Humanising Language Teaching
Year 4; Issue 2; March 02

Thoughts on Trances in Teacher Training

by Suzanne Antonaros,
Educational and Training Consultants,
Athens, Greece

Why trances?

Let me start off with four central questions:
(1) What goes into making a creative high-point in the work my colleagues and I do?
(2) And more personally, what inspires me to create and strive to be effective?
(3) As a trainer , what gives me that buzz to share something useful and original with new teachers?
(4) How can I help encourage new teachers to unleash their own creativity so that they see options which focus on their learners' needs and move beyond covering course material designated for them to teach?

To begin, a dictionary definition of trance: “an altered state of consciousness with reduced or absent sensitivity to external stimulation”. I need to add that this trance state is preceded by external or internal stimulation, something I call “one's relationship with the mirror”.

Some examples of what I have observed as trance:

-the baby
Have you ever observed infants looking into a mirror, when a trance-like state precedes their recognition of the mirror image of themselves? Often times, what follows is a delighted, pleasant or satisfied –and always, accepting smile. This seems to me one of the most important steps in the journey to self-knowledge; not the recognition of the image but the acceptance. From that step on, the "know thyself" journey becomes significant.

-the hairdresser
I have also observed that painters, before working on a canvas, seem to have a trance-like state in their eyes; perhaps, internally they are viewing a vision of what they will attempt to create. I can recall looking through the mirror at the faces of high-powered professional hairdressers who, by the look in their eyes, cannot be paying attention to what you are saying, but rather, in a state of trance, are envisioning “the head” (yours!) that they will “sculpt” into a “new look”. As with the young child, the hairdresser may have a look of wonder and delight, but it is always preceded by one of determination on the brow and a spaced-out look in the eyes, which signals to the observer that he or she is not listening. Work begins once the slight and satisfied smile appears; the vision of what is to be is ready.

-the public speaker preparing
With this example, I move closer to our work as language teachers and trainers. At conferences, I observe speakers who can put members of their audience into trance. I believe their relationship with their mirrors are what enhances their performance.

On closer observation and through inquiring chats with public speakers who can en-trance the people in their audience, I have learned that they are individuals who have a very open relationship with their own mirrors. They are people who don't feel shy about looking into actual mirrors and, I suspect, are quite good at listening attentively to inner monologues, "looking into oral mirrors" --dialoguing with their inner selves. I am entranced by public speakers who master a synergy of inspiring elements: “multi-media” people whose presence is felt, heard, seen and, therefore, remembered. Often these speakers interact with members of the audience and allow for members of their audience to interact among themselves.

There is something which holds their concentration together, so that they commune with their public; I believe it is a vision in their mirror.

-the teacher preparing
Being in trance helps me when I attempt to create. I often feel in trance after the concentration that I exert and the information input offered to me at a conference or during an intensive course, workshop or meeting. More often, when preparing, there is something trance-like that I experience when I feel very physically and mentally exhausted and attempt to concentrate my thoughts and to write them down. At those times, I have trouble articulating verbally but, ironically, my writing comes through as better organized and more coherent than usual. What I attribute my kind of trance to is persistent interaction with others and myself over a longish period of time, an extended "social intensity".

My kind of trance serves only as one link in the chain that is the creative process and most often happens while preparing new lesson material or a workshop or presentation.

…and teacher training?
And now, how does this talk of trance fit into language teaching and teacher training? A characteristic of trance for me is conjuring up the vision of what is to come, not necessarily reflecting on what has transpired.

As a teacher trainer working with new language teachers, part of my job is to stimulate their imaginings and remind them that it is their right (and duty) to create lessons which involve the learner and not simply plow through course material that they are required to “cover”.

Another part of my job is to promote the idea of lesson planning. There are new teachers who take a while to warm up to the idea of lesson planning for fear of losing their spontaneity. I assure them that they will not forfeit their spontaneity by planning, but rather, enhance it; by reflecting on how they might introduce, present and conduct activities for their learners BEFORE meeting with their learners, more concrete options will be in their mind and, hence, decisions will be made with greater confidence during any spontaneous moments. The subject of lesson planning is where the mirror-trance comes in. The mirror-trance is part of the act of lesson planning.

With these thoughts in mind, among the tasks I have set myself are:

(1) to create an environment of extended "social intensity" during training sessions with new teachers; to interact with them and allow them to interact among themselves, more than ever before,
(2) to allow for Çquiet timeÈ when these teachers are preparing and to look for a trance-state in their eyes
(3) most important, to ask them to consider: «What is your relationship with the mirror?»

A constant on-going “know thyself” adventure is an essential part, perhaps the basis, of any teacher's self-development-- professional and personal. Through our interaction with “mirrors” we can tap our more creative energies and develop a vision for greater interaction and expression for all those individuals participating in the groups we lead.

For those who find the mirror- trance part of an inviting creative process, here is a tip for starting the day right: every morning enhance your creative trance with an accepting smile at your mirror's reflection. And, as the day progresses and you come in contact with your learners or trainees, follow Vicente Aleixandre's advice ( from his poem “En la plaza” from Historia del corazo'n): “Don't look for yourself in the mirror, in an extinct dialogue in which you don't hear yourself. Walk out slowly and find yourself among the others…”