Teaching, N.L.P. and Lycra
10:03 am, Poolside, S. France , August 2006, sun twinkling between ripples of warm water etc.
My wife and I were interrupted as we lay peacefully on our sun beds when an aerobics class began on the other side of the pool.
Led by the most attractive French couple we'd ever seen, their bodies barely wrapped in lycra, we both lay transfixed as the music started to pound. Their equally encouraging and teasing commentary began, "Ouvrez ,fermez ,ouvrez ,fermez ..." as their raised legs opened and closed before our eyes. Our heart rates increased; though not through exercise. " Ouvrez ,fermez , un, deux ,trois ," they continued seductively to the beat.
Wow! I thought. What a way to learn French. Visual, auditory, kinaesthetic and positive state all sorted. I can imagine teenage boys across the land collecting their grade 'A' French GCSE barely believing they'd earned it. "Yes Mum, it was hard work all that aerobics with Madame Lycra but I did it for you!"
Now I know not all teachers look great in lycra. In fact, you've probably just been put off your next meal by imagining a certain colleague in an all-in-one skin tight blue outfit. Proof this stuff works.
Richard Bandler, co-founder of NLP, recently described his disappointment at the way some educators have misinterpreted his findings on VAK and learning. Teaching to one system is wrong and dangerous. Would you say to a child "you're a K learner so we'll poke out your eyes and ears with this pointy stick as you won't be needing them". Pointless.
We learn best when all three systems are fired up and we're in a positive state such as curious or excited.
It's difficult to learn anything when only one system is used and we're in a state of boredom, anger or sadness. Yes, we do recall some memories best in one system - faces and maps as pictures, songs by saying them and dance moves by doing them, but we live in a world and in a body that is more complicated. We can teach, inspire and motivate people in amazing ways when we use all three major representational systems (VAK) with a positive state and the good news is we don't need to look great in lycra .
But, what we do need is to be good with words. They are so powerful.
In a sixth form college last week I noticed a poster:
College Recital Orchestra,
Tickets on sale now
However, they'd missed the 'i' out of recital and I wonder if ticket sales have been slow. (Make your own jokes about trumpets etc...)
No-one in the college seemed to notice because they see the poster everyday and so never see it every day.
Whoever said sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me was wrong.
One of the classic ways to demonstrate a principle of NLP is the lemon test.
Perhaps you could try it now. Go on, free tickets to the recital if you do!
Hold out one hand in front of you and cup your hand.
Imagine holding a lemon. Feel the weight of it. See the bright yellow skin. Feel the dimpled and waxy skin in your fingers. As you smell it, imagine it cut in to quarters and with your other hand pick up one of the quarters and place it in your mouth. Feel the lemon juice on your tongue and feel it trickle down the back of your throat. If youre playing along your mouth should be watering which illustrates the mind-body link and the power of suggestion etc.
After one demo I noticed nobody in the audience seemed to be pulling a sucking lemons face. I was disappointed. A woman at the front asked me if I'd meant to say lemons and I said yes. You said 'melon', she informed me. Mistakes are often useful. Richard Branson says he's learned far more from his mistakes than he has from his successes. I acknowledge you dont want your heart surgeon taking this attitude into theatre when you're the one on the operating table but it's a great attitude for teachers and students to embrace.
What a good mistake I'd made; lemon and melon. The same letters in a slightly different order made a huge difference to the audience. And this is what teachers can do so well; use words to make a huge difference in their audience. Use the opposite of sarcasm (heavy words are so lightly thrown). Use words to create strong positive states with vivid pictures, sounds, tastes and feelings to motivate and inspire.
A cynical teaching friend of mine was advised on a course (Using NLP in Teaching) to use this approach. She told me she'd said to a girl in her class who was often distracted and chatty, 'You know, Sarah, when I look at you I see a really bright girl with loads of potential, who is choosing to mess about, instead of getting on with her work. Come on Sarah, you can do this'. She'd never praised the girl before and said the girls eyes welled up with tears and their relationship changed from that moment. The opposite of sarcasm can have magical results.
Challenge: How would you define the opposite of sarcasm and how could you apply it in your work?
David Hodgson