As always, I’d like to thank the many people who make this Journal possible – the writers who have sent in contributions, the members of our Editorial Board, especially our editor Joseph Sinclair (whose patience I sometimes appear to ‘try’), and of course you, our readers.

I’m also very pleased to introduce and welcome Susan Rowley, who will be joining our co-ordinating team and using her great experience and knowledge in helping us introduce NLP to Education. Susan …

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In my article for the last issue of New Learning, I focused in on relationship being, for me at least, the basis of learning and education – in particular how we relate to ourselves and how we relate to our environment and the people who occupy it. I had planned to focus in this article on a range of matters that have also caught my imagination recently, and certainly have a very high profile in education – ie learning (and teaching) styles, states and strategies, and in particular what NLP contributes to our knowledge and understanding of these particularly relevant and important factors.

However, I’ve just been fortunate to have been a member of the audience at a lecture that was, for me, truly inspirational and exhilarating – partly because it related to another subject close to my heart – living your passion and living your dream. So, on the suggestion of someone close to me, I have decided to leave styles, states and strategies until another time and, instead, to look back and report on some of the events and experiences that I have had over the past few months that have provided some inspiration and joy; perhaps through this, I might indicate some of the movement that is taking place in and through our NLP Education Network and how we are beginning to live our dream.

At the end of last term (in the middle of April) I spent a wonderful afternoon with 6 people in a school in south London - three of them were Year 7, 12 year-old pupils and three were teachers. We went through the very well known procedure in NLP circles – elucidating the strategies that they each used for spelling and, building from this, how they could develop and improve their strategy. Within this we also began to consider how they managed their states – and how we could, for instance, create a positive learning state for ourselves – and what their learning styles (or, for me at least, their preferences) appeared to be.

Although I often come away from such sessions wondering what impact it might have had (‘the proof of the pudding is in the eating’ and this was just serving up the menu!) I know this was a thoroughly enjoyable learning experience for all of us. The teachers reported back afterwards at how amazed they were at the response of at least two of the pupils, and their Special Needs Co-ordinator wanted to know how she might introduce this radical approach - to learning rather than teaching ie a fascination about how each person does what they do – to each and every member of their staff – NOW!

This half-day was actually set up to assist one of those teachers in a research project she is undertaking with one of her colleagues – to see if such a simple, yet radically different, approach could have a lasting impact on their pupils. She is undertaking her research this term and, as you might imagine, I am really looking forward to finding out … … whatever she is finding out!

Magical Spelling is one of many ways in which we know you can introduce teachers – and learners – to the magic of NLP, and we are constantly looking to create and develop other opportunities.

For instance, this Summer Term, we have held two ‘Introduction to NLP’ Workshops – one in Hertfordshire and another in London. These were advertised to over 700 schools and generated something like a 3% enquiry-response-rate. We took those three themes that I mentioned previously – styles, states and strategies – as the core (together with an introduction to Learning Outcomes and Communications and Relationships - so a full programme).

We were also fortunate enough to have been invited by Frank McNeil to provide a workshop for a Conference on ‘New Approaches to Learning’ held by his National School Improvement Network (part of the London Institute of Education). Again we took the central theme of learning styles, states and strategies, and provided an introduction to the wonderful contribution on these matters that NLP provides for both learners and teachers.

I am always intrigued by, and look out for, people’s responses (in NLP terms, I have a strong preference for external feedback) –

• from ‘It’s all too simple, too easy, too positive – it’ll never work’ and ‘We’ve tried everything with ### and (we know!) nothing will work with them’
• to ‘This has provided me with new insights, new enthusiasm and energy’ and ‘It’s something I’ve been searching for for so long’ and ‘Can we book you to come and work with our staff!’.

And, as you might imagine, this is so rewarding, especially in an education system that, in general, doesn’t appear to energise or evoke such enthusiastic responses from teachers.

As I mentioned in my introduction, I’ve just been enriched and enthused myself by a lecture given at The London Leadership Centre (part of the Institute of Education) by Richard Boyatzis on the subject of ‘What if Learning were the Purpose of Education? Developing the whole person and emotional intelligence’.

Richard is Professor and Chair of the Department of Organisational Behaviour at Weatherhead School of Management in Cleveland and, it so happens, he’s worked with some very (now) famous people including Daniel Goleman (Emotional Intelligence) and David Kolb (Learning Styles) – just two of the names he dropped!.

Imagine the following – an audience of about 300 very polite English Educationalists; the Director of The London Leadership Centre, Pat Collarbone, introduced their Annual Lecture using a delightful metaphor; Professor Peter Mortimore, Director of The Insitute of Education gave a delightful opening address; Richard Greenhalgh, Chairman of Unilever, gave a brief speech and presented two Fellowship Awards; then the speaker, Richard Boyatzis, was welcomed and introduced and, all of a sudden, over the loudspeakers came Aretha Franklin, singing ‘Respect’ with that wonderful rhythm and energy, and this guy, who happens to look a little like Groucho Marks, comes dancing down the aisle looking at us, flashing his eyebrows, opening his arms towards us and clapping his hands and encouraging us …… Wow! What an introduction to state management! And it got better!

He was a real joy. We know that only 7% of communications and relationships rests on the words – and these were great – and he spoke with such knowledge and assuredness, energy and enthusiasm, integrity and alignment – that, as part of one the exercises he offered us, I imagined myself doing something similar in 2015 – if not before!

Richard focussed in on what he described as four ‘discontinuities’ that evoke change, and, at each point, suggested key learning and action points for building on self-awareness:

• Ideal Self: Engage your passion and create your dreams – and as leaders/teachers engage their passion and help them to create or articulate their dreams
• Real Self: Know thyself – and help others to see themselves as they appear to others

• Identify or articulate both your strengths and gaps – assist others in articulating theirs
• Keep attention on both characteristics – do not let one become a preoccupation

• Create your own personal learning agenda – help them create theirs (their own, not yours!)
• Your (their) goals, led by Your (their) Ideal Self while building on Your (their) Real Self
• Actions and plans must fit into the structure of life and work

• Experiment and practice, learn more from experience
• Find settings which are psychologically safe within which to experiment and practice
• Develop and use relationships as part of the change and learning process

For me, he used and applied NLP in all sorts of ways, yet, not surprisingly, when I met him afterwards and asked him, he knew very little of NLP – yet he was a master in himself, and a fantastic model of excellence

We have begun to meet more-and-more such enthusiastic and ‘driven’ people, often progressing from meeting to seeking ways in which we can support and resource each other. For instance, we were delighted to be invited to join Robert Dilts and Judith DeLozier at their NLP Millennium Project this summer – here are two wonderful models of excellence. Lucy Gardiner leads SkillTrain in Wandsworth and has a passion to support and grow some of the young people who don’t fit into ‘the system’. Next term she is providing us with an opportunity to show what NLP can add to their skills and self-esteem. We will be working with a number of heads and their staff in a range of schools representing primary, secondary and special educational needs. We will be meeting up with more teachers and lecturers who want to rediscover their joy, wonder and passion for learning and teaching.

So, I recognise, that one of the wonderful delights of engaging my passion and living my dream is that I am beginning to meet up with so many people who are engaging their passion and living their dream. I cherish those shared moments – with Paul, Mike, Pat, Michael, Lucy, John, Susan, Ron, Diana, Simon, Julie, Richard, Peta, Martin, Frank, Louise … … – and continually regain my inspiration and enthusiasm through my interactions with them and the growing numbers of teachers, lecturers, heads, advisers and officers that I come in contact with – over the ‘phone, in their schools, on workshops and at lectures. What a privilege!

For me, this is exactly what our NLP Education Network is about – helping each other (re)engage our passions and live our dreams – with the inevitable ease and love and joy and synergy that comes with it when we do it!

So, how can we help you engage your passion and live your dream? And how can you help us engage in and live ours – as part of our NLP Education Network? We will continue to create a system, a network, a community within which and whereby we each have access to the support, the resources, the encouragement – whatever it is we want or need to EOP/LOD - engage our passions and live our dreams!

If you have your dreams and passions (in your conscious awareness!) and are looking for partners and support, or if you are engaged and energised by the thought of sharing our passion and dream and want to become an active part of it – in whatever way - contact us now?