Wednesday 29 December 2010

RTNews 114

RT® News

A magazine on Neuro Linguistic Programming in Education
No 114 December 29 2010

Hello teachers,

2010 is now all but over and we look forward to the New Year. As we always say, the summer holidays are an important space for us teachers to recharge our batteries, relax and pamper ourselves. This is even more essential in these days of change when we need all our energy and skills to face the challenges of the classroom and enjoy the journeys of learning and discovery that our students and we ourselves are embarked on.

As a resolution for the New Year we want to project postive thoughts and outcomes. By being proactive in the way we view life and situations in our schools, homes and other places we inhabit, we can have a tremendous influence. Instead of buying someone else’s view of things, it is very functional to CHOOSE how we view each situation and to KNOW that this choice also extends to how we react to any given situation.

We will be considering various functional ways of interpreting our work and the way we interact with others during the next few months.

If you would like to JOIN us for our February trainings, be sure to check RT Week 2011 in part two below. We have some great new workshops, which will give you ideas and inspiration for the new academic year.

We would also like to THANK everyone who has given their support to us this year, whether it be by attending our courses, or participating in our online spaces such as our Facebook page, or in our blogs.

Finally we take this opportunity to wish you, our readers,

A VERY HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL

NEW YEAR!!!


Until next time,

Laura and Jamie


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1. A Focus on Solutions

One of the first things we learn with NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) is that each of us perceives the world in different ways. A different way or different ways? Different ways. Each of us has more than one way to perceive the world. An obvious example is when we view the world as a parent, a teacher or as someone’s child. We can take these three positions at the same time but each one is subtly different and will influence what we notice and give importance to.

In NLP talk, these are called “Frames”. It is as if we change the picture when we put a different frame around the basic painting. These frames mean that certain things get more emphasis, some features are given a special highlight and other things fall outside the frame. You already know that we use our sensory channels to give and receive information in the world. Some people use their visual channel most, other prefer their auditory channel and others their kinaesthetic channel. This is an example of a frame. If I am very visual I tend to give priority to what I see whereas what people say or what I feel may get less attention.

Other examples of the same sort of limit we put on our processing of the world include: our use of mainly positive or negative language (imperatives, affirmatives, positive modals vs don’t, can’t, mustn’t, negative terms), the types of values and beliefs we follow in life (eg, abundance vs. scarcity), the metaphors we use (life is a struggle vs. life is a fairground), the stories we have constructed about the world and the role we play in them.

Becoming aware of the frames that we or others use is just the same as noticing the news about our favourite film star, or in the case of language teachers, always perceiving the grammar mistake. It is something that we have programmed ourselves to become aware of. Before we were teachers or before our star became famous we never thought about these issues but as our interest grew our brain began to act like a sensor and started to “flash or beep” each time it came across something related to them.

Once we start to identify the frames others use we can acknowledge them and thereby start to enter into rapport with that person and to understand what is happening to him or her. We can also identify our own favourite frames, keep those that are useful to us and change those that no longer serve us. And we can help others to notice that there we can always choose different options in the way we view the world.

A useful practice is to notice what sort of frames work for other people in different contexts and if we like them, we can borrow them. In some societies, a focus on solutions takes a higher priority than in others and it is this approach that we would like to comment on today. A focus on solutions means that whenever we are confronted by a problem or something that does not entirely work or fit, we automatically programme ourselves to find a solution so that both we and others can resolve the problem happily and to our mutual satisfaction wherever possible.

A solutions focus means that we are proactive and rather than waiting for someone to come along and find an answer, we start to work out that answer for ourselves.

When we think about applying a solutions frame to our work in education, this has several implications. It means that we orientate ourselves to finding what will serve or work to overcome a problem. It does not mean that we focus on what doesn’t work but rather try to use models of what does work and apply them to our new situation. If our students are restless and need a stretch, why not give them some Brain Gym or a stretching session or a run outside even if it is not traditionally accepted in the school. If it helps them to concentrate and learn, then surely that is what teaching is about? Many people become stuck in a sort of blame game or a finding fault cycle when things go wrong and they heap example of failure upon example of failure, shortcoming upon shortcoming and reason upon reason. This is all very well as perhaps the problem does have causes that do not originate with us. But the point is that while we sit and gripe the problem remains…. unsolved.

Often times we wait for the authorities, for the famous “they” to come to the rescue and solve the mess “they’ve got us in”. And sometimes we end up waiting a long time. It is far more rewarding to say, “This is the way things are, this is what we want …let’s find a way of bridging that gap”. We often see that teachers in poor schools or rural schools are tremendously resourceful in finding ways to give their students the best lessons possible even though they have very few tools and elements at their disposal. They are almost obliged to work with a solutions frame. If there is no power, how can we do an activity that requires light or electricity? If we have no books or paper, what can we use instead? In more established schools that sort of flexibility may not exist as we take for granted so much more. By training ourselves to find solutions, we start to think outside the box and enhance our creativity leading to answers that perhaps nobody considered or imagined. (This topic features in the last of the RT Week workshops “Outside the Box” on Thursday 10 February at 14.00 in which we look at applying this to the classroom). Developing this skill also means we get to become a good model for our students who learn that they too can solve problems effectively.

A solutions focus is more than just having a plan B or being good at improvising.


It involves:

a) Knowing where we are at the present

b) Knowing where we want to go or what we want to achieve

c) Ascertaining what tools and resources we have to help us

d) Being open and creative so as to generate a variety of feasible alternatives

e) Letting our creative mind flow uninterrupted

f) Knowing who will be affected by our actions

g) Keeping in mind the greater good

h) Making sure that everyone wins and that nobody loses

i) Being able to work out how to put our dream ideas into practice

j) Doing it

k) Being able to assess how our solution worked

l) Trustiing ourselves, others and the universe!

Most of this is a question of practice and being prepared to have a try and see how things work out. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

With the comments on many aspects of education becoming increasingly frustrated and pessimistic these days, surely it is time to apply a solutions focus even more to help make the transition from a conventional means of educating students to one that really serves each and every one of them.

© Resourceful Teaching 2010
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4. Calendar of Activities 2011
We are publishing below a list of the main events for Resourceful Teaching for the next few months. As each date gets closer we will give you more information and we will of course be updating the calendar with new dates as they arise.
Feb 7-10 2011 RT Week 2011, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Feb 7-12 2011 Curso en PNL, Buenos Aires, Argentina

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5. Workshops and Coaching

If you would like a workshop or training in your city or town, please contact us soon as we have only a few dates available on weekends each year.

We can offer you workshops as listed in the website www.resourcefulteaching.com.ar or design something especially for your needs. In English and in Spanish. Please contact jamie@resourcefulteaching.com.ar or lauraszmuch@gmail.com if you are interested.


Laura is also available for Coaching. If you wish to advance in your career or personal life and wish to design a plan of action to do so, why not have a coaching conversation with her. Contact: lauraszmuch@gmail.com



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6. Subscribing/Unsubscribing to our e-zines in English and Spanish and an invitation to visit

To subscribe simply send a mail to: rtnews@resourcefulteaching.com.ar with your name and city stating 'subscribe' in the subject box. To unsubscribe, follow the same procedure but write the word 'unsubscribe'. We only send this e-magazine to those who have expressed the desire to subscribe by the above means.

To subscribe to the Spanish sister e-zine, leave your details on www.encontactopnl.ning.com
NB En contacto has different articles from those which appear in RT News and they are about NLP and other associated areas.



Visit our blog teaching resourcefully – nlp in the classroom

http://teaching-resourcefully.blogspot.com/





RT® Resourceful Teaching is a registered trademark.

Monday 15 November 2010

Resourceful Teaching Week 2011




RT WEEK 2011
February 07 – 10


Resourceful Teaching workshops for teachers
Pioneers in training with NLP in Education

For those who want much more than new teaching techniques...


Giving you ideas and a space to reflect, develop, grow and thrive in the classroom!

Workshop programme

Workshop details


Monday 8 Feb am Teaching the students of today
The profile of students today, particularly teenagers and children has changed considerably from those of a few years back. What are their common characteristics and how do these affect their learning? What do we teachers need to bear in mind to help facilitate successful study
Monday 8 Feb pm Memory and learning
Learning depends mostly on a well trained memory.
How do you help your students encode, store, and later retrieve what you have taught them?
Drawing from the latest investigations in the fields of Neuroscience and Cognitive Psychology, in this workshop we will work with some very effective techniques to enhance your students’ learning processes.

Tuesday 9 Feb am Learning English with GANAS
NLP techniques to help your students come to class with GANAS, learn English, and enjoy the process.
In this workshop we will address some of the biggest challenges teachers face on a daily basis: how to reach all students, respect their learning styles, make learning memorable and set stimulating goals. There will be some theoretical input plus activities and reflection.

Tuesday 9 Feb pm Irony or Coincidence?
In this session we will explore the fascinating world of synonyms, words that look alike or words that are often confused. Discover the subtleties of meaning and usage in these vocabulary items.

Wednesday 10 Feb am A Passionfruit Smoothie
This practical workshop blends a variety of language activities and exercises with students’ own interests and passions to create new ways of learning and practising language. Fun and ideas for students to express their individuality and yet still be part of the group.

Wednesday 10 Feb pm Creative Writing for YOU

Is your own writing limited to the marking of students’ compositions?
Or maybe the projects for your academic training?
When was the last time you really enjoyed writing creatively for yourself, in English?
In this workshop you will have the chance to flow as a writer and you will learn wonderful techniques to help your students in their own creative writing.

Thursday 11 Feb am Is it all about LOVE after all?? Or isn’t it?
Why are you a teacher? What made you choose to pursue this profession? What makes you stay? Where do you derive satisfaction from? What are your rewards?
These questions and many more will be a part of this reflection session, in which we will try to determine how your motivation to teach can be developed, nurtured and, above all, cherished and treasured.
Thursday 11 Feb pm Outside the box!
How can we help stimulate students to reflect and develop their imagination? To stretch their thinking?
In this session, we take different activities, texts and tools to practise cognitive skills and develop the student’s potential for creativity and insight.


Each workshop lasts three hours. AM: 9.00 - 12.00 PM: 14.00 - 17.00.
Venue: Gallardo 719, Versailles, Capital Federal.

Please enrol by by e-mail: rtcourses@resourcefulteaching.com.ar
jamiearg@gmail.com or lauraszmuch@gmail.com
or by phoning (005411) 4641-9068

There are limited vacancies per workshop. Enrolment is only guaranteed by payment of fee.


Special Discounts:
Five people enrolling together are eligible for a discount of 10% on the whole week
Students currently enrolled in Teacher Training College $30 per workshop

Note: Fees are not refundable but can be transferred to another course or to another student where applicable.

Tuesday 31 August 2010

Recommended article and web page

Applying NLP to special education students
by Deborah Roundy

Taken from: http://www.nlpiash.org/Articles/RecentArticles/tabid/250/EntryID/19/Default.aspx

Many other excellent articles on this page...we recommend it!!!

IASH member Deborah Roundy is a special education school teacher who has incorporated NLP into her teaching style. Following is a series of short articles introducing NLP, primarily oriented for parents of special education students.


Why NeuroLinguistics?
In 2007 I saw an NLP coach for some health problems. As I was taught new ways of organizing my thought processes I was able to allow both diabetes and liver disease to leave my body. This was a fascinating process.

Although I had gone for my personal health I soon found, as any good teacher does, I was making direct application of my learning to my classroom. My students were gaining new tools for learning and were happier.

This is why teachers are encouraged to continue to take classes. Furthering our education is a part of renewing our teaching certificates. Good teachers charge up their batteries as they learn new things and then discharge those batteries by charging up the learning of their students.

I realized there was a wealth of knowledge in the study of NLP and I had just scratched the surface. I wanted to share that knowledge with my students.

The catalyst for this was the death of a student through natural causes. With administrator and parent permission, I helped the the students to work through the death of their classmate using the NLP well-formed grieving process. I watched them mourn their loss, support each other, then refresh pleasant memories and create a memorial to their friend. When they left my classroom they were grounded and secure. They knew whom they could contact for more help, and many parents reported to me that their child had gone home and asked for parents’ support.

This was a contrast compared to previous experiences around students who passed away. I had been able to give my students a wonderful gift of learning how to grieve, accept loss, create special memories and move on. The children were well grounded and secure in their acceptance of her death and, more importantly, of the value of her life to them. They were secure in the knowledge that their families were there to support them and knew how to request that support. I had a tool I had never been taught in school, a program for an incredible life skill.

I started researching and found that NLP was a fairly new field used primarily in business, management training, executive coaching, sports, health, and therapy to model and create excellence. I found NLP little used in the school setting. Some teachers are using it and are enthusiastic, however it takes a lot of modifying to use it in the classroom setting. The greatest use for most teachers is for their own personal growth and teaching skills. I started looking at NLP programs such as the Disney Model of Creativity, TOTE, and Circle of Excellence and realized that these programs could be broken down into skills to be taught to my students.


Creating Excellence
NLP Presupposition: Choice is Better Than No Choice

Ana has a problem. She has to ride the bus every day and it is a bit of torture. The ride seems very long for a special ed student with ADHD.

Ana came in one morning very upset. Another girl was teasing her and wouldn’t let up. I called the bus garage and the true story emerged. Actually Ana, with her incessant talking at a low cognitive level, is the instigator. Because she does not understand, she does not understand that she is the problem.

I had recently done a 3 Square time line with another student and asked myself, “How can I apply the same type of solution to a very different problem?” Instead of a past-present-future I did one with present-immediate future-farther future.

Ana and I discussed the problem from her perspective, using the presupposition that the “map is not the territory.” We then went to the third block and discussed several options. I told her to be creative and come up with all of the ideas she could. She did, and we then filtered them and wrote out which ones were safe to do. She could entertain the idea of bopping the girl on the head, but she couldn’t actually do it. I have written down such options for normal kids, but special ed kids often cannot filter fantasy from reality. I had to make an accommodation for her disability.

We then discussed the next step and she chose the one she felt best about and put it into her immediate future.

The most interesting thing was how this empowered her. She now felt like she had further options and had control of her life. She reported back several days later that things were much better. After almost a year, I haven’t had another complaint.

Our Maps
Presupposition: The map is not the territory

This week I took my Special Olympics athletes on a school field trip to a museum and a warm spring swimming pool. We were going with other students from the school and there were five buses going. In years past my group had caused a delay for the other groups. This year our district had purchased a couple of small buses that teachers can drive, and we took a small bus so we would not hold things up. I had downloaded several maps to guide me because I knew I would be on my own. I could not follow the other drivers. We had to wait for a late bus to arrive with my students on it, then get a wheel chair on and secured before we left.

When we arrived at the museum we found, to our surprise, that we were the first ones there. I was worried because we had left a half hour later than the rest of the group. We enjoyed our museum visit, and had the entire museum to ourselves to explore. The other buses arrived as we were leaving. They had not taken the time to download the maps and information, had driven to the wrong museum, found it closed and taken the disappointed students to the swimming hole.

The maps I had downloaded served me well in several functions.
They were created for a purpose.
They use codes, pictures, symbols and words to create a mental picture, giving it meaning.
Each map has a specific point of view: highway, topographical, and so on.
The map creates a world in map form.
The map highlights some things and hides others, making it easy to use.
Details unnecessary for the purpose of the map are left out.
The map gave me a tool to reach my destination

One of the fundamental presuppositions of NLP is that the map is not the territory. We mean by this that each person sees the world by a different map. The map describes the territory as he sees it, not as it really is. Each map is created by the experiences we have had previously and by our family, our culture and even our history. Many believe that our maps are even in our genes.

Dennis Wood, in “The Power of Maps,” wrote, “this, essentially is what maps give us, reality, a reality that exceeds our vision, our reach, the span of our days, a reality we achieve no other way. We are always mapping the invisible, or the unattainable or the erasable, the future or the past, whatever-is-not-here-presence-to-our-senses-now and, through the gift that the map gives us, transmuting it into everything it is not…into the real.”

My students also use maps of their world and each has his or her own map, distinctly different from any other. We can use the same functions of paper maps to compare and contrast with maps of reality belonging to each student.

Their reality map is created with a purpose. As my map helped me make sense of the roads to get to my destination, so their reality maps help them make sense of the experiences of life and travel to their destination.

The maps use pictures, symbols and words to give the reality map meaning. Reality maps have symbols, too. They may be a loving or angry teacher that begins to symbolize all teachers. Or they could be words. If the student has always had a good experience in art and the teacher says it is time for art, the reality map will say that this, too, will be good. But what of the student who has had others make fun of his art work? The teacher says “time for art” and wonders why the student rebels, not knowing that the student’s map of reality contains symbols she is not aware of.

Each student is the creator of his own reality map. But he has a lot of help along the way. His parents, teachers, friends and enemies all play a role advising the student on what to put on the map and where.

The reality map creates a world in map form, but the map is not the territory. Using the art experience from item 2 above, let’s say the student did not understand the assignment and the children in the class laughed at him, but in our reality, the student is a talented artist. Still the student’s reality map denies his talent as it has “I can’t do art” drawn on in indelible ink.

As I drove I looked out at the beautiful winter landscape and was aware that my map left out the incredible beauty that I was feasting on. Likewise student’s reality maps leave out the beauty of life. The student may know it is there but cannot get it on the map. The student may understand that for others art is a favorite class, but cannot seem to draw that onto his own personal map.

The student’s reality map does have a purpose. It is a tool to lead the student somewhere. It gives the student’s life order and certainty. I don’t have to worry about art. I know I don’t like it. I no longer have to worry whether I like art or not.
As teachers we realize that each student has his or her own reality map. That map serves a purpose. It gives structure, order and certainty to the world for the student. We also understand that the map may not be an accurate representation of the world for that student, but is merely a tool. One of our purposes of teaching is to give our students a more accurate and functional map of reality and help our students create the maps they will need to be successful in their future.

(The idea for this article was gleaned from a slide show by Charles Faulkner found at www.nlpco.com Charles is an author and developer of NLP books, seminars and programs.)



Presupposition: If what you are doing isn’t working, do anything else
I have a darling little girl in my class named Ana May. I have worked a bit with Ana May. She comes in to school in the morning with no meds down her system and the worst case of ADHD one can imagine. Her brain is totally not in gear.

One day a boy came in sporting proudly his newly dyed blue hair. Ana May told him that it was ugly. He was hurt, and he is the type who blows up. I have chipped plaster in the walls to prove it.

Could I do it? Could I effect a change?

I escorted them back into our private room and let them talk. Talk they did. I could see and feel the anger. He had a right to his anger, she had attacked him personally.

My mentor had told me, if you remove something you will leave a void. I did not want to leave a void. These kids feel and react to voids or emptiness. They have no social restraints and no idea how to fill their voids so they hit out or cause problems trying to find a way to fill the void.

I got an idea. I had them imagine the anger they felt and give it a color. Hers was brown, his blue. I stood behind and had them place the color out in front of them with their imagination and asked if they wanted to get rid of it.

I then had them both imagine themselves as happy and in a positive state. We then together swished and superimposed the happy, positive image over the angry color, pushing the angry color away and replacing it, or filling the void it had left, with a positive image of self. We did this several times to make certain it would stick.

I then sent the blue-headed boy off to class. As he walked through the class room the aides overheard him say, “That was cool!” The anger was gone and he was calm. What was more important to me is that it seemed to hold. For the rest of the year this boy did not have another blow-up, though he had had them frequently before. I had provided an alternative way to behave and he then applied it himself to other situations.

I kept Ana May a bit longer and had her work on impulse control. She also is making progress and I am happy to say is doing better.

This program is a loosely applied NLP pattern called the SWISH. It accepts that there are things we no longer want, but leaving them will leave a vacuum in us somewhere. We therefore replace the thing we no longer want with a well-formed outcome. In this situation we replaced anger with a well-formed outcome of a happy, positive self image.


Presupposition: The Map is not the Territory
This story came to me off the Internet on a joke page. It is a story of “the map is not the territory.”

An elementary school got a new librarian. She prided herself in teaching the children responsibility. She decided that instead of checking out children's books by writing the names of borrowers on the book cards herself, she would have the youngsters sign their own names. She would then tell them they were signing a "Contract" for returning the books on time.

Her first little customer was a second grader. He looked surprised to see a new librarian. He brought his allotted four books to the desk and shoved them across to the librarian, giving her his name as he did so.

The librarian pushed the books back and told him that he was supposed to sign them out himself now. The boy laboriously printed his name on each book card in neat print, and then handed them to her with a look of utter disgust.

Before the librarian could even start her speech he said, scornfully, "That other librarian we had could write."

I laughed and thought how often we see the world from our adult eyes and forget that our students see the world in an entirely different and sometimes utterly delightful way.

This can lead to challenges. We expect the children to know the reason they are going to school. We expect them to know that they will need a job someday to support themselves and be contributing members of society.

We forget that the reason they go may be because they are “supposed to.” School may have no meaning to them. If we can create that meaning and let them have a bit of our map to enlarge their map with it will help them focus with greater depth and enthusiasm on the real reason they go to school. Part of the job is to create larger, more detailed maps for our students to carry into their future.

Monday 21 June 2010

RTNews 112




RT® News

A magazine on Neuro Linguistic Programming in Education
No 112 June 20 2010


Hello teachers,



We hope that you are enjoying the World Cup in whatever place you are reading this. Such a global event is inescapable as even if we are not great soccer fans, we surely have some students who are and bring the topic into our classrooms. It is also a great opportunity to learn and teach something about the different countries participating and the host country, in particular. So often Africa with all the nations there that have English as an official language is forgotten when it comes to our general knowledge and all-round education.



In this month’s number, we continue with the theme of changes in the education system looking at the question of grades, marks and, to a lesser extent, exams. The prevailing education systems seem to revolve around marks and this can prove to be both productive and counter-productive in the process of learning. At times, the importance of grades can almost seem overwhelming and keeping a perspective on the issue can be a challenge.



The last chance to join our Practitioner’s Certificate course in English for this year iis this month. Our next meeting is on Saturday 26 June. Details below.



All the best for the month,

Laura and Jamie


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1. The tyranny of marks?
2. Practitioner Course 2010

3. Calendar of activities for 2010

4. Workshops and coaching

5. Subscribing/Unsubscribing to our e-zines in English and Spanish and an invitation to visit

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1. The tyranny of marks?


It’s that time again where I (Jamie) teach. The first term marks are due to come out and most teachers have been dedicating at least one long Sunday afternoon, calculator in hand, to the deadly serious job of working out averages and totalling scores. You can guarantee that any slip in the adding up and the borderliners, the failures and any other student keen on statistics will hunt it out in their determination to raise their grade even if it is just .5 %

With the marks out of the way, then it is time for the teacher to decide what comments to write. “Good work” or “Could do better” are not enough these days. One has to be comprehensively detailed and all within a Twitter-like 140 character limit! So, we squeeze in something nice, a plain truth, something to work at and a comment on the ability to mix with peers and hope it all hangs together in an intelligible way. In the end, despite our efforts we know that we could put anything as what really matters, what is brandished and argued over by students and parents alike – is the mark.



The energy and effort that goes into this whole marks business! Students start restlessly lobbying for their grades weeks ahead and repeat like broken records, “Have you worked out the marks yet, teacher?” Those expecting bad news try anything from doing completely unsolicited and irrelevant homework to bringing in a cake for the teacher or launching their charms of seduction on you. “But I’m always in a good mood in your class!” “If I promise to smile at you in English, will you raise my mark?”



Language and humanities teachers have an especially hard time. Maths and science teachers can usually reach a numerical total easily enough from correctly performed calculations or the inclusion or not of key information and this can be easily justified. Things are either right or wrong. But in the other subjects, so much is a matter of interpretation and how you choose to answer and there may well be no one right answer. Creating a good impression and backing up your answer with appropriate content and language is often the criteria for a top mark but getting everything possible to receive that top mark can be a challenge even for good students. This gives the grades an added air of subjectivity which doesn’t always lend itself to easy explanations to parents or students.



On the day marks are given out, stealthily hidden mobile phones are activated and grades are texted home in seconds. Within minutes, parents have clogged the school switchboard or beaten a path to the principal's office demanding to know why Juancito only got a 4 in Physical Education if he can breathe and stand up. No wonder the principal chose today to be away at a conference or insisted on previewing all the marks beforehand and on teachers raising the marks of those students whose parents came into the 'hard to handle' category!



All this energy and effort! Wouldn't it just be easier to channel it into schoolwork? It is tempting to say that students and parents alike are missing the point. They may nod in agreement when you say that the child's learning and overall progress in the process of acquiring the skill or knowledge is important or when you state that all a mark proves is that a student could satisfactorily perform the task required by a particular exam. But the marks given for a pass or fail in the subject seem to count for everything. We can spend months avoiding grades as much as possible, focusing our assessment on effort and participation, spotlighting the different intelligences students bring to a task and insisting to anyone who will listen that each individual's learning will go at a different pace. But sometimes the system in which we work gives relatively little weight to such matters to processes of internal assessment and to tools like portfolios to measure performance. How frustrating it can be in those cases when the term’s work all gets back to the one or two marks!



But maybe it is we educationalists who are missing the point. If all the energy is being put into lobbying for better grades it must be for a good reason.



Despite what we think as teachers in day to day contact with our students’ learning, we are just one source of opinion out there. Much of modern western society today seems to have an ambivalent attitude to formal education. While it is still regarded as essential for the transmission of knowledge and the educating of future citizens, it is also seen as a means to an end. That end is the piece of paper that acts as a calling card into the employment market. In short, the most valuable thing from education can turn out to be the certificate or exam result at the end and not all the other elements of learning that take place while we are at school. Consequently, for some students the years spent at school (particularly the last ones in secondary) may seem more like a nuisance which has to be borne in order to get the reward for lasting it out. The quicker and more easily it can be done the better. Armed with their school leaving certificate, first degree or whatever, students go out into the "real world", where important things happen like getting a pay packet and maybe a name in an influential field of work.



Of course this simplistic viewpoint does not represent that of many but it does seem to reflect the essence of motivation for a significant number. The measuring stick they use is the exam certificate or the grade. This is understandable when we see the same mechanism in action in much of the television we have these days. There is a plethora of shows judging people's talents at dancing, singing, cooking, designing etc, in a numerical way where often it is not who you are or how good you are at the talent but how well you play the game and accumulate points (or phone votes) that determines your survival. If you want to migrate to another country you frequently have to gather together 'points' which correspond to age, qualifications, language ability and various other features that in the past would never have been converted into a number. So, it is understandable that the game of life can seem to some like a question of chasing marks. In all this, the experience of learning, the intricacies and subtleties of the process and the creativity can get lost. After all, it's the winning that counts, not the taking part. Or as my dog might say, it is getting the bone that counts not how you contrive to get it.



This view may seem cynical and disappointing to us that believe that education is very much more than a piece of paper and who want to help our students develop their full potential as human beings. Fortunately, there are many people clamouring for other viewpoints these days and for a change in the way the functions of education are regarded. One of these is Sir Ken Robinson, an expert in creativity and education, whose very entertaining lectures in the TED series are highly recommended as giving food for thought as to where education should go now. http://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_revolution.html His belief is that today's schools have failed many students by precisely not providing them with tools for life, nor for developing their individual potential. This attitude presupposes that this is what education and schooling are all about, whereas there are other veins of thought which suggest that schools are more like babysitting establishments which teach students enough of the basics to get by but not too much so as to threaten the status quo. And, of course, to keep young people off the streets.

Then there are others who assert that students want to learn and grow but that the methods used and information involved in present-day schools are largely out-of-date.



Many societies seem to be lacking any sort of far-reaching debate on education and what its purposes are. As a result, we have the frequent comments that the education system is stuck in the past, in a state of crisis or whatever other negative description you care to find. It doesn’t seem to be giving societies what they want. Or is it that as a society, we haven't actually stopped to ask ourselves what we really want. So, if we don't know what we want, then people tend to stick with the traditional marks and exams that have served us so well for so long. The conveyor-belt education system of the last 200 years modeled on the factory assembly line has been very easy to set up and maintain and let's face it, it has managed to get most societies from a stage where much of the population was illiterate to one in which literacy and numeracy skills are taught to everyone (or almost everyone).



Changing to a much more individual - based system where the holistic development of a person has the space and time to grow and ‘be nurtured’ implies more resources, lower teacher-student ratios and a much less predictable means of judging progress. Some students may learn what they study in a twelve year schooling cycle in two years and others may take twenty-four years or never learn it. Is that all right? Would this be acceptable in a future society to have these personalised and wildly varied learning programmes?



Before we even get to answer that question though it might be useful to ponder on what we want adults in the future to know and be able to do. Such conjecture is going to be approximate as we don't even know what society will be like in 30, 50 or 100 years time. But that shouldn't stop us from trying to do the task. Part of our skills for the future will be innovative and involve creative thinking just as Ken Robinson advocates. We also have to be prepared for a world in which the old professional categories may well mutate into different fusions. A doctor, lawyer or engineer may well become that and something else at the same time. Other careers will emerge or disappear and it would seem to be true that this uncertainty and flexibility contrast with much of the hard-set nature of our schooling. This is not to say that we no longer need to teach basic skills, but simply that our purposes for doing so are changing.



Perhaps, the tyranny of marks is slowly coming to an end. Almost certainly many people will want to keep a firm grasp on an education system based on traditional methods of testing and examination but it may prove harder and harder to sustain that support when we realise that our students need something more than the paper to thrive beyond school. What can we do as teachers inside a system in which marks still prevail in importance?

We can make sure that we establish an individual relationship with each student, that they are not merely a number to us, that we notice and comment on details of their progress and that we encourage their awareness of their own learning and development. We can highlight for them all the different skills that are useful in operating successfully in life and not just those pertaining to academic prowess. Although we may be obliged and indeed wish to continue giving students marks it is worth we can also consistently give them or at least comments and feedback for skills not so commonly rewarded like creativity, imagination, sensitivity, ingenuity. Above all, we can be models for the fact that while grades or marks are important, there is so much else to value people for and so much else to learn that cannot be summed up neatly in a number and so be it!


© Resourceful Teaching 2010


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2. Practitioner Course 2010


The third module of our new Practitioner certificate course will be held on Saturday June 26. The course runs this year and next and involves between 130 and 150 hours of direct training in the form of practical activities and guided practice spread over 16 modules. It gives students acquaintance with the methodology and many of the techniques comprising NLP and leads to an internationally recognised certificate as Practitioner of NLP in Education.

It is still possible to join the course in this module and we have a couple of places available.



For a course syllabus and further details see our website: www.resourcefulteaching.com.ar or send a mail to jamie@resourcefulteaching.com.ar or lauraszmuch@gmail.com



Venue: Versailles, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires

Time: One Saturday per month 9.00 – 17.00

Next Module: Saturday June 26

Investment: 260 pesos per module



The course includes written material and a full bibliography and morning and afternoon refreshments. As much as we encourage reading, the real value of NLP is the putting it into practice and our students have constant opportunities to employ what they learn in their daily work and lives.



To enroll, please contact us for an enrolment form. Your place is guaranteed upon payment of the first module.



The Practitioner certificate with Resourceful Teaching offers you the chance to get an NLP certification and practise your English at the same time!




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3. Calendar of Activities 2010

We are publishing below a list of the main events for Resourceful Teaching for the next few months. As each date gets closer we will give you more information and we will of course be updating the calendar with new dates as they arise.
June 26 2010 Third module Practitioner course in English

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4. Workshops and Coaching



If you would like a workshop or training in your city or town, please contact us soon as we have only a few dates available on weekends each year.

We can offer you workshops as listed in the website www.resourcefulteaching.com.ar or design something especially for your needs. In English and in Spanish. Please contact jamie@resourcefulteaching.com.ar or lauraszmuch@gmail.com if you are interested.



Laura is also available for Coaching. If you wish to advance in your career or personal life and wish to design a plan of action to do so, why not have a coaching conversation with her. Contact: lauraszmuch@gmail.com




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5. Subscribing/Unsubscribing to our e-zines in English and Spanish and an invitation to visit

To subscribe simply send a mail to: rtnews@resourcefulteaching.com.ar with your name and city stating 'subscribe' in the subject box. To unsubscribe, follow the same procedure but write the word 'unsubscribe'. We only send this e-magazine to those who have expressed the desire to subscribe by the above means.

To subscribe to the Spanish sister e-zine, send a mail to Laura at en.contacto.pnl@gmail.com
NB En contacto has different articles from those which appear in RT News and they are about NLP and other associated areas.



Visit our blog teaching resourcefully – nlp in the classroom

http://teaching-resourcefully.blogspot.com/




RT® Resourceful Teaching is a registered trademark.

Monday 10 May 2010

RTNews 111


RT® News



A magazine on Neuro Linguistic Programming in Education

No 111 May 10 2010




Hello Everyone,



There seems to be a great deal of discussion and research around at the moment on the topic of making changes to education. Maybe this has always been the case, but it seems that many people are seeking solutions to the problems and challenges that educating in today’s schools are bringing. A recent visitor to Buenos Aires was distinguished Chilean doctor and researcher Claudio Naranjo, who gave a free lecture at the University of Buenos Aires. He has focused his efforts in recent years on Education with the aim of finding ways to help it to serve the needs of human beings more than it currently does. The subject of his very interesting talk was the benefits of meditation in Education.



We remind you that there is still time to join our Practitioner Certificate course in English. See information at point 3. below.



Have a great week,

Laura and Jamie




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1. It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to! Influencing change.

2. Dr Claudio Naranjo

3. Practitioner Course 2010

4. Calendar of activities for 2010

5. Workshops and coaching

6. Subscribing/Unsubscribing to our e-zines in English and Spanish and an invitation to visit



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1. It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to! Influencing change.



In the 1960’s, a singer called Lesley Gore had a pop hit about how she felt when she saw her boyfriend coming into her party on the arm of another girl. It was her party and she’d cry if she wanted to. No amount of persuasion form her girlfriends would convince her otherwise.



And so it is with the world. As much as we might insist that someone ‘cheers up’, ‘looks on the bright side’, ‘makes an effort’, or ‘forgives and forgets’, if that person does not wish to do so, we can try until we are blue in the face but they probably won’t budge. Even if they do yield to our pressure, the smile they put on or the sorry they say is likely to be merely a token. And this is a perfectly valid choice. Likewise, if someone doesn’t want to resolve a conflict they won’t. (And that is a subject for a whole discussion in itself!)



In NLP, we have the presupposition that ‘Each person is unique’ and with this goes the freedom to choose uniquely, to act or not to act, to follow someone’s advice or to do the opposite. So, if Lesley wants to cry, let her cry. If she wants to ignore her boyfriend, she can. If she wants to slap his face she can do that too. If we try to oblige her to do what we think she should do, we may well find her meeting this with resistance and any effort by us to change her mind may be wasted energy.



And yet, this is a drama that is constantly played out every day all over the world. Trying to make others do what we want them to. Either we achieve our desire or the others dig their heels in and refuse to accede to our demand. In both cases resentment often builds up. This is the consequence of our use or abuse of power.



As NLP writer and trainer Michael Grinder has taught us over the last twenty years, we have another option if we really want to see people change their behaviour. We can use ‘influence’. To distinguish influence from power it is important to see it as coming from another angle and with another purpose. Influence is not obligation but rather showing that alternative behaviours are possible. The integrity of the person influencing is shown in the fact that she represents or models the desirable behaviour but does not oblige the other to adopt the same behaviour. Simply by acting the way she does, the other starts to realize the merit in the action. For example, someone who is speaking very loudly and aggressively can be influenced into a change of delivery by being in a place where people speak to him in quite, soothing and measured terms. It is a means of communication that they can see as being effective, at least in that context. Sometimes, this can be a revelation to someone who lives in a context where shouting and aggression are the currency of human communication. It is always useful to remind people that there are other ways of doing things.



Influence rather than power respects the other by offering choice, not by imposing. To seek to Influence implies modelling useful actions and then letting these actions speak for themselves. We say ‘imitation’ is the sincerest form of flattery’ and in this case it can be true. Influence, when it is used ethically, allows people the space to be themselves. It may not always solve the immediate problem and sometimes we need to employ other tools and set certain limits, but it is an elegant and desirable way to encouraging changes in the behaviour of others. Grinder reminds us that influence is a choice of management and that it is not the same as being accommodating, hoping the students will follow our lead and then eventually exploding because they fail to pick up the hint! On the other hand, an inappropriate or overuse of power can have unsatisfactory effects as well and many of us can testify to examples where the old style of ruling a classroom by means of power no longer has the same useful results.



Further reading: Grinder, Michael, A Healthy Classroom, Michael Grinder, 2000

Website link: http://www.michaelgrinder.com/



© Resourceful Teaching 2010


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2. Dr Claudio Naranjo



Background Claudio Narano is a Chilean who started his professional life as a doctor, specialising in medical anthropology and psychology. His interest in the whole person soon led him to the United States to Harvard and to Berkeley Universities and what has been a lifetime exploring different ways to help his fellow human beings. He became a close friend of Carlos Castaneda and one of the three successors of Fritz Perls in the field of Gestalt Therapy. He has been instrumental in introducing many different schools of learning and healing from the East into the US via his non-profit institute SAT. Among these are the Enneagram which he studied with spiritual teacher Oscar Ichazo. The Enneagram, which is a model of personality types, is derived from ancient Sufi wisdom.

Since the 1980’s, he has been involved in different projects emanating from his SAT institute. One of these is SAT in Education which now operates in several countries and aims at bringing about a change in education. The SAT programmes are based on Gestalt therapy, the Enneagram, meditation and music and have now been accredited as a means of teacher training in Catalonia and in Italy.



Dr Naranjo visited Buenos Aires in April to give a talk entitled “Meditation and its influence in the field of science and education”. The two-hour seminar was a chance to be in the presence of a wise and learned teacher who admits that his interest in education came later in life but that now he is convinced that unless we make changes in the way we educate young people, our global society is going to continue in its current unhealthy and aggressive state. During his talk, Dr Naranjo referred to a wide variety of issues affecting modern life linking them in different ways with tremendous erudition and insight.



Summary of talk


Dr Naranjo began by painting a fairly grim picture of the state of education in the world today saying that most education systems were only useful for passing exams and for learning how to sell oneself in the job market, etc. This had created a world where the ‘survival of the fittest’ ruled supreme. What we needed was a more benevolent and wise society where there was room for love, solidarity and compassion. This would allow us to recognise our natural or animal side and help us to integrate this back into who we are. He feels that the skills of integration, synthesis and harmony are lacking in today’s society and preventing us from being more complete individuals.



Naranjo went on to say that meditation could be the element that education needs to help people connect with their spiritual side. As meditation does not imply the favouring of any one religion, it could therefore be introduced into different systems and not be seen as contradictory to prevailing religious teaching.



The benefits of meditation

a) tranquility – the ability to stop and be at peace.

It is much in need in the Western world today which has becoming a place where we feel to feel alive corresponds to a sense of feeling ‘agitated’. We forget to simply ‘be present’. This is a precondition to communicating with ourselves and discovering the answers to the question, “Who am I?” If we cannot be in touch with ourselves how can we establish a connection with another?

b) letting the mind flow – accepting life as it comes without wanting to control everything.

The quality of letting life flow through us is something we have as children but lose as adults. With it often goes the capacity for instant happiness, something especially lacking in the objectives of education. Modern technology is also distancing us from natural pleasures and affection. Naranjo suggests that we should take a leaf out of Dionysus’s book and give into spontaneity and joy in nature. One reason for this is our general need to develop our intuition and ability to follow hunches which it is often the deciding factor in achieving success.

c) attention – to the here and now, to the outer and inner.

On this point, Naranjo emphasized our lack of attention to what is going on inside us and what we really feel. As a result of these repressed feelings, there is much need for psychotherapy in the world. The repression of feelings has led to more criminal activity and phenomena like pornography. Our tendency is also not to stop and think about our feelings now but to fill the present with the past and the future. Being able to focus one’s attention inside is a fundamental part of the journey to self-knowledge.

d) contact with the divine – to what we value

Meditation is a means of having contact to what is sacred for us, to what is holy, to our creative imagination and to a greater force. Primitive societies understand the need to recognize this but again our secular societies have tended to repress this or channel it through religious codes. So how can we get in touch with our metaphysical and evolutionary self? Naranjo suggests it may be through music, which is intimately devotional. Great music is useful to get to the love of ‘God’, to access higher emotions and to reach a more transcendental emotional level than we do on a day-to-day basis. In the talk Naranjo played some intense Oriental devotional music and invited us to empathise and connect with it.

e) detachment - an element of wisdom

For him, wisdom is being able to see life from a certain distance, which is what meditation promotes. It helps us to develop an attitude of ‘nothing in excess’.

f) love – the attitude we most need



Dr Naranjo concluded his talk by discussing what science had to learn from meditation. He said that he felt that science had not made us any happier and that in many cases we had simply replaced the dogma of religion with the dogma of science, however useful science had been for mankind. What we needed now was to explore the intuition and the non-rational side of our lives, the side that corresponded to the subconscious and thereby we could reclaim words like love and spirit into our existence and start moving towards a happier, more generous and better world.



© Resourceful Teaching 2010


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3. Practitioner Course 2010



The second module of our new Practitioner certificate course will be held on Saturday May 22. The course runs this year and next and involves between 130 and 150 hours of direct training in the form of practical activities and guided practice spread over 16 modules. It gives students acquaintance with the methodology and many of the techniques comprising NLP and leads to an internationally recognised certificate as Practitioner of NLP in Education.

It is still possible to join the course in this second module and we have a couple of places available.



For a course syllabus and further details see our website: www.resourcefulteaching.com.ar or send a mail to jamie@resourcefulteaching.com.ar or lauraszmuch@gmail.com



Venue: Versailles, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires

Time: One Saturday per month 9.00 – 17.00

Next Module: Saturday May 22

Investment: 260 pesos per module



The course includes written material and a full bibliography and morning and afternoon refreshments. As much as we encourage reading, the real value of NLP is the putting it into practice and our students have constant opportunities to employ what they learn in their daily work and lives.



To enroll, please contact us for an enrolment form. Your place is guaranteed upon payment of the first module.



The Practitioner certificate with Resourceful Teaching offers you the chance to get an NLP certification and practise your English at the same time!




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4. Calendar of Activities 2010



We are publishing below a list of the main events for Resourceful Teaching for the next few months. As each date gets closer we will give you more information and we will of course be updating the calendar with new dates as they arise.

May 22 2010 Second module Practitioner course in English


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5. Workshops and Coaching



If you would like a workshop or training in your city or town, please contact us soon as we have only a few dates available on weekends each year.

We can offer you workshops as listed in the website www.resourcefulteaching.com.ar or design something especially for your needs. In English and in Spanish. Please contact jamie@resourcefulteaching.com.ar or lauraszmuch@gmail.com if you are interested.



Laura is also available for Coaching. If you wish to advance in your career or personal life and wish to design a plan of action to do so, why not have a coaching conversation with her. Contact: lauraszmuch@gmail.com
www.lauraszmuch.com.ar, www.encontactopnl.ning.com





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6. Subscribing/Unsubscribing to our e-zines in English and Spanish and an invitation to visit



To subscribe simply send a mail to: rtnews@resourcefulteaching.com.ar with your name and city stating 'subscribe' in the subject box. To unsubscribe, follow the same procedure but write the word 'unsubscribe'. We only send this e-magazine to those who have expressed the desire to subscribe by the above means.



To subscribe to the Spanish sister e-zine, send a mail to Laura at en.contacto.pnl@gmail.com

NB En contacto has different articles from those which appear in RT News and they are about NLP and other associated areas.



Visit our blog teaching resourcefully – nlp in the classroom

http://teaching-resourcefully.blogspot.com/





RT® Resourceful Teaching is a registered trademark.

Thursday 22 April 2010

RTNews 110


RT® News

A magazine on Neuro Linguistic Programming in Education
No 110 April 20 2010

Hello Everyone,



April is a busy month for us all as we are back fully in the swing of things. Once we find our rhythm, we can begin to reflect more on what is happening in our classes and conduct the sort of classroom research, however informal that it may be, which keeps us developing and growing as teachers. To complement this we may choose to pick up other courses related to education or not, courses which help us understand our work, courses for relaxation, for fun or simply to satisfy our curiosity. As teachers, being a model of life-long learning is so important as we have a huge impact on our students and unconsciously our model as teachers and as citizens lasts in their minds for a long time. If we show no interest in continuing to learn, what message are we giving our children and young people?



Laura is running Viviendo en Gratitud, a second ‘season’ of the highly moving Proyecto Gratitud and you can visit the webpage and sign up for this free online community experience at http://viviendoengratitud.ning.com




Our new Practitioner courses have begun or are out to begin. You can still join up or recommend them to someone (we have a version in Spanish). See item 2 below.

More information is available about the course in Spanish at http://encontactopnl.ning.com



Keep smiling and healthy,

Laura and Jamie




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1. Denial – when you ignore the other in order to be right

2. Practitioner Course 2010 – versions in English and in Spanish

3. Calendar of activities for 2010

4. Workshops and coaching

5. Subscribing/Unsubscribing to our e-zines in English and Spanish and an invitation to visit

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Denial – when you ignore the other in order to be right


Some weeks it seems that all roads lead to Rome. Or at least the signposts we see all seem to point in that direction.

This has been my (Jamie’s) week for exploring and evidencing denial.

I guess it all started with that terrible plane crash in Russia that killed the Polish President and so many other dignitaries. From what we know about the weather conditions, the option of flying off to another airport was denied sufficient consideration.

At school, a student reacted to my giving her a failing mark on an essay (after her rewrite did not correct the original mistakes and added a slew of extra ones) by refusing to speak to me for the rest of the week. “I’ll pretend it never happened. I’ll pretend the teacher is not in the classroom.”

At university, a student gave a fascinating talk on Armenia which included details of the genocide at the hands of the Turks in 1915. Just the week before I had been talking to an American living in Istanbul who referred to the continuing denial by Turks of their role in this tragedy or in the more recent genocide of Kurds in neighbouring Iraq in the 1980’s which affected parts of Turkey too as Kurds fled into the country. While they were supported by the sizeable Kurdish minorities living in the country they were also subject to severe persecution by some sectors of the Turkish population

Finally, the rubbish collectors in my neighbourhood denied the existence of rubbish in my street for several days. After 5 days I rang the local council to report the fact. Result: everyone else in the street gets their rubbish collected but me! Next evening I stand outside when the rubbish man comes past and ignores my neatly tied bags. I point them out and he takes two of the five bags and walks off.

“What about the rest?” He continues walking to the corner.

“Stop, I’m talking to you!”

“I didn’t hear you.”

“What about the other bags?”

“I haven’t got any more hands,” he replied stomping off.

Now, it may be true that the rubbish company is denying him the help he needs as they no longer bring the truck down my street, nor have at least two collectors picking up the rubbish, so this guy reacts by removing only some of the garbage in the street, dumping it on the corner and moving on to the next block. The Council agree with me that the service is not what it should be but it remains to be seen how the company react to the complaint and whether I will be targeted for daring to make a complaint.



All of this got me thinking about denial. About how denial emerges when we become too attached to being right. To thinking that our point of view is the only valid one.



Of course, there are times when denial is used as a convenient excuse. “Where’s your homework?”

“I never knew there was homework.”

“Everyone else copied it from the board and has handed it in and you were in class that day. What happened to you?”

In this type of situation, the person may be denying a fact publicly but is probably aware that an ‘alternative truth’ shared by everyone else exists.



What is perhaps of more concern is when denial occurs because:

a) it is used to avoid being accountable for something, or,

b) the person really cannot see beyond their own interpretation of reality (their own map as we say in NLP)



The first situation is typical of those being too attached to being right. In our fear of admitting a mistake we may end up attacking the other or his/her viewpoint.

“You must have been dreaming.”

“Who are you to tell me what to do?”

“It’s not like that at all.”



And this is the most insidious feature of denial, that of not acknowledging the legitimate other, someone who has an equal right to their perspective and opinion. We think we are the only holders of the truth and so we deny the existence of the other. Another tactic is to cast the other in the role of ‘them’, the other, the enemy, the opposition. “If you’re with me, you can’t believe what ‘they’ say.”

This binary approach ignores the fact that there is no ultimate difference between ‘us’ and ‘them’. It is all ‘we’. We are part of the same world and the same energy. We all have a right to be here and share in the universe. It could be us in the position of the ‘other’ person’ and in fact it is ‘us’ in a way. When we deny another his or her voice, we are in fact denying the voice of a part of ourselves.



One of the skills I am teaching my students is that of seeing the world from different perspectives. I am nudging them into widening their view of the world. In the activities I choose, they learn how to step into the shoes of the other, of seeing what it is like to contemplate the world from someone else’s position and of standing in the position of a neutral observer. They learn to widen their look so they can see things from above and below, from the front, the back and the sides, from the past, the present and the future. This helps them to incorporate the idea that we all have a valid point of view which sometimes we can’t see if we stay rooted to our own place. Using tools like Robert Dilts perceptual positions, students learn that others have equally valid points of view and that acknowledging this is not a sign of weakness on our part, in fact it is quite the reverse. If we are flexible enough to accept the perspective of another in our universe, it enriches us.



And in the end we don’t need denial at all. We accept the differences and the varied interpretations of ‘reality’ and focus on what is the most functional way of handling a situation to meet all our needs. When we deny something, we often expend a tremendous amount of energy sustaining this ‘truth’ which could be used for other purposes. Denial may work for some people in the short term very effectively but what happens in the long run? At the very least, it can be tiring to keep up the pretence about something.



So, let’s listen to the other as we would ourselves and respect the fact that that person will never see things exactly the same way as we do. And let’s remember that we don’t always have to be right. That no one is right and everyone is right at the same time! It all depends on our unique maps of the world.



© Resourceful Teaching 2010


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2. Practitioner Course 2010 – versions in English and in Spanish


We have just had the first module of our new Practitioner certificate course, which runs this year and next. This first level of training involves between 130 and 150 hours of direct training in the form of practical activities and guided practice spread over 16 modules. It gives students acquaintance with the methodology and many of the techniques comprising NLP and leads to an internationally recognised certificate as Practitioner of NLP in Education.

The Practitioner certificate with Resourceful Teaching offers you the chance to get an NLP certification and practise your English at the same time!



It is still possible to join the course in the second module and we have a couple of places available.



For a course syllabus and further details see our website: www.resourcefulteaching.com.ar or send a mail to jamie@resourcefulteaching.com.ar or lauraszmuch@gmail.com



Venue: Versailles, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires

Time: One Saturday per month 9.00 – 17.00

Next Module: Saturday May 22

Investment: 260 pesos per module



The course includes written material and a full bibliography and morning and afternoon refreshments. As much as we encourage reading, the real value of NLP is the putting it into practice and our students have constant opportunities to employ what they learn in their daily work and lives.



To enroll, please contact us for an enrolment form. Your place is guaranteed upon payment of the first module.



In Spanish



This course will also be offered in Spanish on Friday evenings twice monthly from April 23. If you are interested, contact Laura at lauraszmuch@gmail.com for more details.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3. Calendar of Activities 2010

We are publishing below a list of the main events for Resourceful Teaching for the next few months. As each date gets closer we will give you more information and we will of course be updating the calendar with new dates as they arise.
Friday April 23 2010 New Practitioner course in Spanish begins

May 22 2010 Second module Practitioner course in English

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4. Workshops and Coaching



If you would like a workshop or training in your city or town, please contact us soon as we have only a few dates available on weekends each year.

We can offer you workshops as listed in the website www.resourcefulteaching.com.ar or design something especially for your needs. In English and in Spanish. Please contact jamie@resourcefulteaching.com.ar or lauraszmuch@gmail.com if you are interested.



Laura is also available for Coaching. If you wish to advance in your career or personal life and wish to design a plan of action to do so, why not have a coaching conversation with her. Contact: lauraszmuch@gmail.com




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5. Subscribing/Unsubscribing to our e-zines in English and Spanish and an invitation to visit

To subscribe simply send a mail to: rtnews@resourcefulteaching.com.ar with your name and city stating 'subscribe' in the subject box. To unsubscribe, follow the same procedure but write the word 'unsubscribe'. We only send this e-magazine to those who have expressed the desire to subscribe by the above means.

To subscribe to the Spanish sister e-zine, send a mail to Laura at en.contacto.pnl@gmail.com
NB En contacto has different articles from those which appear in RT News and they are about NLP and other associated areas.



Visit our blog teaching resourcefully – nlp in the classroom

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Saturday 3 April 2010

New Issue of RT News!

RT® News

A magazine on Neuro Linguistic Programming in Education

No 109 April 3 2010

Hello Everyone,

We hope you are enjoying the Easter break whether you stayed at home or had the opportunity to travel.

Our academic year is now in full swing in this part of the world and this brings us the delights and challenges of our work on a day-to-day basis. In our people-based profession we are in a perfect position to observe, experiment, innovate and adapt as we discover ways to help our students or solve the situations that inevitably arise in our work. In our increasingly interconnected world, there are answers to whatever issue we have both out there and within ourselves. It is up to us to activate that knowledge or seek out the information that will get us the answer that can work for us.

A reminder that we begin our Practitioner course for 2010-2011 this month. This course leads to the Practitioner Certificate in NLP for Education. The course in English starts on April 10 and is held once monthly on Saturdays. Please see below for more details. We will also be running a version of the course in Spanish on Fridays, twice monthly in the evenings beginning on April 23. If you are interested please let us know at lauraszmuch@gmail.com

Thank you for reading and sharing,

Laura and Jamie


1. Teaching, Learning and Gardening

2. Classroom Contracts - a further reflection

3. Practitioner Course 2010

4. Calendar of activities for 2010

5. Workshops and coaching

6. Subscribing/Unsubscribing to our e-zines in English and Spanish and an invitation to visit


1. Teaching, Learning and Gardening

The word “to garden” is not very helpfully defined in many dictionaries. They tend to stick to broad descriptions like “to work in a garden” or to “look after” a garden, which don’t perhaps add that much. We do get “To weed and plant” in one dictionary which narrows things down more. An older work (pre corpus) suggests, “to cultivate or lay out a garden”.

What motivated this search was the curiosity of seeing how close the act of gardening is to that of teaching and learning. When the German Friedrich Fröbel coined ‘kindergarten’ for the pre-school place of learning, he obviously made the connection between the nurturing of plants and that of children, such that he wanted a place close to nature where children could develop through play and interaction. These days we have different metaphoric representations to describe schools, many of which are very distant from nature, so let’s see what the gardener can bring to our thinking about schools.

In a garden, we can sow seeds, plant plants or just let things sprout by themselves. The first two methods are clearly better if you want some order and not a jungle. The third method may see some hardy species thrive but it is also likely to result in a survival of the fittest as a certain few plants dominate the land and air space.

We can choose to grow plants from seed. This requires some foresight and care if we want the seeds to germinate. Too much or too little water, insufficient sun and heat, a frost or some other extreme weather and your seeds don’t even get past first base.

Once germinated, the young seedlings face more challenges. There are the same issues related to climate and weather, of the need to be protected from these excesses but also to have nourishment and encouragement to grow. Now, insects and other garden creatures may be attracted by the young shoots and need to be kept at bay. Sometimes, there are fundamental problems like insufficient space to grow, roots that are too shallow or too many seedlings together.

The sensitive and experienced gardener anticipates all this and ensures that the young plants get the help, the fertilizer, the weeding and so forth that will assist their growth.

As the plant reaches adulthood it may flower or bear fruit. Other actors enter the scene like bees to pollinate the flowers or other insects that keep predators away. Worms help maintain a healthy soil too and the gardener oversees all of this. The plant may have been transplanted to a bigger space or nearer to more compatible plants. Fertilizer, mulch or compost may be given, the plant may be sprayed or pruned when necessary. But mostly, the plant is left to get on with growing which is not just a passive action. Each plant will adapt to its habitat, try to best ensure its survival and well-being, reach for the sunlight (or occasionally the shade) and play its role in the habitat. Garlic, for example, repels certain insects. The gardener accompanies this process with the change of the seasons. Sometimes his/her job is to turn the soil, rake away leaves, prepare ground for new sowing and so forth. Sometimes it is to wait and be observant.

Similarities can be found in the teacher’s work. Many of the duties and descriptions mentioned do remind us of teaching in kindergarten or primary school and many remain relevant throughout the entire education process. Sometimes, with a new course we have the task of helping the seeds to germinate; the skills and abilities that the student must develop. The job of tending and caring for the class is constant just as a garden is never static. It is a task that does get easier with experience and yet is also unpredictable, so we cannot remain complacent that we know all there is to know. No two years and no two groups are alike. New things emerge like a strange blight on the leaves or a sudden swarm of insects and the gardener has to find out how to handle these, asking other gardeners, consulting on internet or visiting the local nursery. A tree falls down leaving a space for a new project like a rockery or a fern walk. How do you transform the space? We go to get some advice on what to do. Then technology brings us new tools, new plants (hybrids), alternative methods and we decide to try these. And some years we have the joy of bumper crops or glorious blooms that gladden our hearts, just as the survival of a weak plant and transformation of it into a healthy adult can do.

That is why people garden. It keeps us in pace with nature, it keeps us alive and feeling vital. It is also one of the reasons why we teach as well. To feel we are playing a part in the nurturing of something magical, to watch the blooming of students under our care, to help a person become a fulfilled human being. Let’s keep ourselves up-to-date, in touch with what is new and what is going on with our profession and constantly reflecting on what we do so that in each of our gardens we can take the right decisions to help our students blossom. And let’s give thanks that we are members of one of the most satisfying and noble professions.

© Resourceful Teaching 2010


2. Classroom Contracts – a further reflection

Our article on classroom contracts produced some interesting comments from various readers, including those who enthusiastically implement such a system to those who find alternative ways to manage their classroom.

We agree that some limits have to be set by the school or the teacher. What is happening now however is, that in some schools, these limits are not being supported by many of ‘the players’, namely the students, their parents and even sometimes other staff. This reflects a general approach in many societies that such rules or codes of conduct are not necessarily to apply to everyone and that exceptions can and should be made. The result is often a conflict or misunderstanding as to the rights and responsibilities of those involved and a sense that individual priorities are overrunning the greater good of the school or the class.

While there are undoubtedly some fixed elements that cannot be negotiated like basic school rules or national laws, the idea of classroom contracts is to allow for some agreement by all parties on those areas which do leave scope for flexibility. This permits the students, for example, to feel that they have some participation in the decisions made in the class and it acknowledges the existence of the psychological contracts we mentioned last time, that are present whether we like it or not. One of the challenges these days is that on the one hand the power of one party to impose rules is lessened, while at the same time we cannot assume that the others will act according to ‘adult’ reasoning or fair play. In some cases, the value of education itself is now viewed differently by those involved and unless this is discussed openly, the clash of beliefs, values and behaviour can easily arise.

As one of our correspondents put it, it all boils down to a question of common sense and to treating and valuing our students as individuals and if we are guided by these factors we are surely on the right track.

© Resourceful Teaching 2010


3. Practitioner Course 2010

Learn skills and techniques to help you to …

… Be more effective in the classroom!

…Understand your learners more completely

… Set and achieve goals

… Better manage the constant changes school life brings us

… Communicate with others with elegance and effectiveness

… Discover more talents

… Live the life you want to lead

All this and very much more can be experienced on the

Practitioner Certificate in NLP for Education

Our next Practitioner Certificate course starts on April 10 and consists of 16 modules to be held on Saturdays on a monthly basis in 2010 and 2011. This first level of training involves between 130 and 150 hours of direct training in the form of practical activities and guided practice. It gives students acquaintance with the methodology and many of the techniques comprising NLP and leads to an internationally recognised certificate as Practitioner of NLP in Education.

The Practitioner certificate with Resourceful Teaching offers you the chance to get an NLP certification and practise your English at the same time!

For a course syllabus and further details see our website: www.resourcefulteaching.com.ar or send a mail to jamie@resourcefulteaching.com.ar or lauraszmuch@gmail.com

Venue: Versailles, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires

Time: One Saturday per month 9.00 – 17.00

Start Date: Saturday April 10

Investment: 260 pesos per module

The course includes written material and a full bibliography and morning and afternoon refreshments. As much as we encourage reading, the real value of NLP is the putting it into practice and our students have constant opportunities to employ what they learn in their daily work and lives.

To enroll, please contact us for an enrolment form. Your place is guaranteed upon payment of the first module.

Laura Szmuch and Jamie Duncan

NB: This course will also be offered in Spanish on Friday evenings from April 23. If you are interested, contact Laura at lauraszmuch@gmail.com for more details.


4. Calendar of Activities 2010

We are publishing below a list of the main events for Resourceful Teaching for the next few months. As each date gets closer we will give you more information and we will of course be updating the calendar with new dates as they arise.

April 10 2010 New Practitioner course in English begins

April 23 2010 New Practitioner course in Spanish begins

May 8 Laura in Formosa


5. Workshops and Coaching

If you would like a workshop or training in your city or town, please contact us soon as we have only a few dates available on weekends each year.

We can offer you workshops as listed in the website www.resourcefulteaching.com.ar or design something especially for your needs. In English and in Spanish. Please contact jamie@resourcefulteaching.com.ar or lauraszmuch@gmail.com if you are interested.

Laura is also available for Coaching. If you wish to advance in your career or personal life and wish to design a plan of action to do so, why not have a coaching conversation with her. Contact: lauraszmuch@gmail.com


6. Subscribing/Unsubscribing to our e-zines in English and Spanish and an invitation to visit

To subscribe simply send a mail to: rtnews@resourcefulteaching.com.ar with your name and city stating 'subscribe' in the subject box. To unsubscribe, follow the same procedure but write the word 'unsubscribe'. We only send this e-magazine to those who have expressed the desire to subscribe by the above means.

To subscribe to the Spanish sister e-zine, send a mail to Laura at en.contacto.pnl@gmail.com

NB En contacto has different articles from those which appear in RT News and they are about NLP and other associated areas.