Objectives

1. Objectives • Analyse the nature and working of subjective experience • Evaluate the impact of personal maps on human perception and behaviour • Analyse the experience of reframing and how to influence it • Use communication skills to build rapport and reduce limiting beliefs • Explore ways to use NLP techniques in a range of educational contexts

2. My Personal View Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple, that's creativity. Charles Mingus When the confusions and complexities of life experiences are examined, sorted and untangled, what remains is a set of behavioural elements and rules that aren’t too difficult to understand at all. (Dilts, 1980, p.5)

3. Education is a Creature of Fashion Traditional (3 RRR’s) - Progressive Education - Back to Basics (Traditional) PBL - no longer ‘Sage on the Stage’ but ‘Guide on the Side’ (Constructivism)

4. So, we must be able to see.... ...the Wood from the Trees

5. What do you already know about NLP?

6. Creative teachers can create moments of inspired learning – that’s what can turn students on to learning “A potent teacher will skilfully and gracefully create conditions and stage activities that inspire students to have a sustained and meaningful encounter with a subject…” (Intrator, 2003, p.7)

7. Activity • Have you ever experienced a ‘moment of inspired learning’ as a student/learner? • What did the teacher do that brought this about for you? • How did he/she do this? “gracefully create conditions and stage activities…” What essential questions does this raise for you?

8. It’s in ‘The Experience’ • As human being we are stuck in a process of Continuous Experience – even when sleeping • When we have choice – we seek experiences that are pleasurable, pain reducing and novel – because they satisfy our needs

9. What is NLP?

10. What is NLP?: Bandler

11. What is NLP? NLP …the study of the components of perception and behaviour which makes our experience possible (Dilts, 1980, p.1) NLP is the study of excellence, and modelling is the process used to specifically identify and ‘code’ excellence so that others can also achieve it (Adler, 1996, p.155) NLP is a set of principles, models and tools for learning, communication and change Molden, 2001, p.1)

12. Neuro-Linguistic Programming

13. Model telling a story well

14. Naturally occurring internal chaos “Its really important to understand that most people are very chaotically organised on the inside” (Bandler & Grinder, 1990, p.71) “We contain multiple personalities living in uneasy alliance under the same skin” (O’Connor & Seymour, 1995, p.13) The mind is a complex system composed of many interacting parts or mental modules – the really important point is that: “Behaviour…comes from an internal struggle among mental modules with differing agendas and goals” (Pinker, 2002, p.40)

15. Beliefs and Perception Beliefs act as major neurological filters that determine how we perceive external reality. In this way they provide the inner maps we use to make sense of the world around us. When we believe something, we act as though it is true. Beliefs also influence how we feel about things – our psychological state External World The ‘Territory’ Inner Map Senses Beliefs “We forget that beliefs are no more than perceptions, usually with a limited sell by date, yet we act as though they were concrete realities” (Adler, 1996)

16. The Map is not the Territory (a) We do not know reality except through our senses which are limited (b) We build ‘maps’ of reality through information originating from: *sensory input from the environment *the recollection of past experiences *fancied constructions of reality (c) Our response to the world is based on our internal maps not on external reality (d) People’s maps are different depending on their genetic make up, societies culture and personal histories (e) Our maps determine: *how we interpret, and react to, the world *the meaning we give to our experience (f) It is largely our maps of the world, rather than the world itself, that limits us Implications If we enrich our maps, we have more choices in managing the same reality Knowing other people’s maps is useful to communicate with them effectively

17. The Magic of Maps “ The richer our map, the more accurate, adequate, and useful our menu, the more choices. The more impoverished our model, the fewer choices. The richer and fuller our linguistic map, the richer our mind” “Maps induce states, and states govern perception and behaviour” (L. Michael Hall, 2001, p.26- 27)

18. What can we do with NLP that’s really useful?

19. 1. Productively influence students by creating conflict between their existing beliefs and the present experience

20. Magic Eggs - Story “Mum, Mum, you don’t have to buy eggs anymore coz I’m laying them”

21. Cognitive Dissonance New experience, which creates a perception that… I’m laying eggs Existing Beliefs Cognitive Dissonance Chickens lay eggs I am not a chicken

22. Cognitive Dissonance New experience, which creates a perception that… Feels ok to me Existing Beliefs Cognitive Dissonance Teachers are boring I don’t like chemistry

23. Reframing “How your perceive something makes all the difference, and you are free to see things from any perspective you wish” (Adler, 1996, p.145) In NLP reframing refers to putting things in different contexts (frames or reference), thus giving them different meanings. Reframing is the essence of creative thinking To shift to a different frame will typically reframe one’s perspective and therefore, one’s meaning. And when we do this, our very world changes, which changes the sensory experience, hence how we feel

24. Reframing students - how it works Perception of meaning Constructing Productive Subjective Experience Effective learning Students decide to participate in the classroom experience Change in beliefs & psychological state Reframing Engagement

25. 2. Build Rapport and ‘influence’ people “Rapport is the ultimate tool for getting results with other people” (Robbins, 2001, ‘Unlimited Power’, p.231) “..it is teachers using particular teaching methods, teachers with high expectations for all students, and teachers who have created positive student-teacher relationships that are more likely to have the above average effects on student achievement” (Hattie, 2009, p.126) “…in our experiences of co-facilitation over several years, we were initially surprised but ultimately delighted to find that there appears to be a number of generic principles and practices that facilitate rapport and effective learning irrespective of cultural and ethnic contexts” (Sale & Mukerji, 2005, p. 1)

26. Activity • Think of people in your life with whom you have great rapport – • Family members, friends, whoever • Think of people with whom you have very little rapport; people • whose attempts to communicate with you leave you confused, • annoyed, frustrated or simply indifferent. • Now compare and contrast the two – what are the differences and • what is significance about these differences?

27. What is Rapport? Rapport is the good feeling you get when you are in the company of someone you like. It is bonding at an unconscious level. “Rapport is long lasting, elegant respectful, and acknowledging in nature. Rapport connects emotional centres together and creates enjoyable bonds between people. Rapport is the intelligent approach to influencing, regardless of positional power, whereas power and authority are defaults for people in positions of power who have poor interpersonal skills and little flexibility” Molden, 2001, p.72

28. Activity Think of 2 people you know who seem to be able to get good rapport with most people. Try to identify: • What do they do that makes them so effective? • In what different ways do they do it? • How do they do it – what resources & strategies do they use?

29. “The meaning of your communication is the response you get” (Bandler & Grinder, 1990, p.61) “It is our behaviour that directly connects to results, even though our thinking may be responsible for generating the behaviour” (Molden, 2001, p.59)

30. Sensory Acuity Sensory Acuity refers to the ability to notice, to monitor, and to make sense of the external cues from other people. We do this through evaluating the result of any behaviour. Skill in recognising patterns in body language and voice characteristics helps to understand others, states of mind. It is then possible to work at putting them into more productive states When communicating with others, this means noticing the small but crucial signals that let you know how they are responding Learning to perceive the difference makes the difference

31. The Power of Questions “Questions are the primary way we learn virtually everything” “Thinking itself is nothing but the process of asking and answering questions” “Questions immediately change what we focus on and, therefore, how we feel” (Anthony Robbins, 2001, pp.179-8)

32. NLP emphasizes the Power of Language Read the two versions below and identify what different meanings are communicated. How might this lead to different patterns of rapport? You did a good job at (X), but I think you could improve (X) by doing (Y), and your Z will be great – well done! You did a good job at (X), and I think you could improve (X) by doing (Y), and your Z will be great – well done!

33. Language and Creativity Ellen Langer at Harvard University has shown how a teacher’s choice of language makes a big difference to students’ creativity. She taught two groups the same idea about how cities grow, except for one group she said ‘This is how it happens’, while the other group she told ‘This could be how it happens.’ The groups learnt the information equally fast, but when they were asked to use the information in a new way, the ‘could be’ group easily outperformed the ‘is’ group.

34. Identity and Sensory Acuity In an experiment conduct by Ellen Langer at Harvard, subjects were invited to ‘become’ air force pilots for an afternoon. They were dressed appropriately and given the chance to pilot a plane on a simulator. Their eyes were tested before the experiment. During the simulation, they were presented with markings on the wings of other planes that were letters from an equivalent eye chart to the one they were tested on earlier. It was found that the vision of nearly half of the ‘pilots’ had improved significantly. By changing the conception of self, there may be corresponding changes in sensory acuity – perhaps both for positive and negative identities E. Langer, 1991, Mindfulness: Choice and Control in Everyday Life. London: Harvill

35. Representational Systems We use our senses outwardly to perceive the world, and inwardly to ‘re-present’ experience to ourselves. In NLP the ways we take in, store and code information in our minds – seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting and smelling – are known as representational systems One skill shared by outstanding performers in any field is to be able to move easily through all the representational systems and use the most appropriate one for the task in hand.

36. Predicates that reveal Representational Systems

37. NLP has developed techniques and models to observe and describe peoples thinking abilities the result of this analysis in order to establish how their brains (neuro) function allows one to by analysing ‘model’ excellent abilities transfer these abilities “Effective thinking strategies can be modelled and utilized by any individual who wishes to do so” (Dilts, 1990, P.193) language (linguistic patterns/forms/ expressions non-verbal communications /behaviours and

38. 3. Model highly effective performers and derive the underlying Syntax of the performance Results of Highly Effective Teachers Build good rapport Gain attention quickly when desired Make learning relevant and meaningful Imbue positive beliefs and psychological states

39. Importance of these Results • Its biologically impossible to learn anything that you’re not paying attention to; the attentional mechanism drives the whole learning and memory process”(Robert Sylwester, 1998) • “Rapport is the ultimate tool for producing results with other people” (Anthony Robbins, 2001) • “If you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right” (Henry Ford) • “The difference between acting badly or brilliantly is not based on your ability, but on the state of your mind…”(Anthony Robbins, 2001) • “The more we make school learning like real life, the more the brain, with its rich capabilities, will sort it out” (Eric Jensen, 1997)

40. How Creative Teachers get these Results - (SHAPE) • Stories told to provide context, understanding and emotional anchors • Humour used to achieve rapport and provide novelty • Activities provided to integrate, apply and consolidate learning • Presentation style employed (e.g., words, tone, body language – as well as observation and listening) to provide clarity, meaning and influence student attention, beliefs and psychological states • Examples used to illustrate facts, concepts, principles, procedures …and use these ResourcesCreatively

41. SHAPE Stories Humour Examples Activities Presentation Style

42. The Power of SHAPE “We understand everything in human life through stories” (Jean-Paul Sartre) “Humour is by far the most significant behaviour of the brain”(Edward De Bono) “Learning activities are the best and most productive way to learn”(Lambert and Coombs) “The meaning of your communication is the response that you get” (Bandler & Grinder) “A fine example nurtures learners, enhancing their concentration and effort”(Wlodkowski)

43. Metaphor for Creative Teaching Total Pedagogy CREATIVE TEACHING COMPETENCE Strategies P H E A S CORE PRINCIPLES OF LEARNING

44. Want to know more about NLP The following books are informative and reader friendly (those with * are very good): • Adler, H. (1996) NLP for Managers. Judy Piatkus: London. • Bandler, R & Grinder, J. (1990) Frogs into Princes: the introduction to Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Eden Grove Editions: Middlesex. • Bodenhamer, B. G. & Hall, L. M. (1999) The User’s Manual for the Brain. Crown House Publishing: Carmarthen, Wales. • Dilts, R. et al. (1980) Neurolinguistic programming Vol. 1: The Study of the Structure of Subjective Experience. Meta Publications: California. • * Molden, D. (2001) NLP Business Masterclass. Pearson Education Ltd: London. • * O’Connor, J. & Seymour, J. (1995) Introducing Neuro-Linguistic Programming. Thorsons: San Francisco Visit dennissale.com if you are interested in creative teaching