I protested that

special ed. is not the place for LEP kids, she shifted gears and agreed

with me but then added that she often feels these children aren't

"serviced" adequately. Having grown up on a farm in Minnesota, I know

another meaning for "serviced." Talk about adding insult to injury.

Educationese is full of such depersonalizing jargon, as is

Speech/Hearing Clinic talk, where even schoolchildren are "clients."

Beverly Flanigan

Ohio University