NLP for Teachers

Strategies for the Classroom and Self-Management

In this e-book, you will learn

• how to build a trusting relationship with your class and optimally use the space
• how to recognize different learning styles
• how to remain composed in stressful situations

I’m delighted that you’ve downloaded this e-book and started reading. NLP offers many fascinating possibilities, especially in the classroom.

We’ve compiled some of them here. I hope you enjoy trying them out!

Foreword

Does this sound familiar? You chose teaching as a profession out of conviction and started with a lot of enthusiasm. Perhaps it’s still your dream job; perhaps you’ve already experienced some frustration in everyday professional life.

Large and heterogeneous classes, increasingly “challenging” students, inclusion, and migration are just some of the issues teachers face today. Academically, pedagogically, and didactically, most teachers are superbly trained. Yet, in everyday school life, you also need good strategies for dealing with class dynamics, for one-on-one conversations, and for your own stress management.

That’s why, in this e-book, I’ve compiled a few tried-and-tested NLP tools specifically for teachers. So that learning together is more fun—and your dream job remains a dream job.

NLP in Schools – A Brief Note

From time to time, there’s the comment that NLP has no place in education and especially not in schools. After all, a teacher could manipulate their students. Indeed, teachers have a great deal of influence on their students. In the early school years, they’re often a reference person and role model; in higher grades, they have the power to influence their students’ future careers through grades. In other words, teachers “manipulate”—they shape—their students anyway. That’s inevitable, whether through teaching style, praise and admonitions, or the overall classroom atmosphere. Sometimes just one careless positive or negative comment is enough to change a student’s motivation.

And let’s be honest: some teachers suffer more from the opposite, namely not being able to influence their students—like getting them to focus or be quiet.

What if you could use your abilities to influence the students positively? For example, to move them away from disinterest in school and toward greater motivation by building trust and optimally supporting them in their learning?

1. Strategies in the Classroom

A good connection with students

In NLP, the good connection between people is called “rapport.” Rapport creates a foundation of trust and is a critical prerequisite for a positive learning environment.

You probably have plenty of students, colleagues, and parents you get along with right away. You speak the same language, and the chemistry is right from the start. You have rapport. Of course, there are also people with whom it doesn’t flow as easily. What do you do then? Often, these people are simply different from us, and we don’t instantly find them likable.

You can build rapport with another person by subtly mirroring them. Gently mirror their posture, i.e., stand or sit as they do. Mimic their facial expressions. Speak at a similar speed, and use some of the same words they use. In NLP, we call this “pacing.” It’s not about mocking or aping someone. It’s about intentionally establishing a good foundation for communication. You’re meeting the other person where they are. At first, it’s like speaking a not-yet-familiar foreign language, helping you tune into the same frequency. Once you’re there, you have rapport.

What does rapport do for students?

Rapport ensures a student feels comfortable talking to you, which makes it easier for them to access their own resources. And when someone is resourceful, they’re more receptive to learning.

Building rapport with the entire class

Naturally, you can’t mirror each individual student’s posture simultaneously. NLP offers different approaches:

Position yourself where you typically stand to present and let your eyes briefly wander from one student to the next. You can do this relatively quickly, for example when you greet the class at the start of a lesson. Try to make eye contact with each student once. You could smile, nod, or wink. Nonverbally, you’re signaling that you’re fully present and have noticed everyone.

Additionally, you can think something like: “I’m glad you’re here” or “You’re wonderful people.” This inner attitude is perceptible on the outside.

Our attitude shapes our reality

In a well-known experiment (the Pygmalion effect), teachers were led to believe certain students were especially gifted. These teachers adapted themselves accordingly, giving these students more attention. They gave them more time to respond, promoted them more, and so on. Those students did indeed achieve higher performance afterward. However, they were chosen at random, regardless of any actual potential. The Pygmalion effect makes it clear just how beneficial a positive attitude toward your students can be. Conversely, some students are quickly labeled “challenging,” sometimes even based on their first name.

Your assumptions and attitudes influence your students. Assume that they’re doing their best. Helpful attitudes might be “I know you can do it!” or “You have tremendous potential.” Perhaps you’d like to give it a try?

Anchors in the classroom

Anchors allow us to call forth positive states (e.g., joy, calm, alertness) as if at the push of a button. A neutral external stimulus is paired with a specific emotion so that the emotion appears automatically when the stimulus is triggered. Anchors can form by accident, for instance if a student happens to look at a certain picture on the wall the moment they’re shocked by a bad grade. From then on, seeing that picture might put them in a negative state, even if they don’t realize why.

You can use anchoring in the classroom to quickly call up desired states in your class. I’d like to introduce you to “floor anchors,” specific places in the classroom that you link to different states.

Once you’ve effectively established them, you can automatically create, say, calm and focus—without having to spend time on it every single time.

The homework spot as an anchor

Always stand in the same place when you announce homework. It could be near the board where you write the assignments, for example. The important thing is to use the same spot every time. Combine it with a particular way of speaking—perhaps very matter-of-factly or extra clearly. If you always announce homework in that spot, students will automatically give you more attention. If you need to announce important exam content, do it from that same “homework spot.”

The presentation spot

Use the place you typically stand to teach new material as your “power spot.” You can anchor this spot for yourself when you’re alone in the classroom:

Think about a situation in which you felt especially competent or strong. Imagine re-experiencing that situation and the associated feeling. The moment you sense this feeling strongly, stand in your presentation spot. Fully enjoy that feeling of competence or strength as you stand there.

If you like, you can anchor another positive feeling in the same way in that spot.

When you stand on your power spot during a lesson, you’ll notice the effect. It will also affect your class.

The questions spot

Likewise, you can choose a spot in the room where you answer questions or address disciplinary issues, for instance. Step away from your powerful presentation spot to keep it free of any negative emotions.

For students, it will be unconsciously clear that you speak especially powerfully at the spot for new material, that homework is announced somewhere else, and so forth.

2. Different Learning Types

We absorb information through our five senses and encode it in our brains. Each of us tends to have a main sensory channel through which we learn best.

Visual students like looking at well-designed board layouts, graphics, and handouts; auditory students prefer listening to the information and having it explained; kinesthetic (feeling) students learn best by doing and trying things out.

Design your lessons in a way that covers each of these main channels. Visualize the material, talk about it, and let the students do something with it. This is the best way to prepare and deliver the lesson and strengthens rapport with the class.

Of course, we can also absorb information through other channels. But a small minority of students are only visual, only auditory, or only kinesthetic. They receive the information with a delay because internally they have to translate it into their own channel first. It’s like hearing a lecture in a language you don’t fully understand.

Because of that internal “translation,” you may have moved on before the information has fully reached them. This can cause restlessness and a reluctance to learn.

If you notice these students, you can figure out which primary channel they use. You can spot it by the words they choose.

Visual students use words like “see, black and white, show me, I can’t see it, it’s blurry for me, I’m in the dark...” Auditory students say things like “that sounds good, that’s off, that screeching is irritating, that guy’s out of tune.” Kinesthetic students say “I can’t handle that, can we finally get moving, this is weighing on me, I have a grip on that, I feel that...”

Try to use their particular channel more when you teach. Also use as many words from all channels as you can. This will help your class keep up. They’ll listen more readily, and you’ll have everyone on the same page.

Other things you can do for a good classroom atmosphere

Add visual appeal to the classroom and keep it reasonably tidy. Visually, this promotes a sense of well-being.

Try to eliminate annoying noises. Sometimes even a loudly ticking clock can disrupt concentration. If possible, hang curtains or install blinds to dampen noise and improve acoustics.

Many students learn more effectively if they can bring a cushion from home and sit more comfortably—or stand up and move around from time to time.

3. Self- and Stress-Management

As a teacher, you’re a leader. You lead a group, motivate and encourage them, and of course expect performance. Here’s a short but powerful state-management method to quickly boost your presence and send nonverbal signals of strength.

Stand upright for 2–3 minutes with your arms stretched upwards and slightly apart. This power pose quickly helps you feel more energetic and competent. You radiate vigor and leadership. It even works if you were feeling a bit run-down and unmotivated before.

Background: Amy Cuddy had students stand in this power pose for a few minutes in an experiment. Before and after, she measured their cortisol (stress hormone) and testosterone (energy and assertiveness) levels via saliva samples. For those who had stood in the power pose, cortisol levels decreased, while testosterone levels increased.

A second group of students watched video recordings of the people who had assumed a power pose. They perceived those individuals as more competent leaders than a control group who hadn’t used the pose.

You can amplify this effect by smiling while you hold the power pose.

Use this technique when facing stressful situations, such as before a difficult meeting with parents or students.

By the way: You should do this exercise when no one is watching, in your classroom or another private spot. If you sense that your entire class could use a bit of extra energy, have them do it as well. Then instruct them to say, “Oh, I feel awful!” Because it can’t be said in a way that matches their confident stance, most of them will start laughing—and you’ll have quickly brightened the atmosphere.

When it gets especially tough

Even experienced teachers can feel stage fright sometimes—for instance, if the district supervisor is visiting or during a teacher-training exam. Maybe you have a particularly challenging class right now.

If you find yourself facing a moment when you’re at risk of a mental block, here’s a quick way to relax:

Take a ball (or an apple or orange) and toss it from one hand to the other. Watch it as it travels back and forth. You’ll discover you can’t hold on to your negative thoughts while following it. The reason: the eye movements break you out of the blocked state.

Your workspace at home

If you take home tests or homework to grade, keep them in one defined spot only. Keep your bedroom, or any area where you usually relax and switch off, free of school papers.

Otherwise, seeing the assignments will remind you constantly that there’s work to do. If you’re under stress because of certain students, that negative anchor can transfer to your home.

Preserve your relaxation spaces.

This was just a brief look at the ways NLP can help teachers. By trying out these methods, you’ll likely see a few improvements soon.

Many areas have only been touched upon here.

If you’re curious and want to learn more, feel free to explore our website or come to one of our free evening seminars or our NLP introductory weekend.

In any case, I wish you lots of fun discovering NLP.

Kind regards,
Stephan Landsiedel