NLP for Teachers ©Copyright 2012 by Dr. Brian Cullen What is it like li ke when you imagine yourself being able to stay motivated, facilitating real learning in the classroom over the long-term, and creating a learning environment that is enjoyable and rewarding for both students and teacher? How do good teachers continuously engage with students and facilitate learning? In answering this question, NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) offers practical tools for understanding and emulating the skills of excellent teachers. Experience shows that the behaviours of successful teachers can be learned by any teacher, and all around the world, educators have found NLP to be useful in helping make classes as good as they can be. Some of the ways that you can use NLP include: • • • • • • • • • •
Motivate learners and get them curious to learn more Use language carefully to get the results that you want Create rapport quickly with groups of learners Understand and utilize different learning styles Model the strategies of good learners and good teachers Help students with ‘learning problems” including ADD and Hikikomori Manage your own state and motivate yourself before every lesson Create a rich learning environment Use powerful language patterns to teach at both a conscious and an unconscious level Have more fun than you had thought possible becoming the best teacher that you can be
5NLPTipsforImprovingYourClasses Tip 1: Manage your Own State What state(s) do you want to be in i n when you are teaching? Would it be useful to go into i nto every class with exactly the right attitude? A simple activity called the Cir cle of Excellence is a great way to manage your own state. It is based on the NLP idea of anchoring. You have probably heard of the story of Pavlov’s dogs. When he rang a bell, he would feed the dogs, and the dogs would salivate. When he had trained t he dogs, just ringing the bell would cause the dogs to salivate. In NLP terms, Pavlov had created an anchor (the bell) which produced the response (salivation). Now, I’m not suggesting that you start to salivate every time the bell for class goes. Instead, what you want to do is anchor resourceful states in your circle of excellence. When you have practiced the Circle of Excellence lots of times, then just by imagining stepping into your circle, you will find that you easily enter those resourceful states. For example, supposing you decide that you want to feel confident in the classroom. Then you can add the state of confidence to your circle. Other useful states for teaching could be openness, energetic, or calmness– whatever states you believe will help you to be at your best. Circle of Excellence 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Imagine a circle in front of you big about one meter in diameter. Remember a time when you felt completely [Confident/Calm/Centered … etc.]. What did you see, hear, and feel at that time? When you are sure that you are completely in that state, step into the circle. Break state. Repeat with other states that you want to add to t o the circle. Test your circle. Make it stronger! Pick up your circle and put it into your pocket! Use it and keep it well recharged!
Remember that this is not magic–it is simply anchoring resources to an imaginary circle. It will work, just in the same way way as it worked for Pavlov’s Pavlov’s dogs. If you practice practice your circle of excellence excellence for a few minutes each day for a week or so, you will soon be able to use it to be in the perfect state for every class.
Tip 2: Manage Your Students’ States with Spatial Anchors Another useful classroom tip that uses the NLP idea of anchoring is spatial anchors. When you always do the same kind of activity in the same classroom space, students will unconsciously begin to associate that space with the activity. For example, if you want students to be in a state of curiousity and motivation, you can create a special space such as the front left of the classroom and only enter that space when you are deliberately creating that curiousity or encouraging students to access it. Choose several distinct positions in your classrooms and keep those positions for specific activities. For example, I like to use the teacher desk for ‘authority’, the front left of the classroom for ‘storytelling’, and the front right of the classroom for ‘demos’. Tip 3: Mind Your Language Here are a few of the many NLP tools to help you use language in the best ways to motivate students and facilitate learning. a) Use linguistically positive language, e.g. “Remember to do your homework”, not “Don't forget your homework!” At an unconscious level, people tend to remember the suggestion–not whether it is linguistically positive or negative. So “Don’t forget your homework” may actually reverberate in your students’ unconscious as “forget your homework …. forget your homework.” It is much easier for people to follow a positive suggestion than a negatively stated one. b) Use ‘Yes Sets’ to pace and lead the students. A ‘Yes set’ is a technique commonly used by salespeople to get people to agree, and surely teachers deserve to use this technique at least as much as salespeople! A ‘Yes Set’ is used to pace students’ current experience and to lead them in the desired direction. It consists of several pacing statements that are obviously true and thus easy to agree with. These are then followed by a leading statement that you want your students to agree with. e.g. So everyone is here today… and it’s a lovely day, and you all have your textbook … and you’re ready to really start learning. c) Use stories to teach and to get students into different states Students love stories and they are a wonderful way to help them enter different states. For example, if you want to create a sense of curiousity, you can use the technique of split stories. Begin an interesting story that captures the students’ attention. At an exciting or interesting part of the story, break off the story and move into another activity. The students will remain curious about how the story ends and this curiousity can carry over into the next activities. Be sure to finish the story by the end of class or students may not allow you to leave! Or you can use stories to embed important messages to your students. For example, you can tell the story of Thomas Edison’s invention of the lightbulb. People asked Edison, “how did you persevere after failing so many times”, to which he replied, “I haven't failed, I've found 10,000 ways that don't work.” Stories like this can be used to convey to students that mistakes are an important part of learning. Tip 4: Set Vivid Goals and Learning Pathways for Your Students Research in neuroscience and psychology has shown us that the neural networks which activate through our external behaviour are the same neural networks that activate when we only think about those behaviours. When we mentally create a vivid goal and visualize the steps required to reach that goal, we are already beginning to move towards that goal. Just like in sports, visualization and mental practice can produce great results. For example, at the beginning of a course, you can help your students to set their goals and learning pathways by asking questions such as: What is your goal? When will you achieve this goal? What will you see/hear/feel when you have reached your goal? What will you say to yourself when you achieve this goal? What are the steps that you need to take to achieve this goal?
Tip 5: Deliberately Model Skills from People ThecoreskillofNLPismodelling,inotherwords–learningfromothergreatteachers(orevenfrom yourselfwhenyouaredoingsomethingwell).Takeafewminutestothinkaboutthreeskillsthat youwouldliketoalwayshaveinyourteaching,andthenbegintoidentifywhomightbeagoodrole model foryou.NLPoffersmanytoolsformodelling,butyoucanbeginrightawayinthemost straightforwardwaybywatchingyourrolemodelcarryingouttheskillorevenjustaskinggood questions.
As you look over these five tips and consider how NLP can help you in your teaching, you can also learn more about NLP and get a free newsletter by visiting the website below. The sooner you begin to take control of your own behaviours and thinking patterns in the classroom, the sooner you will begin to really reach your students and to enjoy teaching so much more. www.standinginspirit.com/teacher
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