Student 2 is a quiet student with poor concentration levels. He very rarely contributed voluntarily to class discussions or offered answers to questions without prompting. With regular encouragement and use of NLP language he has shown a great improvement in his contributions in class, also demonstrating a significant level of understanding. During a recent class debate on Human Impact on the Environment, he showed a remarkable level of understanding of the topics discussed and was able to give a sound, reasoned argument for his opinions. He was focused and on task throughout the lesson. He became increasingly animated during the discussion and delivered his opinions confidently and enthusiastically. He obviously enjoyed the lesson and left the class smiling and still offering his opinions and ideas!
Student 3 appears to be a confident student in everything but his academic ability. He can be disruptive and cheeky and is easily distracted by his peers. He finds working to deadlines difficult and rarely completes timed tasks in lessons. Homework is also an issue and is rarely completed. I felt that Student 3 lacked confidence in his own ability and was frightened of failure. He did not expect to do well and so underperformed regularly. Using NLP strategies with lots of positive reinforcement and praise appears to have had a marked effect on his performance and behaviour. Over the weeks of the project, he became more focused in lessons and was encouraged to participate at every opportunity, offering his own ideas and opinions. At first, he found this difficult and gave the usual response of shrugging his shoulders and muttering ‘don’t know ’. Gradually, he grew in confidence and started to contribute more in lessons and complete written tasks. The breakthrough came after he completed a mock Biology GCSE paper. He achieved a C grade, having been predicted an E. I used the opportunity to reinforce the positive messages used throughout the project and he was obviously delighted with his performance. Since then, he has continued to contribute well to the class and has produced 2 homework tasks on time!
The use of NLP strategies has become an inherent part of my teaching and I have seen improvements in students in other classes where I have used specific language or strategies to solve problems. I have therefore extended the project to include some examples of the effects observed in students from other classes and year groups.
The following two examples are from Year 9 (age 13-14):
Student 4: A very likeable student who tries very hard in lesson but has a severe confidence problem and is afraid to tackle anything new. Extremely concerned about tests and exams and loses all concentration if faced with a test. Using NLP strategies with lots of positive reinforcement and praise appears to have had a marked effect on his performance and confidence. In a recent lesson, we were drawing graphs and interpreting data. He drew the graphs then pushed the paper aside and said he couldn’t do the work. Below is a transcript of the conversation:
Student 4: ‘I can’t do this!’
JD: ‘Who says you can’t do it?’
Student 4: ‘It’s all wrong. The graphs are wrong.’
JD: ‘I know you can answer this question.’
Student 4: ‘It’s not right.’
JD: ‘Can you tell me what is wrong with your graphs?’
Student 4: ‘No’
JD: ‘Neither can I!’
Student 4 checked the graphs again, broke into a smile and proceeded to finish the task completely. When we reviewed the task, he was able to explain and describe how he had completed the task confidently.
He still finds test situations extremely stressful but NLP techniques help to calm him down significantly. I decided to use an NLP Anchoring and Visualisation technique to help overcome his fear in exams and improve his confidence. Before every assessment and particularly before his mock SATS test, I have used a whole class relaxation technique to allow the students to calm down and focus, asking them to visualise themselves completing the test successfully and seeing the grade they want to achieve written on the front of the paper. This has not only helped this student to remain calm during test situations, but has also created a relaxed, calm environment, which has helped the other pupils in the class to focus on their work. Student 4 is now aware of how he reacts to test situations and knows he needs to deal with this problem. He is gradually learning how to cope and use strategies to help him calm down. Interestingly, the rest of the class obviously benefit from this technique too and now ask for the relaxation technique to be used before they do any end-of-topic test!
Student 5 is a very able student working in a Triple Award Science class with many gifted and talented students. He has decided that he does not fit into this very able group and has convinced himself he is going to fail. I have worked on positive reinforcement together with peer teaching to encourage him and help him to regain his confidence.
The first signs that the strategy may have been having an effect were seen in homework completed and handed in on time. This is a major improvement for this student, who had struggled to complete any homework since September. An 8-week project was given to the class in April and the work he handed in was excellent, showing a very good level of research and understanding. I have also used peer teaching with this student. He is an extremely good mathematician and will complete any tasks involving scientific equations very quickly. I have then used him to peer teach other pupils and he has obviously enjoyed this role and has gained confidence from it.
NLP has made us more conscious of the words we use when talking to students and we both feel confident enough to be able to guide students into reaching their own conclusions when dealing with various issues. Building rapport with students is very important and being aware that each individual interprets and sees things completely differently has made us inquisitive to research NLP further. Through our discussions, we have observed that NLP enables students to engage and contribute usefully to lessons. Students have been able to explain themselves more clearly and are able to problem solve and bring themselves to suitable and workable solutions through guidance and communication with the teacher. There has been a significant improvement in the levels of confidence shown by pupils in the classroom and this has led to increased motivation which has manifested itself both in improved contribution and work rate in class and improved quality of homework.
We have also shared our experience with both our mentor and an Additional Support Teacher at school and they are both planning to incorporate our ideas into their own teaching. In addition, we are planning teaching sessions in September to extend these ideas to the wider school community and in this way we may be able to target specific pupils across the curriculum to gain a deeper understanding of the effects of NLP strategies used in a wider context.
State and Language to build confidence in outdoor pursuits
Ian McDuff teaches at Astley Community High School, Seaton Delaval, Northumberland
Research plan My particular interest is in developing my mentoring skills in terms of pastoral support by the use of NLP techniques, specifically to develop my use of language to engage disaffected pupils. I decided to use the skills I developed on the first 2 days of the NLP course during a 3-day outward-bound course with my tutor group. I targeted one pupil with low self-esteem who often struggled to feel part of the group. This off-site programme would be a challenge to him due to his levels of physical ability and his limited social skills. My aim was to evaluate how this pupil initially coped with his new surroundings and the challenges he was going to face. I was looking to consider any changes in his behaviour and the behaviour of other pupils within the group.
Action
During the 3-day programme, a number of team-based activities took place. These involved splitting the 22 pupils into typically 4 groups and setting each group a challenge in competition with the other 3 groups. The pupil who was the focus of my study, T, would typically be the last to be chosen if pupils made team selections, so to avoid this, the teachers chose groups.
Initially, T was reluctant to take an active role within the group. It appeared that he was afrai
d of ‘letting the group down’ or of his team failing due to his lack of ability. However, these being group activities, his weaknesses were balanced out and the team he was involved with was fairly successful.
My first intervention came following the first set of challenges. I discussed with T the emotions he felt during the tasks and how these changed when successes were achieved. I made sure that I emphasised that he was part of the success and without his participation the team may not have succeeded.
Building upon this initial discussion, throughout the remainder of the 3 days I focused on setting T mini targets. These were sometimes part of team events and at other times individual challenges. When it appeared that T was about to give up or walk away from a difficult challenge, I reminded him of his prior successes ‘Remember what it felt like when you did…’
‘How do you think you will feel when you achieve…’
‘You can’t do this … yet’
‘Just suppose you could do this…
In most instances T fulfilled the tasks set out for him.
Impact
There was a noticeable change in the attitude of other members of the group towards T. They were aware of his physical limitations, but as they saw he was trying to succeed and trying his best, they began to offer their encouragement. This had a further positive impact on T. It was clearly apparent that he felt more accepted into the group by this encouragement. He felt part of the team, a valued player. Without the NLP training, my mentoring of T would not have been as successful.
This has demonstrated to me that the use of simple but effective questioning techniques can dramatically affect the behaviour and attitude of pupils. Seeing the success with an individual pupil over a period of 3 days, I continue to use positive questioning within the classroom environment and it continues to demonstrate a powerful means of influencing pupil behaviour and attitude.
On returning to school, T has become more confident. Other members of the teaching staff have noticed this too. He appears to have lost a lot of his negativity with regard to school. His attendance level has also improved.
Voice tone and body language in Food Technology lessons
Michelle Whall teaches at Astley Community High School, Seaton Delaval Northumberland
Research plan
Shortly after the first NLP session I noticed there appeared to be pupils within a particular class upon whom other pupils modelled their behaviours. These pupils seemed to have an influence over the behaviour and mood of the rest of the class, and other students appeared to be taking quite overt behavioural cues from these influencers. Often, these behaviours were low-level distractions such as giggling, pen tapping, whispering and chair-rocking. However, on occasion these influencing pupils would seem to take cues from me and would ‘shush’ their fellow pupils or discourage them from other distracting behaviours.
This was a Year 9 (age 13-14) Food Technology class of 30 pupils whom I saw once a fortnight for the last lesson on a Friday. Since I saw them so infrequently, my rapport with this class was not a strong as with other classes. A considerable amount of time was devoted to classroom management and I seemed to spend a lot of the lesson repeating instructions over and over and consequently not making much progress with the curriculum.
I thought it would be of benefit to harness the influence certain pupils had in a positive manner using NLP techniques, hoping that these pupils would positively influence the rest of the class. I also wondered whether the behaviour of some of the influencing pupils might improve, since these pupils had frequent demerits.
Action
lesson 1
I identified 4 pupils who appeared to have influence over the behaviour of their peers and arranged the class into 4 groups (the room has 4 static clusters of work spaces), each with an influencing pupil. These influencing pupils were seated in a position in which they had a clear view of me at all times (something which the static seating in the Food Room precludes for the majority of the pupils, which possibly contributes to the low-level disturbances in this class). The pupils identified as having influence were not told the reason for the seating plan and neither were the rest of the class. The first thing I experimented with was the tonality of my voice, which I have always thought a little high-pitched. I ensured that when I gave commands I lowered the tone of my voice at the end and matched it with a downward sweep of my hand. This was done whilst making clear eye contact with the 4 influencing pupils and in full view of them. The desired effect was almost immediate, the influencing pupils nudging the other pupils and instructing them about what I wanted them to do. As the lesson progressed I noticed that rather than just following the cues of the influencing pupils, the other members of the class were beginning to pay far more attention to me than they had previously, almost as if to try to see what information the other pupils were getting that they weren’t. The lesson progressed well and the pupils attained all the learning objectives set (unheard of for this class!). I gave out far more merits than in previous lessons. Most striking was that one of the influencing pupils was someone I would generally have had to reprimand time and again, often leading to him being fed up, me being frazzled, and a rash of de-merits. Yet for this lesson, he remained on task throughout and gained merits.
lesson 2
Seating remained as before and I continued with the use of lower tonality and the downward hand movement. I also introduced other visual and spatial anchoring to the class. Again, use of any visual technique is problematic in the Food Room because of its layout, so once more I made use of the influencing pupils to disseminate instructions to their peers. The visual and spatial anchors I introduced were always in clear view of the influencing pupils:
Anchor 1: Standing to the left of my desk with my right hand on it – the signal to quieten down, the lesson is about to begin.
Anchor 2: Standing at the back of the class facing the whiteboard – the signal to prepare to carry out a task.
Anchor 3: In the centre of the room, right arm raised – the signal to stop talking following a discussion-led task. I carried out these anchors many times during the lesson, along with the corresponding verbal command and always ensuring I made clear eye contact with the influencing pupils. As I expected, these pupils watched me carefully and ensured their peers were aware of my expectations. By the end of the lesson I only had to walk to one of these three places and the pupils became quiet in seconds. Once more I noticed that the pupils all became far more attentive to both my verbal and non-verbal communication and the lesson was as successful as the one the previous week. The pupils seemed to be calmer and happier and I wonder if this was also a reflection of my demeanor.
lesson 3
A practical food lesson when I am the only member of staff with 30 pupils is often a recipe for disruption and raised voices. In the past, I found shouting was the only means to get the students’ attention and after a while this loses its effect. Often during a practical lesson it is important to get the pupils’ attention very quickly, yet often they are not listening to me or not within my line of vision. I wondered how well tonality, anchoring and use of the influencing pupils would work in a practical situation. Initially, I found I had to raise my voice slightly because all the pupils were so engrossed in their work and communicating with their peers. However, the influencing pupils and several others became very quickly clued in to where I was standing in the room and to my body positioning and responded by becoming quiet and listening to instructions. During the practical lesson the anchor I found most pupils responded to best was a raised arm in the centre of the room. For a practical lesson last thing on a Friday, the whole experience was relatively calm. Compared with previous practicals for this class it was a revelation! We were tidied up on time and the pupils produced excellent products.
Impact The impact of utilisation of my new learning has resulted in:
Increased engagement with the class
A more attentive class
The reduction of
low-level unwanted behaviours
A reduction in de-merits issued
More suitable progression through learning materials
A better quality relationship between teacher and pupils
My classroom practice has changed considerably because the NLP techniques are easily applied and have become natural behaviour very quickly. The impacts were quick, and plain to see.
chapter 22
Post-compulsory education,
16 years and over
Education in the 16+ sector provides some helpful examples of learning in an adult environment.
NLP throughout the lesson with 16-19-year-old students
Helen shows how to bring a range of NLP skills together for a successful and highly motivating lesson.
Helen Sweet teaches Level 3 Graphic Design to 16-19-year-olds and is also responsible for delivering group tutorials related to the ‘Every Child Matters’ themes
Research plan
Whilst the students are generally well motivated and engaged, and achieve the learning outcomes in lesson, I wanted to explore the use of various NLP skills and techniques to create a greater atmosphere of fun in the classroom to enhance the learning experience and further motivate the learners and build their confidence. In particular, I wanted to first explore this for a group tutorial preparing learners for Higher Education (HE) and job interviews. For the specific session I focused on for this project, (a session on interview skills), I wanted to ensure that they came away feeling confident about themselves and were able to manage nerves so that they perform well at their interviews, whilst emphasising the importance of preparation
Teaching Excellence Page 32