NLP and Teenage Boredom - Dreaming of a Class
by Gigliola Pagano, Italy
Gigliola Pagano is a teacher at a Junior High School in Italy. She has worked as a teacher trainer for Primary School and High School teachers. She has a Master Practictioner in Neuro Linguistic Programming and has been interested in NLP for 15 years, using tips and ideas in the day to day classroom life. She has written some articles on teacher training and NLP and is co-author of resource materials. The ideas presented in this article will eventually take the shape of a book.
E-mail: gigliolapagano@libero.it
Menu
Activity Plan
Introduction - something about Neuro-Linguistic Programming
Introduction - something about the situation
Present situation or symptom
Outcome or desired state - the dream
Side effects or secondary gain
Living the dream
Finding the resources
Checking the ecology - overcoming interferences
Round up - the dream comes true
Variation
Rationale
References
Other useful information
The purposes of this activity are to enhance students' inner motivation towards school life and find other ways of behaving in the classroom.
I did this activity with a group of 4 students (but it could be easily adapted to an individual student or to the whole class). The original symptoms were:
- students didn't take part in classroom life
- disruptive/violent behaviour
- poor/no learning
- bad marks
The N.L.P. technique used in this activity is the S.C.O.R.E. integration format. But there is no need for any N.L.P. advanced skills in order to do it with your students. All is needed is a clean and open mind and a lot of attention to the situation and to the verbal, non-verbal signs that your students will give you. I did this activity in 4 lessons (meeting the students for a month, once a week). It would probably be better to work on a more extended period of time to have more flexibility.
You need some chairs (one for each student and one for you), some space to move, a desk, papers and (felt) pens, some relaxation music (if you wish).
Neuro-Linguistic Programming, N.L.P., actually started more than 30 years ago, as the study of excellence. It derived from the observation of experts in many different fields (like the family therapist Virginia Satir, the hypnotherapist Milton Erikson, or even the founder of the Walt Disney empire, the creative artist and businessman Walt Disney). These excellent skills were then put into step-by-step programmes that we can all learn in order to improve our effectiveness both in our personal and professional life. This process, that is called modelling, has been increasingly used in all forms of communication, like counselling, business, therapy, training and teaching.
The name, Neuro-Linguistic Programming refers to the core concept that all behaviour is generated by our neurology, our neurological processes of hearing, seeing, feeling. We filter and experience the world around us through our five senses, these are the doors to our perceptions. Very relevant filters indeed if you consider the Arab saying "What a piece of bread looks like depends on whether you are hungry or not."
We use the language, the linguistic ability, to process our thoughts and behaviour and to communicate them to others. It is through these verbal and non-verbal messages that we have access to our inner states. This also gives us access to any process of change. We also have imbedded programmes that run our automatic behaviours and responses to the world and how we organise our ideas and beliefs. We can choose to change these programmes and find new ones that are more suitable to our needs and desires.
Neuro-Linguistic Programming can indeed be a very powerful tool when it comes to teaching, in many different ways, like using the different sensory channels, Visual, Auditory, Kinaesthetic, or building strategies for problem solving (like the so-called "Disney Strategy"), developing presentation skills or building rapport with our students, recognising and using verbal and non-verbal messages for a more effective communication, using anchors for learning, giving empowering feedback and so forth. In this article I have used N.L.P. to help my students have a wider choice as far as class behaviour is concerned.
When I moved to a central school in a wealthy town in the North East of Italy, I found myself whizzed in a totally new context. My new school is a Junior High School (for children aged 11-14) with a rather high number of foreign children. Some of the classes have more than half of the children who are non-Italian speakers. In most cases their families have only recently immigrated from countries like Ghana, Sudan, Eritrea, Morocco, Argentina, Ecuador, India, China, Rumania, Slovenia, Albania and many others…..Some of these children arrive in the middle of the school year, some others start with a very little knowledge of the Italian language, while others have a fairly good mastery of the language having perhaps attended the Primary school here.
When the children arrive they are assigned to a class according to their age rather than to their level of Italian. Some remedial programmes are then activated for small groups of children, both during the curricular time and the extra-curricular time (although most of them hardly ever join the afternoon remedial classes) to teach them Italian and also to do remedial work on some curricular subjects like history, maths, science ….
The family background is usually rather complex. Being just arrived, their families are still struggling to find a job, a place to stay etc. They often can't afford to provide their children with the necessary material, like books, copybooks, pens etc. although sometimes the same children carry along some very expensive mobile phones or MP3s and the like.
This complex and varied ethnical mixture mingle with the Italian rather wealthy offspring, generating interesting and challenging group and class dynamics. On top of this I must add that this is a recent phenomenon, which makes things new. We often find ourselves (the teachers) lacking the tools and the know-how to handle such a complex, challenging situation, which very often results in discipline problems.
Due to the language and behavioural problems these non-Italian children often fail to meet the standards set by our Ministry of Education and they have to repeat the same class for other two (and at times even three) years. We can quite easily imagine what a bundle of problems they have to face, bored to death with the same programmes they don't quite catch (very distant from the ones they were used to - if any), having to split themselves between the school requirements - study, do homework, attend the remedial classes… and their life outside school, where they have to look after their siblings, cook, do the household chores and spend most of the day on their own, with no adults to look after them.
The consequences of these factors are often boredom, learning problems, disruptive behaviour, violence. The school very often has to involve the police to deal with these episodes and the Social Service then enquire about their families and sometimes the kids have to attend an afternoon programme of social/school rehabilitation. When I found myself plunged in this situation I almost panicked! My usual nicely-planned and creative activities didn't seem to work much, especially with one 1st class, with children aged eleven - twelve, most of them of non-Italian origins. No matter how hard I tried with multi-sensory activities, right brain, left brain, Multiple Intelligences and so forth … I noticed that everything was swallowed in discipline problems. Virtually impossible to have them interact unless a fight would start and, perhaps for the first time in my career, I HAD NO CONTROL of my class!
At first I found some survival strategies (my survival!), like asking them to write and copy, no talking, no funny games, no movement. Discipline improved a little, and in my lion-tamer role at least I had the time to notice what was going on in there. Then I decided to take action. I went to the headmaster telling him I wanted to take some of the children out of the class - during my free time - and start a Neuro-Linguistic Programming activity. I didn't want to be paid at that time because I though that the money issue could make some of my colleagues uncomfortable. I thought they could have wondered why did we have to use the funds that were meant for "real" remedial work for some funny games to activate inner motivation, instead, that in the end there was no guarantee of success.
Firstly I negotiated with two colleagues of mine to take these children (three at the beginning) out during their classes, which they agreed and they were actually rather relieved they could have some of the most troublesome kids out for a few lessons. The children didn't know these were different "remedial" classes but they seemed rather willing to get out of the class for some time. From the very first meeting I was highly surprised to notice how open they were, letting me guide them and revealing to the little group their thoughts and worries. I went out of the first meeting light-hearted. I had four remedial classes with them in December. When in January we had our end-of-term teacher meeting, all of the class colleagues agreed that the behaviour and learning of those children had noticeably improved!
Having proved that this "programme on motivation" worked, we have now integrated it in the routine "remedial" programme that the school normally finances.
First you need to identify the students you want to work with (1 to 4 students) and agree with a colleague teacher to take these students out during his/her lesson.
Next thing to do is to find a classroom where you can work and organise it so that you have the chairs in a circle, a desk to sit around with papers and pens, some free space.
At this point you can start by asking the students to choose the chairs they want to sit on and you all sit together in a circle. I believe the layout of the classroom you work in is also relevant as this will non-verbally tell them that you are going to work in a different way from the usual class work and this turned out to be a rather exciting start for my students! Share with the students your outcome for the 4 meetings you are going to have. Tell them you would like to work together to find a positive way of spending the time at school so that they can be happy and have some good results too.
Start from the PRESENT SITUATION or SYMPTOM and tell them what your feelings are. Be honest and congruent with them. This is a key point for a good start. When you are congruent your words say what your voice and body reinforce, your message is more effective and your students will unconsciously perceive they can trust what you are saying because it is true. You are also offering them a model they will follow when it's their turn to speak. Remember the problem you are describing is your problem not theirs. The questions to answer are:
What is the present state?
What is it happening now?
What do you feel as a problem?
I came up with something like this: "When I get into the class I see students standing and moving around the classroom, pushing chairs or school bags, talking loudly and there is a lot of noise. Some of the students are also hitting and kicking each other. When I start the lesson the eyes of my students don't follow what is going on but look somewhere else. Inside myself I feel nervous, my hands perspire, I have a feeling of anxiety in my chest, there is a shallow breathing. I am confused and I don't know what to do to reach my students. I don't feel a personal connection with them and I feel bad."
Now it's their turn to speak. Calmly and patiently wait until someone wants to start talking. Glancing at them in silence can be very powerful. Gently and respectfully guide them in what they want to say by asking questions. Keep them to the here and now of the present situation and keep their sentences as sensory based as possible:
What is the present state/situation?
What do you see when you are in the classroom? (objects, colours, lights…)
What do you hear in that situation? (voices, sounds, soft, loud…)
What do you feel inside?
Whereabouts in your body do you feel it?
At this point everybody has defined their present state or symptom. You will be surprised to notice that, no matter how disruptive or irresponsible their behaviour may seem in class, at this point they will come up with some unwanted feelings of anxiety, concern, boredom … Go to the desk and sit around it, each one of you with paper and pen. In silence draw a symbol or picture that represents that unwanted feeling. You may play some music in the background . Once you have finished, share with the others your symbol/drawing. Then tell them this is the state you want to change. Leave your drawings on the desk at your back and stand facing the opposite direction.
Now look up at an imaginary spot on the wall and tell your students what your dream is, your OUTCOME or DESIRED STATE. Again remember you are an important model for them so be congruent. You can follow these questions:
What is your outcome?
What do you want to achieve?
Be sensory specific and say what you see, hear, feel in your dream.
With my students I said something like: "In my dream I come into the classroom and I see my students smiling, they are talking to each other and to me in a soft, gentle tone, they move around the classroom slowly and I have a feeling of peace and warmth inside my stomach." Ask them to do the same and as you did before guide them gently by asking questions about what they see, hear and feel in their dream.
Once all the students have described their dreams, projected onto an imaginary spot on the wall you are facing, you can hold hands (if it feels appropriate) and starting from the problem state- the desk with the drawings at your back—slowly walk together towards your dreams, with your eyes closed.
Reconsider the present state or symptom for a moment, the situation you want to change, to think if there is any SECONDARY GAIN. Any state (we consciously or unconsciously choose to be in) carries along some positive effects, no matter how disruptive or dysfunctional that state is. It may suit our needs and beliefs in important areas in our life, like being loved, looked after, being protected, feeling in control etc. These needs and beliefs are very important for the subject (or were important at a certain point in their lives) and very often are the reason why this behaviour is kept in place, even when perceived as problematic by the same person. Any effective and durable process of change needs to seriously check those secondary gains and side-effects. We want to check if they are still relevant and important for the person and, if so, how we can keep those benefits by changing the behaviours. You will be surprised to hear how important and precious these secondary benefits are, like "spending more time with my dad, don't get bored, show that I am valuable" etc. Tell them these are very important things you don't want to lose in the change, you want to incorporate in the change. This is an elegant way to bypass inner terrorists and resistance that may hinder the process of change. Ask them how can you go ahead for the change and keep the secondary gains as well. You may want to fix the important benefits in words or by a simple drawing or symbol.
This can be a good time to have a nice relaxation, but do it only if you feel it is appropriate for the situation and if you feel you have (unspoken) permission from your students. Sit in circle and tell your students you are going to guide them in a nice and relaxing place. Play some relaxing, soft music in the background (any New Age or similar music will do) and start with a body relaxation. This is what I said: "Sit as comfortably as you can, hands and arms unfolded, your back in upright position, eyes closed if possible. …Start by noticing your breathing … the air that goes in … and out…now notice your feet … feel if there is any tension … and let it go … as you go on breathing in and out… and you start feeling… a bit more relaxed … now notice your legs… the contact with the chair …" Go on like this till you have acknowledged all the parts of your body (back, shoulders, neck head, arms, hands). "And now imagine you are going out of this room … in a place you like … can be inside or outside …it's a place where you feel good… and safe… and you look around… and you notice what you see … and as you are enjoying this place…you also notice the sounds …that belong to this place … and the smells …how is the air around you … and the pleasant feeling… that is inside you…keep this pleasant feeling as you walk back to this room… and to this place …and when you feel like…, at your own time … open your eyes" Have a feedback from your students asking them what it was to notice the breathing and the parts of their bodies, weather it was difficult or easy for them to visualise the place, how was it like and what feeling have they brought back from that place. Tell the students that this is a technique that also athletes use to achieve better results in their performances and now they can use it too. Anytime they want to re-access that good feeling, they can mentally go back to that place and state. Your tone of voice and the music are also good aural anchors to elicit this good atmosphere again.
Go back to the dream you had last time, the DESIRED STATE and review it, its atmosphere and good feelings. Your students do the same. This is a way to keep track of your goal, check if there are any changes, reinforce it by sharing it verbally with the group.
It is now time to explore the EFFECTS of the desired state. Go to the wall where you had projected your dreams last time and ask them to remember those dreams as fully and vividly as possible, with your eyes closed stay in your dreams for a few moments. Then move to a different location with your students and tell them to imagine they were already living the dream, the dream has become real and they are now in the same class but things have changed. Tell them what you see, hear, feel in the classroom now that you have reached your desired state. Your students do the same.
Choose a different position in the room, one that allows you to see the symptom and the desired state from a distance, in a META position and tell them the RESOURCES you already have that you can use to reach your goal. I came up with something like: "I know I can get in touch with my students, I can talk to them, I can listen to them, I am patient …" The students are encouraged to do the same. For some students it might be difficult to find their inner resource. I have found help by asking the other students to contribute with ideas and suggestions. They have come up with great strengths their friends have in other fields like sport, friends, hobbies, specific situations… You can then ask the individual student if s/he thinks these resources are the ones s/he needs or if s/he needs something else. Now embody your resources in a movement or dance and repeat it several times till everyone can recognise it. Stand in a circle and do your movement all together, and then repeat all the students' movements together. I have found this a really empowering experience, sharing my resource and feeling the other resources in my body, through movement. It also creates a very strong feeling of support from the group.
Stand in a circle and repeat the resource movements together. Tell the students if you have noticed any change in your attitude and the effects of that change. I might have said something like: "Now when I get into my class I smile to my students and I see that they smile back at me. When the lesson is over I enjoy staying there a bit longer to have some words with my students individually …". Remember to be congruent and say only things you have really noticed. Encourage your students to do the same.
Now check the ECOLOGY of this change, by taking into consideration the other important people involved. You can answer these questions:
Who else is involved in this change?
How would their react to my change?
What positive things do you have to give up in this change?
And what positive things can you keep?
As with the secondary gains, it is equally crucial to check the possible reactions to the change that other important people can have as they can seriously hinder the process of change. Take into consideration any possible obstacles that students may find in their path and ask them if they are ready to face those challenges and what they are going to do. This makes them think that they may find obstacles here and there and they have already thought about them and are ready to overcome them. (If the obstacles appear to be too big to be overcome by the student, then we need to reconsider the whole goal and desired state from the beginning).
Consider now the problems and INTERFERENCES you might find in your path and how to overcome them. You can answer these questions:
What can interfere with your objective?
How can you deal with this interference?
How would you overcome failure?
It is important to acknowledge difficulties and the times when the task might seem too hard in order to strengthen your purpose and gather the resources you need to overcome the problems.
4. It might be appropriate here to find some new resources that can help them in facing the troubles. You can use these questions:
Do you remember a time when you thought the problem was too big for you but in the end you made it and you were able to overcome it?
What quality did you show at that time that was useful in solving the problem?
Can this quality be used in this context?
What effects will it have?
Let them describe those situations and ANCHOR the quality with an individual anchor. To do so you let the student close their eyes and fully experience that quality through what they saw, heard, smelled, felt at that time. When you can see from their expression and body language that they are deeply inside that quality, ask them to touch their shoulder or do some specific movement that will remind them of that quality. Tell them this movement is an anchor for that quality, they can access it every time they need the quality by simply repeating that movement. Try this out several times so they are sure they can do it. By the way, your tone of voice, that specific tone of voice you are using at that time, will be an auditory anchor for them when in class.
You can start this last session by recapping what you've done in the previous days. You can walk together around the classroom to the spots where you did the different things, the problem space, the dream, the meta position … and tell them to remember what you did together, the feelings, the things that went on smoothly and the difficulties you had.
Then sit in a circle and ask them individually if they think they can manage the new outcome and WHEN they want to put it into practice, noticing that some change has already taken place. CALIBRATE what they say with their physiology to check that what they say is congruent with what they feel inside. To do so check for some body language that might confirm/contradict their words. A shaking of the head while saying something like "I'm happy to start changing right now..." might be an indication that the student is not completely congruent with what s/he is saying. In case you feel there might be some incongruence, CHALLENGE their words by asking "are you sure you want to start changing right now?" You will probably get a hesitant answer or a postponing of the change. You can go on by asking "what do you need in order to want changing right now?" The answer is most probably a resource that is still missing. Then go through the exploration and then the anchoring of the resource as you did before. On the other hand if the body language seems to confirm the words that are said then the message is likely to be congruent, as for a student saying "I have already seen some good results", smiling and nodding.
3. You might conclude your meeting with an empowering GUIDED VISUALISATION. Again start from a body relaxation as you did in a previous meeting. Then go on like this: "..and now that you start feeling more …and more relaxed… imagine a tiny beam of light… coming from above…you may even hear a light sound as it approaches… look at its colour… and shade… as it is gradually approaching… gently lighting the air around you… in its colour… you feel warm… and safe surrounded by this light… like a halo around you… that protects you …and gives you shelter… it is a soothing light that you breathe… in …and out… with a gentle and nice smell…. that tickles your nostrils…take this light with you…together with the good feeling… you now have inside…and around you…and bring it back here … in this room … as you open your eyes."
At leisure, without pressure, let them enjoy sharing this experience with the group, as you do the same. Slowly take them back to their class.
This activity can also be done with the whole class. In that case ask the students to find their tutor among their classmates, the person they want to share the experience with. Go through the steps in the same way. Ask them to talk to their partners instead. Ask for feedback at the end of each step. Suggest they can also give you private feedback outside the class and arrange a place and a time to do so.
This sequence is based on the S.C.O.R.E. Model: Symptoms, Causes, Outcomes, Resources, Effects. The S.C.O.R.E. Model was developed by Robert Dilts and Todd Epstein in 1987 as a way of effectively defining problems and designing interventions. The elements that form the S.C.O.R.E. represent the minimum amount of information that needs to be addressed by any process of change and healing.
For a general introduction on Neuro-Linguistic Programming see:
O'Connor, J., and Seymour, J., Introducing NLP. Psychological Skills for Understanding and Influencing People, Aquarian
If you want to know more about the S.C.O.R.E. Model see:
Dilts, R., and Epstein, T., Tools for Dreamers. Strategies for Creativity and the Structure of Innovation, Meta Publications
If you are interested in the use of guided visualisations in the Language classroom see:
Arnold, J., Puchta, H., and Rinvolucri, M., Imagine That! Mental Imagery in the EFL classroom, Helbling Languages
There is an independent annual NLP conference held in London, for more details visit this site: www.nlpconference.co.uk
Another useful site to visit to find an NLP Encyclopaedia and information about NLP University in Santa Cruz is www.nlpu.com
Please check the NLP for Teachers course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Dealing with Difficult Learners course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Building Positive Group Dynamics course at Pilgrims website.
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