Monday 5 March 2012

RTNews 119

RT® News

A magazine on Neuro Linguistic Programming in Education

No 119 March 4 2012

Hello teachers,

By now most of you will be back in the classroom settling into the academic year. New students, new challenges and possibly outstanding issues to deal with from past years.

Apart from managing the start to a new year’s teaching, one of the exciting things about this period is that we get to decide what we are going to study this year. This is because a thriving teacher is always learning too, and to be able to give to our students, we need to receive somewhere along the line. Some of you already know what course or which activities you are going to take this year in order to grow and remain healthy, happy and inspired. Others will decide in the next few weeks or later in the year (though too much procrastination and the year is over before you know it J) Investing in ourselves,nourishing our bodies, minds and souls help us to keep our centre no matter what the context in the ¨real¨ world is.

Remember, for those of you who want to deepen your communication, planning and understanding of the world that this year’s Practitioner course begins on Saturday March 31. We already have a steady flow of enrolments so be sure to contact us for more information or to ensure your place before enrolments close.

More information is in section 2 below.

Best wishes for the next week or two and happy classrooms!

Laura and Jamie


1. Teachers as leading lights – 2012

2. NLP Practitioner courses

3. Calendar of activities for 2012

4. Workshops and coaching

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


1. Teachers as leading lights – 2012

A few years ago, Laura and I gave a workshop called Teachers as Leading Lights. We both felt that it was important that teachers acknowledge that part of their role in society and in their profession is that of a leader.

Being a leader today does not mean being a hero or a powerful saviour or dictator. A leader is quite simply someone who shows the way and acts as a model for others, something which is integral to a teacher’s work. We felt that sometimes this important function of a teacher was not receiving the attention that maybe it deserved. At that time, although the workshop was very well received, we sensed that openly identifying themselves as leaders did not come so easily or readily to educators.

This is understandable. The “leaders” many people have experienced in their lives have not always given the word a good name. Traditionally, the leader is seen as the boss, the politician, the person behind the closed door with his name printed in gold on it. This type of old paradigm of leader has been associated with distance, authoritarianism, arrogance, lack of a common touch and even such aspects as repression, corruption and disrespect. This type of leader was seen as being at a different level from the people they were supposed to be leading, so much so that they could be regarded as working against many of the people they were expected to lead. In this part of the world they have been linked with being more interested in their own benefits and their own friends than in the greater good. As a general tendency, of course.

Today a new style of leadership is gaining ground through necessity. That of a “we” leader who operates from a position alongside everyone else. Whose job is to facilitate the growth and development of others. It is early days, but the repeated failure of the old-style leader to provide the public with what they want or need is bringing on this long-needed change. An effective leader of today emerges from the ground up andretains an understanding of the other. This leader shows by example, espousing values that arecongruent with the job or the task they have rather than values which contradict this. A new leaderrespects everyone, promotes positive actions and works toward making the world a better place for everyone, not simply a chosen few. And a new leader looks after him or herself so that she can give his or her best.

Thinking, feeling, conscientious teachers have been developing the skills that go with this profile for years now. As our students change, but not necessarily the programmes, materials, equipment or methodology, we have been obliged to find solutions in the classroom to the frictions that have arisen between the students of today and their needs, interests and way of being and the demands of curricula and the institutions we work for. This is not to say we always succeed but it is a task we are undertaking the world over because most of us cannot go into a classroom and just let things happen. If we did so today, probably nothing much would get done and chaos would reign. Instead, we lead by influence, by persuasion, perceiving, noticing, attempting, reflecting, adapting, explaining …whatever it takes to achieve our goal of helping our students to learn effectively. The autonomy many of us have carved out for ourselves in the classroom, is one based on the need to take appropriate decisions in the moment so as to facilitate learning. It is not something that can be dictated from above by the heads or programmed into a lesson plan. It happens in the act of teaching and we practise and polish our ability at it as we teach. And these precisely are the acts and skills of a leader. The person who helps to find the way at each moment of the learning process.

Recent tragic or controversial events in this country have highlighted to us that clear compassionate leadership is not automatically present in every sphere of society. We have all seen people left abandoned trying to defend their rights, unsure of what to do for the best or obliged to take matters into their own hands because of the failure of those designated to lead to do their job. We have seen people adopting leadership behaviour when it is not their job, but someone else’s to do so. Perhaps this latter group has been caught by surprise and has not expected that they would have to “show the way”. How lucky we are as teachers! We get to practice our skills of leading every single day!

And yet, it is not just a question of daily practice. There are many sides to being a good leader. These include:

- the ability to communicate with empathy

- the ability to identify, set and achieve goals

- resourcefulness in handling conflicts

- being capable of knowing and managing one’s own internal states to give the best of oneself in any situation

- the skill of reading non-verbal language

- being conscious of the subtleties of language in order to facilitate communication

- an awareness of what motivates people such as their beliefs, values and the filters which affect the way they relate to the world

- the ability to see the world from different points of view

How many of these skills do we inherently possess? Well, in fact all of them!!!!

How many of these skills have we activated, polished and use every day?

How many of these skills do we get training in at Teacher’s College?

The answer to these last two questions will differ from individual to individual but it is only in recent years that we have become aware of their great importance in the classroom.

Fortunately, NLP gives us tools to work on these areas and to develop as even more effective leaders. By studying NLP we can observe what we already do and increase our repertoire of skills, techniques and knowledge to be able to more effortlessly perform the role of leader that our profession has bestowed on us these days.

Are we ready to acknowledge that the shoes we move around the classroom today are in fact those of a leader and that our eyes shine with the brightness of a leading light?

To conclude, we shall refer to some words that we used in the presentation that we gave those few years ago which reflect this new concept of leadership that we are already familiar with. A concept that we simply need to embrace and to develop as something that is an integral part of being a teacher in 2012 and beyond.

Trust in oneself and respect for others lie at the heart of authentic leadership; integrity and high moral standards sustain it. Leaders must constantly look within to take power and support from the essence of their self-worth and then turn outward and see others through the lens of equality and respect.

It is no longer enough, if ever it were, for a leader to lead from the front. What we must learn to do now is to lead from within because effective leadership of any kind is built on inner strength:

the strength of vision that sees and brings out the best in others,

the strength of example that inspires action in others, and

the strength of self-respect that enables one to serve and care for others.

Power no longer lies in the hands of others who make decisions for us, but within our own hearts. To lead then is simply to be visible and noticeable as one who is worthy of others’ attention, and a leader is someone who follows her or his own inner principles, conscience and truth.

A BETTER QUALITY LIFE FOR ALL PEOPLE

From Statement of the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University for the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty 1996

© Resourceful Teaching 2012 Ó, Laura Szmuch and Jamie Duncan


2. NLP Practitioner courses

Practitioner Certificate in NLP for Education

Our next Practitioner Certificate course starts on March 31 and consists of 16 modules to be held on Saturdays on a monthly basis in 2012 and 2013. 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 andpractise your English at the same time!

To enrol or for further information: send a mail to jamiearg@gmail.com or lauraszmuch@gmail.com

Venue: Versailles, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires

Time: One Saturday per month 9.00 – 17.00

Start Date: Saturday March 31

Investment: 380 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.

NB: This course is also being offered in Spanish


3. Calendar of Activities 2012

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.

March 31 2011 Practitioner Certificate in NLP applied to Education, Buenos Aires, Argentina

The courses in English and Spanish commence on this day.


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 contactjamiearg@gmail.com 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.

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