Dictionaries, it is said, record how our language is used, but are then used as a reference for how it should be used - i.e. what "correct" meanings and usages are.
How should we view the change in usage of the verb "substitute", which is now very commonly used where we used to use "replace"?

E.g. "..pupils are not allowed to use these [unspecific] words... but substitute them for a specific term."

My view is that it would be better to say "a specific term should be substituted for the banned word", or "the banned word should be replaced by a specific term", and the user is contradicting himself by apparently suggesting that the banned word be used instead of the specific term.
It is also not uncommon to see or hear such mixed usages as "substitute them by a specific term" where one word is used with the preposition appropriate to the other.

So - back to the question: should we be worried that one term is replacing another whose previous usage was opposite in sense (at least as far as direct and indirect object are concerned)?
It's happened before (e.g. presently and immediately).

As the quotation I first gave as an example was published in an educational magazine and written by a teacher (of geography), is there any hope of doing anything about it?
SpudUK.