We Need to Rethink Rigor

I hate the word rigor. I probably don’t hate it as much as I do the word fidelity, but I wish that the word had never entered educational pedagogy.

Before I get into why I hate the word, let me ask you: What is rigor, to you? Don’t think about it as it’s applied in education. Just think about the word itself: rigor. What does rigor mean?

When I think of the word rigor, I think of rigor mortis. If you know anything about science, you know that rigor mortis is when the body initially gets stiff after death. To me, rigor means stiff. Stiff like a stiff back, or…