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NLP Essentials for Teachers

Balboa Press

Contents

Foreword.........................................................xiPrefacex.........................................................iiiAcknowledgments..................................................xvPart I: Introduction to NLP......................................11. What Is NLP?..................................................32. Why Train Teachers in NLP?....................................6Part II: Communication...........................................93. The Presuppositions of NLP....................................114. The NLP Communication Model...................................155. Establishing Rapport..........................................266. Using Effective Language......................................327. Framing Behaviour.............................................448. Emotional State and Self-Control..............................50Part III: Learning...............................................599. Learning Stages: The Stages of Competence.....................6110. Learning Styles..............................................6411. Teaching and Learning Strategies.............................81Afterword........................................................95About the Author.................................................97Appendix A: Sensory Acuity.......................................99Appendix B: Rapport..............................................100Appendix C: Meta Model...........................................102Appendix D: Intonation...........................................103Appendix E: Representational Test................................104Appendix F: Eye Pattern Chart....................................107Glossary.........................................................109References and Further Reading...................................113Resources for You................................................115Teachers' Professional Leadership Seminar........................117

Chapter One

We can change our whole life and the attitudes of people around us simply by changing ourselves. – Rudolf Dreikurs

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) is a process that models those people who have developed successful strategies and obtained excellent results, using appropriate language and physiology as well as supportive values and beliefs.

Definition of NLP

Neuro refers to the nervous system and the five senses—visual, auditory, kinaesthetic, olfactory, and gustatory—that are located there. The experiences of the five senses are processed and interpreted through internal filters.

Linguistic refers to the ability to code, order, and give meaning to experiences, employing pictures, sounds, feelings, tastes, smells, and self- talk.

Programming is the process of discovering and using the neurological system to achieve specific outcomes.

NLP involves consciously using language to obtain maximum results and desired outcomes. Teachers apply NLP by using effective language and adopting values and beliefs that support learning. They develop great relationships with their students using these techniques, teaching to the learning styles of their students and maximizing student results.

Brief History of NLP

NLP originated in the 1970s in the USA as Richard Bandler, John Grinder, and others examined people who were excellent communicators and then modelled their communication systems. It was based on several disciplines, including physiology, general semantics (Alfred Korzybski 1933), linguistics, self-actualisation psychology (Abraham Maslow 1954), cognitive psychology (George Miller, Eugene Gallanter and Karl Pribram, 1960), neurology, transformational grammar (Noam Chomsky 1957), anthropology and systems' theory or cybernetics (Gregory Bateson 1972).

Bandler and Grinder modelled three of the most eff ective communicators of their generation, each of who used a different style and focus, and all of who were able to affect profound change in their clients:

• Medical Doctor, psychiatrist and therapist Milton Erickson, with his artfully vague use of metaphor, effected profound change in individuals for sixty years.

• Virginia Satir achieved excellent results in therapeutic settings as a family therapist. She had an impressive ability to develop rapport with her clients by asking them very specific questions using their own language patterns.

• Fritz Perls who developed Gestalt Therapy (1973) was also operating in a powerful and effective way. He was using the same sequences of patterns that you will find in the work of Erickson and Satir (Bandler and Grinder 1979).

NLP Today

Currently, NLP is used across a range of different settings including therapeutic practices, weight-loss clinics, businesses, entertainment, and education. NLP practitioners have achieved successful outcomes by adopting supportive beliefs and choosing language that allows clients to overcome their limitations and achieve their goals.

Chapter Two

Be the change you want to see in the world. – Mahatma Gandhi

Research projects about the effect of NLP in education have been carried out and documented in the United Kingdom. One project in Durham County in 2006 involved staff from four schools taking part in the pilot study. The schools were chosen because of their previous interest and use of innovative techniques with their students.

Each school nominated a few staff members to participate in the program and learn the NLP techniques that will be explored throughout this book. The project was designed to examine the possible impact of a variety of NLP-based interventions in schools, with teaching and learning as the focus of the research.

Techniques tested by the teachers included the circle of excellence; embedded Milton Model language patterns and commands; a positive learning state; the NLP Spelling Strategy; and the use of social stories and music. These were trialled at strategic times to create a readiness for learning. With the NLP Spelling Strategy student results improved markedly from 18 percent receiving a full score in Week 1 to 71 percent receiving a full score in Week 3.

The results of these projects indicate that there are many advantages for students in having teachers trained in NLP. This has been particularly evident where teachers are interested in exploring the process and have received follow-up support from trainers (Tosey 2009).

According to the report compiled about the project (Kate Benson and John Carey, 2006), teachers trained in NLP exhibit the following characteristics:

• They use their value and belief systems to help students learn more easily.

• They reframe students' limiting beliefs and thought processes to help the students achieve learning goals.

• They ask better questions to determine student values.

• They use powerful language patterns to foster learning.

• They calibrate, pace, and lead students to develop rapport.

• They create and maintain positive student behaviour in the classroom.

• They challenge unwanted behaviours and habits to allow students to be more open to learning.

• They promote highly effective and easily achievable learning states through imaginative processes.

• They develop and encourage the strengths of students.

• They have a highly developed understanding of different learning styles.

• They use a highly interactive teaching approach.

• They challenge resistance to learning.

• They enhance student self-esteem, self-awareness, and personal identity.

• They reframe the perception of student failure by giving quality feedback to improve student performance.

• They manage the intervention of learning according to student needs.

Adapting NLP techniques and supporting beliefs and values allows teachers to cater to student learning needs within a flexible and changing environment.

Chapter Three

Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them become what they are capable of becoming. –Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

The presuppositions of NLP were formulated by a number of people. In addition to those previously mentioned upon whom NLP was modelled, three other notable people contributed to the presuppositions.

The first was Abraham Maslow, an American professor from Brandeis University who, in 1943, formulated a theory-of-motivation model. It was based on the five levels of human need: physiological, safety, social, esteem, and at the top of the pyramid, self-actualisation

Another inspiration was Alfred Korzybski, a philosopher and scientist who in 1933 developed a theory of general semantics. Korzybski believed that the human nervous system and the structure of the language that is used are limited by the perceptions of reality and our beliefs. He coined the expression, "The map is not the territory."

The third contributor was Gregory Bateson, a noted anthropologist, social scientist, cyberneticist and linguist who, along with colleagues, developed a theory of schizophrenia in 1956. Bateson was interested in systems and how human beings interact within a given system.

Beliefs That Support Learning

The following presuppositions of NLP provide guidelines for both excellent teaching and learning. They also encourage positive behaviour in the classroom.

Rapport is created when respecting how others see the world.

Taking note of this presupposition will greatly assist you in working more successfully with all individuals, as you will become more accepting of all students.

Behaviour occurs in a context.

If you change the context, you can expect or observe a different behaviour. As a teacher, you would notice the changes in students when they do different activities, take different subjects, or go on various excursions.

All behaviour is motivated by positive intent.

All behaviour is done for a reason, even challenging behaviour. Every student wants to be recognised and acknowledged for his or her achievements.

Resistance in a person indicates lack of rapport.

There is no resistance, only lack of rapport. Build rapport with students, and there will be no resistance.

People are not their behaviours.

Accept the person and change the behaviour. Behaviour can change from moment to moment, or in different contexts. Change the undesirable behaviour by catering to the student's needs.

Everyone does the best he or she can with the resources available.

If students have limited personal or material resources available to them, then they will tend to achieve a more limited result.

There is no such thing as failure. There is only feedback.

People are all learning machines, and they learn by failing and getting feedback. That is how learning happens with everyone. No one does things perfectly the first time. Both teachers and students have to learn to accept and implement feedback. See chapter 11 for suggestions on giving effective feedback to students.

Teach information in small steps to ensure success.

Using a process calledchunking, teach students to do tasks step-by-step. Give them instructions in this way. This is a great life skill to have, and it reduces the likelihood of being overwhelmed by situations.

Students are in charge of their minds and their results.

This concept is a difficult one for many students to grasp. It is often easier for them to blame someone else for their lack of progress or success at school. Encourage students to accept responsibility for their own actions.

The map is not the territory.

Explain to the students that this may also mean the itinerary is not the holiday, or the recipe is not the cake. Alfred Korzybski, mentioned previously, believed that what the brain interprets as happening all around us is not actually everything that is going on in the world. It is rather an interpretation of the world. His idea was that the brain only stores bits of the whole picture and may have not tested this information with sensory input.

How well you have communicated is indicated by the response you receive.

This is a very powerful presupposition! If you have communicated well, you will get a good response, no matter how difficult the message is that you are conveying.

We all can be resourceful if we are in charge of our emotional state.

As you know, it is often challenging to do something well if you are distracted or feeling stressed or upset.

Flexible communicators find a way to establish rapport.

These communicators will vary their direction or strategy if their current approach is not working.

Calibrate on behaviour.

Calibration requires noticing subtle changes in a person's body language from one situation to another. Notice the differences when a student has responded to your comment or assistance.

Present behaviour is the best choice available.

This may be a difficult idea to accept, particularly if the student is misbehaving. Remember, though, there is always a reason for the behaviour—even if the student is not aware of why he is doing it. Challenge the behaviour and change it.

You cannot, NOT communicate.

You are always communicating—even if it is by being silent, as during that time you will be exhibiting body language.

People have all the resources they need to succeed.

This is a very empowering presupposition. Some of your students will not believe that they have the resources to succeed. The challenge is to show them how to access the internal and external resources available to them.

The person with the most flexibility of behaviour will control the system.

The more adaptable students are to changing circumstances, the better they will perform. Inflexible students tend to perform poorly—for instance, when there is a change of teacher in the classroom.

Imagine how successful the learning would be in a classroom where these assumptions are modelled and taught consistently! Take up the challenge and notice the change in your classroom dynamics.

Chapter Four

Have a good reason for everything that you do. – Laurence Olivier

The NLP Communication Model (Bandler and Grinder 1975), provides a way of showing how to make sense of the world. As a result of this information, it is possible to see why things are the way they are in people's lives.

According to this model, information comes into the mind through the five senses: visual, auditory, kinaesthetic, gustatory (taste), and olfactory (scent or smell).

This data is received at a rapid rate of two million bits per second, according to Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (2008). The mind then unconsciously deletes, generalises, and distorts the information received through the filters. In fact, 95 percent of what is done in everyone's life is done unconsciously through the bodily processes.

The filtering process allows people to make sense of their world and to interact effectively within it. After filtering out much of the incoming data, we are left with 126 bits of information (Csikszentmihalyi 2008).

George Miller (1956) had earlier demonstrated that people are able to process about seven chunks of information, plus or minus two bits per second. Orme (1969) later described a unit of attention as being one-eighteenth of a second based on the calculations of Jakob Von Uexkull (1957). This means, then, that people are able to process about seven times eighteen or 126 bits of information per second (see Think or Sink by Gina Mollicone-Long).

Generalising, Deleting and Distorting Information

Generalising occurs when people draw conclusions based on limited data. It is important for learning and allows us to avoid information overload. It also enables human beings to simplify situations. Unfortunately, overgeneralising about situations or people can lead to miscommunication. Instead, develop the habit of thinking flexibly. Remember, you can never know all the reasons for a person's behaviour in any given context.

Flexible thinking is very important in the classroom, as it keeps the classroom atmosphere fluid. It implies thinking on one's feet, keeping an open mind, and not judging a situation too quickly.

Sometimes students appear to be inattentive in class, and it is easy to assume that they are lazy or disinterested in the subject matter. At times this is the case; however, on other occasions, this may be an indication of family problems. The student may have had an argument before coming to school and feel quite upset and unable to concentrate. In this situation, give the student a bit of a timeout to collect his thoughts, and he will usually calm down. Send students for counselling if they require more extensive support.

To encourage yourself to think flexibly, ask yourself these questions:

• "What can I do to keep my mind open in this situation?"

• "What other points of view do I need to consider here?"

• "What could be the possible reasons for this particular student's behaviour?"

Selectively deleting sensory input allows people to pay attention to what they choose and block out the rest. It facilitates concentration on the task at hand. For example, students need to be able to delete the distractions going on around them in class to concentrate on their work. Students are subject to distractions as other students talk, whisper, move around the class, or ask the teacher questions.

Students with ADHD have difficulty eliminating extraneous information, so they need strategies to help them attend to class activities (see chapter 10).

Distorting information gives people the opportunity to change their experience of reality or misrepresent reality. It may be done through fantasy or daydreaming. It is very easy to distort the meaning of language or misinterpret a facial expression. It is good advice not to take things personally, as people have their own reasons for doing things, which may not be related to us.

Distortion occurs in the classroom, for example, when one student misinterprets what the other student says. This can lead to conflict between the two students that may require teacher intervention. In more challenging cases, conflict resolution or counselling may be required to resolve the situation.

Filters

The filters—including values, beliefs, attitudes, decisions, memory, language, meta programs, time, space, matter and energy—then sieve and categorise the incoming data that is to be stored.

Because everyone is an individual who filters information in a unique way, all people respond to situations differently. It is interesting that teachers can respond to individual student needs in their own unique way, and how the style of interaction with students varies widely from teacher to teacher.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from NLP Essentials for Teachersby Gaye O'Brien Copyright © 2012 by Gaye O'Brien. Excerpted by permission of Balboa Press. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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