An overview of what NLP is all about from Jackie Beere:

'Neuro-linguistic Programming has been around for ten years on business management training course agendas, often billed as the ultimate tool of influence - and thereby the key to closing that big deal.  But what exactly is it and has it any relevance to education?

John Grinder and Richard Bandler, the founders of NLP, studied psychologists who achieved outstanding results with their patients.  They modelled every aspect of their language, non-verbal communication and even their internal dialogue (that voice inside your head that you always listen to).  They made the seemingly rather obvious discovery that, by copying exactly the behaviour and thinking of experts in your field you too can achieve outstanding results.  Common sense seems to permeate the whole range of NLP teachings but much of this common sense we, in the teaching profession have not yet put to good use.  In fact don’t we tell the students not to ‘copy’ from a very early age?

The users’ manual for the mind

NLP is a much more complex than encouragement to copy or model yourself on those who are good at what you want to do.  By an intricate examination of the fine details of performance your ‘copying’ takes on a new dimension.  To achieve the greatest success, modelling must include an intricate mirroring of physiology, language patterns and tonality and, especially, thought processes during the performance of any task.  The technique of visualising yourself performing brilliantly is now widely used in sport and has great potential in schools.  We are all constantly rehearing failure and blaming ourselves for our inadequacy but by listening to your internal voice and swapping ‘I’m useless at this’ for ‘I am the most brilliant artist/ sportsman/ teacher/ musician in the world’ actually can creates belief.  This self-fulfilling prophecy has been proved by Grinder and Bandler to be the single most powerful tool in raising achievement.

If you think you can or if you think you can’t – you’re right….

This study of thought processes and how to re-programme yourself to improve performance puts much emphasis on thought processes and the impact of posture, gesture and other body language on our own state of mind.  For example, try to feel depressed with your head held high and a smile on your face.  Or walk around with a dejected look and a slumped posture for several minutes and, sure enough, you will feel depressed.  The mind body link has been exploited by organisations who have discovered certain physical exercises can improve spelling!

‘Perception is projection’ is one of the many catchphrases of NLP.  This emphasises, for example, the vital importance of dealing with your own perceptions before you project them on to a class of students.  Again, it sounds like common sense but when you add to it another famous NLP slogan ‘The meaning of your communication is the response you get’ we see that NLP puts the responsibility firmly in the hands of the communicator.  There is no such thing as bad classes - only teachers who haven’t got the message right.  If you believe a class will succeed, it will certainly overachieve – and visa versa.

This is a hard pill to swallow until you start using some of the many NLP techniques on your classes and find it is tremendously successful at creating a positive attitude and real rapport with even the most difficult groups.  Gaining rapport through matching and mirroring the movements of others is classic NLP technique, as is anchoring subliminal messages in the unconscious mind.  In a classroom this takes the form of always teaching from the front and exerting discipline from a different position in the classroom.  Eventually you only have to take a step in the direction of the ‘angry’ spot to create the desired hush.

There is no such thing as failure only feedback…

Learners sensory preferences, VAK(visual, auditory and kinaesthetic learning)  originated from NLP and we all accept they can have an impact on learning.  Infact NLP suggests that all experiences are structured using these senses and this helps us create structured visualisations of success in the future.  When you walk into that exam room imagine feeling a warm glow of confidence, hearing positive voices of encouragement and seeing yourself writing pure brilliance on the paper infront of yo etc etc.  Sounds wacky??  It works.

The impact of certain gestures in a classroom and the use of stories or metaphors to create a learning state of mind in students’ is another application of NLP relevant to teachers.  Perhaps the most impressive results for educationalists have been obtained through working with students with severe literacy problems, who make amazing progress when taught to spell using pictures and images.

Having been an Advanced Skills Teacher for four years, I can state categorically that these techniques, including the offshoot of NLP, Accelerated Learning have had a profound impact on the results of my students.  NLP has many applications in teaching; each one would need an article of this length to explain.  The involvement of the unconscious mind in many NLP techniques and its links with hypnotherapy should not deter us from taking the best learning strategies for us as teachers and applying them in our classrooms.  One of the ground rules of NLP practice is flexibility - keep playing with a skill until it works - be an endlessly experimental and flexible communicator and eventually you will get it perfectly right.

The meaning of your communication is the effect you have….

NLP is essentially about being as good as we can be and discarding notions of limited potential or IQ - latest brain research has discovered that we only use 1-5% of our brainpower anyway.  NLP techniques have been the most powerful tool in my own personal leadership style, both in the classroom and with colleagues.  It offers a way forward …where anything is possible.  Imagine if you could influence others to believe in their own ability to succeed.  Then you could really make a difference1

Jackie Beere OBE,  qualified NLP practitioner and Independent Thinking Associate

Or, in the words of fellow associate David Hodgson:

Learn why 20% of people are good at chatting up people they fancy and the rest are pants at it.  

Click here for some great books on NLP and other areas of personal development

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