nlp theory and best practice
TRANSCRIPT
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
Part I:
Learning and Neuro-Linguistic-Programming -
A Theoretical Discourse
1 Introduct ion.............................................................................................................................................7
2 The Nature of Learning ....................................................................................................................9
2.1 What is Learning? ............................................................................................................................9
2.2 The Brain as a Basis for Learning ...........................................................................................12
2.3 Other Factors of Influence on Learning ...............................................................................14
2.4 Learning Theories ...........................................................................................................................16
2.4.1 S t i m u l u s - R e s p o n s e- L e a r n i n g ....................................................................................................16
2.4.2 I n s t r u m e n t a l L e a r n i n g ( O p e r a n t C o n d i t i o n i n g ) .....................................................................17
2.4.3 O b s e r v a t i o n a l L e a r n i n g ..............................................................................................................19
2.4.4 C o g n i t i v e L e a r n i n g .....................................................................................................................20
2.4.5 C o n s t r u c t i v i s m ............................................................................................................................20
2.4.6 Mul t ip l e In t e l l i gences .................................................................................................................21
2.5 How Learning and Teaching Differ ........................................................................................21
3 Educat ional Training in Change ............................................................................................. 24
3.1 The Status Quo .................................................................................................................................24
3.2 New Trends in Educational Training ....................................................................................26
4 Neuro - Linguist ic-Programming (NLP) ................................................................................ 30
4.1 Definit ion and Development .......................................................................................................30
4.2 Philosophy and Principles of NLP ...........................................................................................31
4.2.1 E a c h h u m a n -b e i n g i s u n i q u e .....................................................................................................32
4.2.2 The map i s no t t he t e r r i t o ry .......................................................................................................32
4.2.3 Our behav iou r i s t he r e su l t o f ou r s t a t e o f be ing ...................................................................32
4.2.4 W h a t i s p o s s i b l e f o r o n e p e r s o n i s p o s s i b l e f o r a n y o n e .......................................................33
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4.2.5 T h e m e a n i n g o f y o u r c o m m u n i c a t i o n i s t h e r e s p o n s e y o u g e t . ..........................................33
4.3 Methods and Techniques of NLP .............................................................................................34
4.3.1 M o d e l l i n g .....................................................................................................................................34
4.3.2 T h e A r t o f P e r c e i v i n g P e o p l e - V A K ( V i s u a l - Aud i to ry - K inaes the t i c ) .........................35
4.3.3 R a p p o r t .........................................................................................................................................37
4.3.4 P a c i n g a n d L e a d i n g ....................................................................................................................38
4.3.5 R e f r a m i n g .....................................................................................................................................38
4.3.6 T h e M e t a M o d e l o f L a n g u a g e ..................................................................................................39
4.3.7 The Mi l t on - M o d e l ......................................................................................................................42
4.3.8 M e t a p h o r s .....................................................................................................................................43
4.3.9 A n c h o r i n g .....................................................................................................................................43
4.3.10 W i n- W i n .......................................................................................................................................44
4.4 Combining NLP- Elements with Learning Theories ........................................................45
4.5 NLP as a Modern and Holist ic Concept ...............................................................................47
4.5.1 N L P a n d M i n d M a p p i n g ............................................................................................................47
4.5.2 N L P a n d S u p e r l e a r n i n g ..............................................................................................................48
4.5.3 N L P a n d M e n t a l T r a i n i n g ..........................................................................................................49
Part II:
NLP in Practice
5 Methodology ......................................................................................................................................... 51
5.1 Interviews ...........................................................................................................................................51
5.2 The Experts ........................................................................................................................................51
5.3 The Quest ionnaire ..........................................................................................................................53
6 NLP in Training Situations ......................................................................................................... 59
7 NLP and Language Learning .................................................................................................... 66
7.1 What Makes Language Learning Diff icult..........................................................................66
7.2 NLP - Methods and Exercises in Language Classes ........................................................67
7.3 Feedback from Trainees ..............................................................................................................75
8 NLP in Communicat ion - "Sel l ing“ ....................................................................................... 90
8.1 What Makes a Good Sel ler .........................................................................................................90
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8.2 NLP – Methods and Exercises in Communicat ion Training.......................................91
8.3 Feedback from Trainees ..............................................................................................................96
9 NLP and Content Learning .......................................................................................................110
9.1 What Makes Content Learning Diff icult ...........................................................................110
9.2 NLP – Methods and Exercises for Content Learning...................................................111
9.3 Feedback from Trainees ............................................................................................................114
Part III:
Conclusions and Recommendations
10 Cri t ical Thoughts and Recommendat ions .........................................................................129
11 References ...........................................................................................................................................134
12 Appendix ...............................................................................................................................................139
12.1 Glossary of Te rms ...................................................................................................................139
12.2 Guide for Interview Quest ions...........................................................................................139
12.3 Questionnaire ............................................................................................................................139
12.4 Analysis of Questionnaire ....................................................................................................139
12.5 What Type of Learner are Yo u ? ......................................................................................139
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T A B L E O F FI G U R E S
Figure 1: Examples for mnemonics .......................................................................... 11
Figure 2: From Data to Knowledge and Learning .................................................... 12
Figure 3: Functions of the Hemispheres ................................................................... 13
Figure 4: Schematic Summary of Classical Conditioning ........................................ 17
Figure 5: Process of Observational Learning ............................................................. 19
Figure 6: Comparing Education Paradigms .............................................................. 22
Figure 7: Pedagogical Learning and Teaching Levels .............................................. 26
Figure 8: Impact on the Listener ............................................................................... 33
Figure 9: NLP Eye Movement Patterns .................................................................... 36
Figure 11: Swassing & Barbe Diagnostic Activity ................................................... 63
Figure 12: Quality of Seminar (Aricò) ....................................................................... 76
Figure 13: Individuality (Aricò) ................................................................................. 77
Figure 14: Awareness of Technique (Aricò) .............................................................. 78
Figure 15: Course Design (Aricò) .............................................................................. 79
Figure 16: Recognised Media in Ms. Aricò's Course (Aricò).................................... 79
Figure 17: Difference to Other Seminars (Aricò) ...................................................... 81
Figure 18: Competencies (Aricò) ............................................................................... 82
Figure 19: Putting Competencies into Practice (Aricò) ............................................. 83
Figure 20: Usefulness of Technique in Different Situations (Aricò)......................... 83
Figure 21: Emotional State (Aricò) ............................................................................ 84
Figure 22: Learner Types (Aricò) .............................................................................. 85
Figure 23: Mixed learner types distribution (Aricò) .................................................. 86
Figure 24: Importance of Positive Attitude (Aricò)................................................... 86
Figure 25: Beliefs (Aricò) .......................................................................................... 87
Figure 26: Important Positions for Learning (Aricò)................................................. 88
Figure 27: Meaning of NLP (Aricò) .......................................................................... 89
Figure 28: Precision Probing ...................................................................................... 95
Figure 29: Quality of Seminar (Stanek) ..................................................................... 97
Figure 30: Individuality (Stanek) ............................................................................... 98
Figure 31: Awareness of Technique (Stanek) ............................................................ 99
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Figure 32: Course Design (Stanek) ...........................................................................100
Figure 33: Recognised Media in Mr. Stanek’s Course (Stanek)...............................100
Figure 34: Difference to Other Seminars (Stanek) ....................................................101
Figure 35: Competencies (Stanek) ............................................................................102
Figure 36: Putting Competencies into Practice (Stanek) ..........................................103
Figure 37: Usefulness of Technique in Different Situations (Stanek) ......................103
Figure 38: Emotional State (Stanek) .........................................................................104
Figure 39: Learner Types (Stanek) ............................................................................105
Figure 40: Importance of Positive Attitude (Stanek) ................................................106
Figure 41: Beliefs (Stanek) .......................................................................................107
Figure 42: Important Positions for Learning (Stanek) ..............................................108
Figure 43: Meaning of NLP (Stanek)........................................................................109
Figure 44: Quality of Lecture (Ötsch) .......................................................................115
Figure 45: Individuality (Ötsch) ................................................................................116
Figure 46: Awareness of Technique (Ötsch) .............................................................117
Figure 47: Course Design (Ötsch) .............................................................................118
Figure 48: Recognised Media in Prof. Ötsch’s Lecture (Ötsch) ...............................118
Figure 49: Difference to Other Seminars (Ötsch) .....................................................119
Figure 50: Competencies (Ötsch) ..............................................................................120
Figure 51: Putting Competencies into Practice (Ötsch) ............................................120
Figure 52: Usefulness of Technique in Different Situations (Ötsch)........................121
Figure 53: Emotional State (Ötsch) ...........................................................................122
Figure 54: Learner Types (Ötsch) .............................................................................123
Figure 55: Mixed Learner-types Distribution (Ötsch) ..............................................123
Figure 56: Importance of Positive Attitude (Ötsch)..................................................124
Figure 57: Beliefs (Ötsch) .........................................................................................125
Figure 58: Important Positions for Learning (Ötsch)................................................126
Figure 59: Meaning of NLP (Ötsch) .........................................................................127
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PART I
LEARNING AND
NEURO-LINGUISTIC PROGRAMMING -
A THEORETICAL DISCOURSE
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1 Introduction
“May you live in interesting times.“ This Chinese proverb fits perfectly in our times.
Today's business world is very fast-moving, technological changes is occurring
faster and faster, globalisation proceeds quickly, information is abundant and
communication in a network that connects the whole world has become
commonplace. These are interesting times, aren't they?
The conditions of these times, however, demand very much of today's human-
beings. Not only do they need to show a high amount of flexibility and mobility, but
knowledge and abilities age very quickly, and everybody who wants to keep up-to-
date has to undergo a life-long learning process.
The rapid development in our world brings along a great deal of standardisation. ISO
9000, for instance, probably means something to everybody. Learners, however,
cannot be treated as standardised creatures. Every learner has his/her own
preferences and learns in different ways. Consequently, it should be a mission for
every trainer to encourage each learner in his/her individuality to enable trainees to
make use of their individual excellence to keep up in today's demanding learning-
process. Learner needs should be in the centre of interest.
The concept of Neuro-Linguistic -Programming (NLP) provides a significant
opportunity for a learner-centred approach in training situations. The three words
which are combined in this concept refer to our senses (neuro), the verbal and non-
verbal representations of our sensory-impressions (linguistic) and our ability to
organise ideas and actions (programming) (Bachmann 1999: 1f). Individuality and
tolerance are two terms to characterise NLP briefly. This is why it suits today's
training world perfectly.
The aim of this thesis is to embed the concept of Neuro-Linguistic -Programming in
the nature of learning. An overview of theory about learning will be given as well as
a compact introduction of Neuro-Linguistic -Programming, its principles and its
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methodology. Furthermore, an attempt will be made to place Neuro-Linguistic -
Programming among learning theories and other alternative learning techniques.
Incorporated in this concept is also an analysis of the changes learning and training
have started to undergo.
The practical part of this thesis presents the application of Neuro-Linguistic -
Programming in different training situations, i.e. language learning, communication
and selling, and content learning. These case studies provide expert knowledge of
trainers working with NLP and the results of a quantitative study conducted in one of
their courses.
In the author's view, this thesis has reached its purpose if it addresses learners and
trainers likewise. Learners may gain better tips for their own learning and become
aware of what learner types they are. The questionnaire in the appendix might help
learners to find out more about their learning processes in different areas. Especially
the third case-study which deals with content-learning and preparing for exams may
be a guide to a less stressful learning process and lead to a better quality of students'
lives.
On the other hand, the author hopes that this thesis may also be useful for any trainer
who is interested in designing learner-centred courses. From the description of the
case studies, which in particular deal with language learning, communication and
selling, content learning, preparing for exams, and providing expert knowledge,
trainers might gain new ideas to incorporate into their own training.
May these pages be of interest to you.
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2 The Nature of Learning
The following sections cover the theory about learning relevant to NLP. They deal
with the term learning, with the prerequisites for and influential factors on learning,
with learning theories and how learning and teaching differ.
2.1 What is Learning?
The term learning is used in variable ways in everyday life. Colloquially, it is
intensely tied to the institution “school“, where learning is the main task for years.
Many adults may remember grammar lessons, studying complicated mathematical
formula or historical dates. Furthermore, the common use of the term learning
includes the acquisition of skills like driving a car or bike-riding. These learning
situations are bound to the teacher as a mediator, whereas another description of
learning does not refer to a personal pedagogue at all: “Somebody has learned a
lesson from a specific situation“. This application of the term learning involves a
change of attitude or behaviour in response to a preceding experience. (Schermer
1998: 9). From the examples above learning can be defined as the process of
acquiring knowledge, abilities and skills by studying, being taught or gaining
experience. Although the process of learning itself is hard to define, the results are
clear: performance-improvement, new skills, clearer attitudes and a broader
knowledge (O'Connor 1996: 24).
The psychological sense of learning, however, must be understood in a different
context. Psychology refers to the term learning when a change of a former state has
taken place. In contrast to the colloquial use of learning, this change can go both
directions. It need not necessarily result in an improvement, but may also cause
deterioration (Schermer 1998: 10). When a car driver has an accident, for example,
he/she may learn to be afraid of driving and may lose his/her routine in driving a car.
Thus, the psychological term of learning includes the learning of anxieties and
security as well as the acquisition of preferences and aversions, habits and problem-
solving oriented thinking (Edelmann 1996: 5).
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However, a change in behaviour does not automatically result from a learning
process; it may also be caused by maturation (Edelmann 1996: 5). This becomes
obvious in the physical development of a child in his/her first years of life. When the
child starts walking, this is a development mainly caused by growth impulses of the
organism and not by experience or exercise. Maturation takes place without outside
resources, as the growth of the body normally cannot be influenced (Schermer 1998:
11).
There is, however, a difference between child and adult learning, which needs to be
explained, as its understanding is relevant in the context of this thesis. As a child, the
neural pathways are in formation and it is easier for a child to learn more than one
language, for example, than for an adult (Marjorie Rosenberg, personal
correspondence, March 18, 2000). Children learn in a very intuitive manner and very
much by playing, whereas adults use more of their left brain (see Section 2.2) and
learn analytically, which may make learning more difficult (Arico, personal
interview, February 2, 2000). Young children construct their knowledge best through
active, engaged, meaningful experiences that provide interaction with their
environment, and brain research indicates that learning is easier when experiences
are interconnected and not isolated or compartmentalised into subject areas (Harris
Helm 2000). Furthermore, children automatically develop mnemonics to support
their learning and memorising. Mnemonics are techniques to facilitate memorising
by making a picture in one's mind about the contents to be learned. The following
picture demonstrates an example of how children constructed pictures to memorise
the word-pairs “kite - hamburger“, “duck - shoe“, “tree - cow“ and “door - elephant“
(Mietzel 1997:134ff).
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Figure 1: Examples for mnemonics (Mietzel 1997: 135).
Studies have shown that adults rarely use mnemo-techniques spontaneously and
consequently have more difficulties in memorising these word-pairs (Ibid).
From the examples given above it can be assumed that adults lose or forget many of
the natural learning techniques they used to apply automatically as a child, which is a
pity, as these techniques are very effective. Often one can hear adults say “I cannot
learn any more“, which is not true, of course, as one learns every day, but traditional
schooling and teaching systems dictate a very narrow understanding of learning and
limit learners' abilities and perspectives (see also Sections 3.1 and 3.2). It is,
therefore, important to develop positive dispositions towards learning at an early age.
When young children are taught, teachers do not only provide opportunities to learn
knowledge and skills, but also develop attitudes towards learning and using those
skills. For example, how a child feels about reading can have long range effects on
the child's reading achievement (Harris Helm 1999).
From the statement above, another distinction has to be made � knowledge and
skills are not identical. The following chart describes very briefly the path from data
to knowledge and learning:
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Data
Information
Knowledge
Learning -> Skill
* Representations of facts
Data plus...
* Meaning * Understanding of patterns and relationships
Information plus...
* Beliefs * Commitments * Assumptions * Design for application
Knowledge plus...
* Application / action * Adaptation after application
Figure 2: From Data to Knowledge and Learning (modified from:
http://www.simplerwork.com/d/d3.thm)
Data do not become information until meaning has been successfully linked to them.
Knowledge is constructed if how to use all that information to do something is
mixed-in. Finally, if experience is added to the mix, learning and the development of
skills can take place (http://www.simplerwork.com/d/d3.htm). In the Encyclopaedia
Britannica Online skills are defined as “the ability to use one's knowledge effectively
and readily in execution or performance“ and as “a learned power of doing
something competently“ (http://members.eb.com/cgi-bin/dictionary). As Section 3.2
of this thesis will explain, knowledge is no longer enough in today's fast moving
world. “Knowing what“, i.e. information the learner has amassed and can reproduce
at the end of an education programme, is only the basis for the more important level
of “knowing how“, i.e. educational programmes that focus on the process, the skills
and attitudes the learner has adopted to enable him to learn more
(http://members.eb.com/bol/topic?eu=15101&sctn=16'415920). To express it in a
play on words, it is of utmost importance to the learner to develop the skill of
“knowing how“ to make best use of the “product“, i.e. “knowing what“.
2.2 The Brain as a Basis for Learning
The cerebral cortex is the main communication centre for interactions between a
person and the environment and, therefore, the most important part of the brain in the
context of learning. It is a nerve fibre of approximately one millimetre and forms the
outer cover of the cerebrum. The most important tasks of the cortex are the
processing of sensory impressions, the co-ordination of movements and cognitive
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performances such as speaking, thinking and learning. It can be divided into two
hemispheres; the left hemisphere, which controls the right half of the body, and the
right hemisphere controlling the left half of the body (Edelmann 1996: 21ff).
However, the specialisation of the hemispheres is not only to control the opposite
part of the body, but also a division of tasks. This phenomenon was shown in
experiments with split-brain patients. These are human-beings with a cut corpus
callosum, the nerve-fibre linking the two hemispheres. These patients were shown
the word “HATBAND“ in a way that the left half of the face could only see the part
“HAT“ and the right half only the part “BAND” When the patients were asked to tell
what they had seen, the answer was “BAND“. Upon the question, “Which band?“,
the persons could only guess the context, for example, a Rock and Roll Band.
However, when they were asked to select the object with the left hand among
various things the patients grasped the hat (Fortmüller 1991: 25f). An explanation for
this behaviour is that, as a rule, the linguistic function of a person is localised in the
left hemisphere, whereas the right hemisphere only shows a rudimentary linguistic
comprehension, but cannot use language actively (Eccles 1990: 269f). Consequently,
the strengths of the left hemisphere lie in analytical thinking and in understanding
and generating language, whereas the right hemisphere is very sensitive to the
reception of music, pictures and patterns (Fortmüller 1990: 26). The following figure
gives an overview of the different functions of the left and the right hemisphere:
Figure 3: Functions of the Hemispheres (Edelmann 1996: 31)
Right Hemisphere Left Hemisphere
linguistic conceptual
arithmetical analytical abstract
musical pictures patterns
geometrical
three-dimensional homogenous
concrete
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Due to these different areas of responsibilities of the hemispheres one could think
that human beings possess two brains (Fortmüller 1990, 26). It may not be omitted,
however, that the two hemispheres of a healthy person are joined by several hundred
millions of nerve-fibres, the corpus callosum, which enable the hemispheres to
communicate (Eccles 1990: 263). Furthermore, the functions are not totally
separated, as the right hemisphere is also capable of a rudimentary and passive
understanding of language as well as the left hemisphere is capable of an elementary
visual and three-dimensional perception (Springer & Deutsch 1988: 32ff).
Additionally, psychological theories argue as well that the semantic and the visual
hemisphere are not independent, but influence one another. A chart in addition to a
text may lead to a better perception and remembrance as well as an explanatory text
to a chart (Anderson 1988: 91ff). Today's complex and networked world demands
more integral thinking of persons and a view of problems in their entirety. Linear
thinking and the analytic functions of the left hemisphere are no longer enough
(Decker 1995: 45). Therefore, new learning techniques focus on the integration and
stimulation of both hemispheres. Its relevance for NLP (Neuro-Linguistic -
Programming) will also be shown in Section 4.5 of this thesis.
2.3 Other Factors of Influence on Learning
The two hemispheres are not the only influence on learning. The psycho-mental
field, which is an electronic field within the human brain, is also significant. It shows
different activity patterns which are measured in frequencies. In the Beta state our
brain is fully awake and concentrated, for example, when a person is actively
listening or carrying out demanding tasks under pressure. By contrast, in the Alpha
state a human being is also awake, but completely relaxed. This is a condition where
our brain is extremely active and creative. The REM state, which is an abbreviation
for Rapid-Eye-Movement, is the first phase of dreaming. This activity pattern shows
strong inner concentration and is very important for a person's health. A deeper
sleeping-phase is the Theta state followed by the Delta state with the lowest
frequencies. Especially three among these five brain activity patterns can be used for
mental programming and effective learning in a relaxed state: the Alpha, REM and
Theta phase. In traditional learning environments the Beta state with full
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concentration under stress and pressure was the only pattern regarded as relevant for
learning. Many alternative approaches to learning such as Superlearning and NLP,
however, focus more and more on the relaxed Alpha state, where the right
hemisphere dominates the left one. Emotions, creativity, metaphors and experience
become vivid and force rules and deep-rooted opinions which often block learning
into the background (Decker 1995: 53ff). The importance of a relaxed emotional
status for better learning results with applied NLP will also be explained in the
Sections 4.2.3 and 4.5 of this thesis.
Children normally like learning, but many of them leave school having learned to
hate it (O'Connor 1996: 85). Therefore, a good learning context, including a
comfortable learning environment, is essential to place the learner in a good
emotional state. Andrea Abele argues that even good or bad moods, which are less
intensive than emotions and are determined by experiences of success, failure, or by
physiological change, play an important role for optimal learning conditions (Abele
1996: 91ff).
Learning also requires motivation. Learning cannot take place when people are sent
to seminars to acquire skills somebody else considers as being important.
Unfortunately, this happens in many companies and can be applied to school as well
(O'Connor 1996: 31).
Furthermore, learners receive information through various sensory stimuli. The
literature distinguishes between the following learning styles in context with sensory
impressions (O'Connor 1996, 203f. and “NLP for dynamic training“ 1997):
• visual: The visual learner wants to see the contents and is pleased with videos,
films, notes on flipcharts, overhead-transparencies, etc. This learner type
remembers what he/she has seen in the seminar.
• auditory: Auditory learners want to hear the contents and like presentations with
many questions and answers. They remember what has been discussed in a
seminar, and their memory of the seminar can be compared to an “audio-
cassette“.
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• kinaesthetic: Kinaesthetic learners favour exercises and role plays. They learn by
doing and like exercises with motion. It is important to emphasise that this does
not mean that they do not pay attention. It is a prejudice from the traditional
school system that students have to sit still to be attentive.
Especially seminars with applied NLP focus on addressing the various sensory
impressions of learners and making them aware of their personal learning style. Each
learner has different attributes, and it seems to be most effective to create a personal
learning environment for each individual.
2.4 Learning Theories
Learning theories can be described as the attempt to structure and summarise the
knowledge of learning (Edelmann 1996: 7). An overview of learning theories
relevant to NLP will be presented briefly in the following sections. An analysis how
NLP can be seen with reference to learning theories can be found in Section 4.4.
2.4.1 Stimulus-Response-Learning
The original model of what today is known as Stimulus-Response-Learning is
Pavlov's Classical Conditioning. Pavlov's experiments with dogs showed that at least
in some areas classical conditioning can lead to a change in behaviour (Fortmüller
1991: 44). In the first stage of the experiment a dog received food and began to
salivate. The food can be seen as an unconditioned stimulus for the unconditioned
reaction, the salivation, which is an innate reaction and cannot be defined as
learning. In the second stage, the training-stage, a neutral stimulus, for example a
sound, was presented several times simultaneously with the food, the unconditioned
stimulus. In the third phase of the experiment the dog showed salivation already
when he heard the sound without receiving food. The sound is now a conditioned
stimulus, which leads to the conditioned reaction of salivation (Schermer 1998: 25f).
The following table shows a schematic summary of the process of classical
conditioning.
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Prerequisite unconditioned stimulus = food → unconditioned reaction
(salivation)
Training neutral + unconditioned stimulus
= sound + food
→ unconditioned reaction
(salivation)
Result neutral stimulus = conditioned
stimulus (sound)
→ conditioned reaction
(salivation)
Figure 4: Schematic Summary of Classical Conditioning (Schermer 1998: 26)
For a successful and stable stimulus-response-connection several factors are
significant: adequate timing of the stimulus presentation, the number of repetitions in
the training stage and sufficient breaks between the learning phases (Fortmüller
1991: 50).
Pavlov's concept of Classical Conditioning mainly focused on the activation of
muscles. Today the learning of emotional and motivational reactions is the primary
field of interest. Therefore, Pavlov's concept was expanded by other American
behaviourists such as Watson. In these approaches the stimulus does not need to be a
physical or chemical one, but the imagination of it already causes the reaction. For
example, a person does not need to be in a defective elevator to be afraid, but
thinking of such a situation already causes fear (Edelmann 1996: 56 and 61).
Pavlov's further developed theory is still relevant for today's learning situations. If a
teacher/trainer is able to design the courses in an interesting and fascinating way, this
can lead to a high learning motivation of trainees, as they are looking forward to the
lessons and connect positive emotions with the teacher and his/her course (Edelmann
1996: 93).
2.4.2 Instrumental Learning (Operant Conditioning)
In contrast to the concept of Classical Conditioning, the theory of Operant
Conditioning takes the consequences of a reaction into account. It is assumed that the
learning-success is dependent on positive and negative reinforcement. The first
theoretical and empirical principles of Operant or Instrumental Conditioning were
defined by E. L. Thorndike (Fortmüller 1991: 52ff). In his experiments a hungry
animal was locked in a cage. The hunger was the motivation for the animal to try to
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get out of the cage and, therefore, a prerequisite for the learning process. The animal
learns through “trial and error“. When it finally manages to get out of the cage, this
is a successful experience and a positive reinforcement, especially if the animal
additionally receives some food. Thorndike's experiments show that the animal
remembers the action of how to open the cage and can apply this behaviour quicker
each time the experiment is repeated (Schermer 1998: 46f and Fortmüller 1991: 54f).
Thorndike considers the reinforcement as a means to make stimulus-response-
connections more stable. However, for Skinner, who expanded Thorndike's theory,
the reinforcement is the factor which constitutes learning and influences behaviour
(Fortmüller 1991: 53 and 68). Skinner distinguishes between two different
behaviours, the respondent and the operant behaviour. The respondent behaviour
equals Pavlov's Stimulus-Response-Learning; the operant behaviour causes a certain
consequence that may have a reinforcing effect. Skinner carried out his experiments
in the famous Skinner Box, where a rat only got some food when it pressed the
correct button (Edelmann 1996: 107f). The reinforcement, however, can also be
negative, a punishment, to achieve a reduction of a certain behaviour (Fortmüller
1991: 69). In his essay, “The Science of Learning and the Art of Teaching“, Skinner
judges the teaching-practice at school harshly. He criticises that teachers mainly use
negative reinforcement and do not pay attention to students' individual learning
styles and that pupils are too passive in their role as learners. Skinner suggests
solving these problems by a systematic application of operant principles and
invented what is known as “programmed teaching“ (Schermer 1998: 78f).
The description above has only illustrated the reinforcement from outside. It is,
however, also possible to use the tool of self-reinforcement. The individual observes
his/her behaviour, evaluates it and reinforces it if the expected results are achieved.
Particularly new trends in educational training, such as self-access-learning, requires
the learner to use self-reinforcement as a motivational tool in the process of self-
management (Edelmann 1996: 120f).
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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2.4.3 Observational Learning
The behaviourist concepts, Stimulus-Response-Learning and Operant Theories, are
based on external regulation, whereas Bandura's Observational Learning Theory
emphasises the internal regulation of a person (Edelmann 1996: 281ff).
The main idea of observational learning is that the learner imitates the behaviour of a
certain model, which may either be a person as a life-model or a symbolic mediation,
for example, in a film or a text (Schermer 1998: 84). Bandura divides the process of
observational learning into two main phases � the acquisition phase and the
performance phase. These two phases can again be split into two processes.
Acquisition Process Attention Process Retention Process
Performance Process Motoric Reproduction Reinforcement and Motivational Processes
Figure 5: Process of Observational Learning
The first phase is the attention process. The interest of the observer in the model is
caused by specific characteristics of both subjects, which may be, for example, the
success and competence of the model or a positive relationship between model and
observer. In the following stage, the retention process, the observed behaviour is
either verbally or pictorially coded, and the actual learning process takes place. The
storage in the observer's memory assures that the behaviour can also be imitated
when the model is no longer present. With the retention phase the acquisition process
is completed, and the motoric reproduction phase starts the performance process.
The individual transforms the observed behaviour into real behaviour by inner
representation of the model. The observer will, however, hardly show the modelled
behaviour if this is negatively sanctioned. For Bandura, reinforcement is not a
necessary condition for the learning process, but it is seen as a motivating and
supporting factor for the attention process and integration (Edelmann 1996: 286f).
As mentioned in the introduction of this chapter, a connection of Observational
Learning to NLP, especially its technique of Modelling, will be discussed in Section
4.4 of this thesis.
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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2.4.4 Cognitive Learning
The main idea of cognitive learning is to consciously develop strategies that support
the acquisition of knowledge. Important cognitive performances are, for example,
categorising and structuring knowledge, which makes it easier for us to live in our
environment. In accordance with the interaction of the two hemispheres of the cortex
(see Section 2.2) the learning process is supported by using pictures, music or by
exercises where the learner can make his/her own experience. Bruner argues that it is
also important that learners are equipped with the necessary skills for being able to
learn on their own. It is of great relevance that students learn how to learn and how
to solve problems and continue doing this throughout their whole lives (Edelmann
1996: 202ff). Cognitivist theory sees the learner as a very active participant in the
learning process (http://www.cai.pcc.edu/tlc/assess/learn-th.htm).
How NLP can help learners to become aware of their cognitive learning strategies
will be the focus of Chapter 6, where the author describes several examples.
2.4.5 Constructivism
The theory of constructivism asserts that human beings construct their own
understanding of the world they live in by reflection on their experiences
(http://www.funderstanding.com/Learning_theory_how1.htm). Like in cognitive
theory the human mind is central to the creation of knowledge, but constructivists
distinguish themselves from traditional cognitive theorists through their belief that
the mind filters input from the world to produce its own unique reality
(http://www.cai.pcc.edu/tlc/assess/learn-th.htm). Learning is a search for meaning,
and meaning requires understanding wholes as well as parts. Parts, again, must be
understood in the context of wholes. Consequently, learning cannot focus on isolated
facts, but has to put its focus on concepts. Within these premises, it is important for
teachers and trainers to understand the mental models students build about their
understanding of the world in their search for meaning
(http://www.funderstanding.com/learning_theory_how1.htm). This theory is highly
connected to NLP in its meta-programme of chunking-up and chunking-down (see
Glossary of Terms in the Appendix) and shows a parallel to NLP's principle of “the
map is not the territory“ (see Section 4.2.2).
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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2.4.6 Multiple Intelligences
The theory of multiple intelligence was developed by the psychologist Howard
Gardner. He suggests that people perceive and understand the world in at least seven
ways, including linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinaesthetic,
musical, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Each of these ways is defined as an
“intelligence“ by Gardner, a set of skills allowing learners to solve problems they
face (http://www.funderstanding.com/learning_theory_how7.htm and Baxter-
Magolda 2000). A hint of these intelligences was already given in Section 2.3 “Other
Factors of Influence on Learning“, where the author referred to the different
representational systems of individuals.
Traditional schooling heavily favours linguistic and logical-mathematical
intelligences, i.e. left-brain thinking. Gardner, however, suggests a more balanced
curriculum that includes arts, self-awareness, role playing, musical performance,
visualisation, and story telling. For educators and trainers, this means that they must
recognise and respond to the fact that “intelligence“ is not one dimensional, but that
people vary in the ways in which they take in and interpret information (Baxter-
Magolda 2000).
The preceding sections of this thesis have dealt with many aspects of how learning
can take place. It is, however, important to keep in mind that learning and teaching
are not identical. The following section intends to clarify this difference.
2.5 How Learning and Teaching Differ
“Learners are not empty vessels waiting to be filled, but rather active organisms seeking meaning.“ (Driscoll as cited in http://www.cai.pcc. edu/tlc/assess/learn-th.htm)
Learning is something very personal. It cannot be forced upon us
(http://www.managementalchemy.com). A teacher can hold a lecture or do a
presentation in front of the class and the students may not learn anything at all
because of, for example, disinterest or because his/her learning style and reception
Learner-centred Training with NLP
22
(visual, auditory, kinaesthetic) is not addressed (see also Chapter 4). Therefore,
teaching is not automatically identical with learning. From the following chart it can
be seen that instruction and learning paradigms differ in mission and purposes, in
structure, in theory and in the nature of roles.
The Instruction Paradigm The Learning Paradigm
Mission and Purposes
Provide/Deliver Instruction Produce learning
Transfer knowledge from faculty to student
Elicit student discovery and construction of knowledge
Offer courses and programs Create powerful learning environments
Improve quality of instruction Improve quality of learning
Teaching / Learning Structures
Atomistic; parts prior to whole Holistic; whole prior to parts
Time held constant, learning varies Learning held constant, time varies
50-minute lecture, 3-unit course Learning environments
Classes start/end at the same time Environment ready when student is
One teacher, one classroom Whatever learning experience works
Covering material Specified learning results
Degree equals accumulated credit hours Degree equals demonstrated knowledge and skills
Learning Theory
Knowledge comes in “chunks“ and “bits“ delivered by instructors
Knowledge is constructed, created and “gotten“
Learning is teacher centred and controlled
Learning is student centred and controlled
“Live“ teacher, “live“ students required “Active“ learner required, but not “live“ teacher
Talent and ability are rare Talent and ability are abundant
Nature of Roles
Faculty are primarily lecturers Faculty are primarily designers of learning methods and environments
Faculty and students act independently and in isolation
Faculty and students work in teams with each other and other staff
Teachers classify and sort students Teachers develop every student's competencies and talents
Any expert can teach Empowering learning is challenging and complex.
Figure 6: Comparing Education Paradigms (excerpt from: Barr and Tagg 2000)
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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This chart evokes many differences between teaching and learning and shows that
classical teaching has a completely different starting point and approach than the
learning paradigms. Current instructional systems mainly aim at supporting teachers
in the task of delivering instruction (McKey 1997). In the learning paradigms,
however, the student and his/her learning process are in the centre of interest.
Teaching can no longer be a “one-man-show“, it is necessary to engage students
actively and take them out of their passive role. For this change it is also a
prerequisite for teachers and trainers to develop an attitude of acceptance and
understanding of students' views, desires, interests and of the relationship which
develops as the result of this acceptance. Interpersonal skills and relationships
become important factors in the learning environment (Seeler 1994). Collaboration,
activity and involvement characterise these instructional approaches. The traditional
boundaries between roles, responsibilities and activities of teachers and learners are
blurred, if not eliminated entirely (Baxter Magolda 2000). In how far the path “from
teaching to learning“ has already been progressed can be read in the following
chapter.
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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3 Educational Training in Change
Several of today's training situations are fairly unsatisfactory. Many courses at
university are only attended because they are a must in the course of study, and many
employees are sent to seminars which their superiors select for them without any
respect for their personal learning needs. The outcome of such training situations is
not only that trainees show little joy of learning, but also that these courses are
designed in a very global manner and make many participants leave the course
without having gained anything. The subsequent sections draw a picture of the status
quo and describe new trends that educational training pursues which take learner-
needs much more into consideration.
3.1 The Status Quo
The status quo of today's training situations shows many problems and can be
described as a status that rarely meets the requirements of the fast moving business
world.
From the author's own experience, the lecture has been and still is the dominant
teaching technique at school, at university and also at the majority of in-house
seminars in companies. The trainer presents new information in front of the class, the
trainees are expected to listen and grasp the content. The lessons are characterised by
a fixed curriculum; one topic after the other from “Lesson 1“ to “Lesson X“ in the
textbook is pushed through with little variation, always following the same scheme.
This may be reading a text, vocabulary, grammar and exercises in language classes,
or explaining the basics and maybe going through an example in courses which
focus on content learning. In summary, the trainer/teacher has his/her fixed
programme to present, the trainer/teacher is the centre of the course, and the
individual learner is not cared about at all (Arico, personal interview, January 26,
2000).
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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In the traditional training situation the teacher is the “provider“ and the trainee the
“recipient“ of knowledge (Brewster 1995: 15). It is hardly surprising that in such a
training and learning culture students do not learn very much. As already explained
in Section 2.5 , teaching does not automatically imply that students learn anything.
Consequently, a number of students show disinterest and passiveness, and many
teachers react by spoon-feeding them and forcing them into a rigid
educational/training system, instead of giving them attention and striving for a
mutual co-operation to achieve a common aim.
In today's fast moving world one can never stop learning, but many students and also
adults have problems to cope with this situation. A large number of students have
been traumatised by their inability to succeed in school (Blackerby 1999); the fear of
failing or spoiling one's chances for the future is always present (Decker 1995: 18).
There are several reasons for this. Firstly, more and more content is being put into
the curriculum of schools. Today's students have to learn things that ten or twenty
years ago were not taught at all. Secondly, our society is in the process of an
information explosion and thirdly, our information dissemination systems such as
computers, the Internet and satellite communication are getting faster and faster
(Blackerby 1999). With many difficulties learners fight their way through more and
more information (Decker 1995: 18). Also many adults who grew up in a much
slower paced world find it difficult to keep up with the rapid changes. They have to
change jobs and careers, learn new terminology, technology and procedures and do
not have the adequate learning strategies. They begin to feel overwhelmed; the
outcome is often frustration and anger (Blackerby 1999).
To sum up, today's educational system reacts too slowly to changes (O'Connor 1996:
21), although change and accepting the change are vital criteria for surviving in the
business world. The system has prepared students to memorise large quantities of
data, but has discouraged combining and further processing (Brewster 1995: 8). It is,
however, no longer enough to teach knowledge, which probably will already be
outdated when students leave school or university. It is far more important to equip
students and trainees with key qualifications, such as how to learn, how to rediscover
the joy of learning and how to find their own way through business life without
being spoon-fed, but rather as self-directed learners. It is high time for a change.
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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3.2 New Trends in Educational Training
“Man muß ins Gelingen verliebt sein, nicht ins Scheitern.“ (E. Bloch as cited in Decker 1995: 19)
It is of importance for every learner to see the chances of the ever faster occurring
development in many fields of research like information technology, for example.
Learning perspectives and a positive attitude towards change support future life and
work organisation and, psychologically, can be regarded as a factor for learning
success. There is a trend away from teaching only knowledge. Robert Dilts' learning
pyramid explains the new forms of learning (as cited in Decker 1995: 18ff), which
are highly connected to NLP (see Section 4.5.3):
Figure 7: Pedagogical Learning and Teaching Levels (Decker 1995: 20)
Each learning process follows seven stages. Just like a child, adults will still learn
through trial and error when a defined aim does not exist. Knowledge and
information can still be seen as the raw-material for learning, but in future the higher
levels of the pyramid will become more important. To be able to cope with the
ongoing change and to organise work it is necessary to develop new behaviours and
strategies. Key-qualifications such as the awareness of how to learn, thinking
laterally and combining, creativity, concentration and relaxation have to be acquired
�
Environment
Ecology
�Trial and Error
� Knowledge
1.Level Natural Learning
� Behaviour
� Skills, Strategies
2.Level Traditional Training
� Beliefs
� Identities
3.Level Mental Training
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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(Decker 1995: 20). For these key-qualifications other learning and training methods
are needed than for the traditional processing of knowledge.
In the past few years learning systems have started to show innovation. More
intellectual responsibility and intentionality are invested in learners, and learners are
engaged in more meaningful mental processing (Jonassen 1992: 1ff). The trend is
going in the direction of developing self-directed learners who show intrinsic
motivation to seek and explore explanations to solve problems (Mayes 1992: 7ff).
The author has experienced several courses which shift the responsibility for one's
learning success from the teacher to the learner. Students were not spoon-fed to a
certain grade or to pass the course, but they had to identify for themselves what are
their learning needs, which expectations they set and how to plan and carry out
learning. An example for such a course is Dr. Brewster's “Project Seminar 2“ for
English language learning, which the author attended in the summer semester of
1998 as a member of the Filcom project group.
Filcom is a computer programme to make optimal use of and to acquire expert
knowledge. The project took place in co-operation with a group of linguistics
students at the University of Salzburg, and it was the task to implement a concept
(topic free of choice) into the programme and to evaluate its advantages and
disadvantages in order to improve the features of the programme and, as a
consequence, provide a better use of knowledge in companies that intend to buy the
software. It was completely left up to the teams to organise their project and make it
work. This course was an experience of intra- and inter-group communication,
developing team working abilities and gaining a new access to language learning via
the content of the seminar. It was also an experience of learning computer
terminology and working with the media of e-mail and CBT (Computer Based
Training). Unfortunately, the Filcom team Linz had to face a weak commitment to
the project by the Salzburg colleagues and tried to solve this problem by organising a
personal meeting. It was expected that, when the group members got to know each
other personally and could establish rapport (an NLP-technique that will be
explained in Section 4.3.3), the common aim of a successful project would be
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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reinforced. In fact, the feeling of knowing which person is behind a simple e-mail
address finally contributed to better communication and the success of the project.
Another aspect of this project needs to be taken into consideration. It was also an
opportunity for the teachers, Dr. Brewster in Linz and Prof. Wieden in Salzburg, to
learn from the two groups. At the end of the course an evaluation-meeting in
Salzburg took place, where the strengths and weaknesses of the groups were
analysed. It was thought about encouraging the successive groups to organise a
personal meeting also, as it had proven to be a positive experience for the Filcom
Team in the summer semester of 1998.
This example clearly shows that a change in roles is taking place. The teacher is no
longer the only provider for knowledge and learning, but it is possible to learn from
each other, which is an important step to life-long learning. Even more, students and
trainees deliver valuable input, for example, in a virtual classroom or when looking
for useful web-sites for language learning or skills learning, and document this
knowledge in a network. These types of learners, however, need a different leader
than the traditional teacher. There is a shift from mediating knowledge to a personal
and social support of the learners. The teacher becomes rather a consultant, a coach
and a creator of methodology offering support to self-help, moderating the learning
process, initiating, accelerating and creating the outside conditions for learning
(Decker 1995: 25).
Certainly, this change goes along with an individualisation process. It is the learner's
task to find out about his/her learning preferences including time and location. Open
learning systems, for example distance learning and new technologies such as
Computer-Based-Training (CBT) and e-mail, make it possible for the learner to
design his/her individual learning more efficiently. For the author, who has been
involved in business life for more than five years now, this development offers a
useful opportunity of combining job and studies without generating too much stress.
As already mentioned in Section 2.3, new learning strategies focus on a relaxed and
stress-free status for optimal learning success. It is important to provide for an
enjoyable situation, as for self-directed learning high motivation and self-discipline
are needed. There is no longer a teacher telling one when and where to do what, the
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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learner is in the centre of action and has to find for himself/herself a comfortable
learning situation where it is possible to rediscover the joy of learning.
Companies have also started to realise that employees do not show very much
learning success if they are forced to attend seminars somebody else considers to be
important (see also Chapter 2.3.2). Often, employees are not aware of the aims of the
seminar, which may result in so-called “seminar-tourism“, sending employees to
various courses involving high costs for the enterprise, but showing hardly any
quality improvement (Maisberger 1993: 191ff). However, learning faster than one's
competitors is one of the vital skills of a company if it is to survive in the business
world (O'Connor 1996: 17). Therefore, systematic and thoughtful employee-training
has become a valuable good that may also help to increase employees' loyalty to the
firm (Maisberger 1993: 193). Consequently, in-house training is also becoming more
self-directed. Self-study materials, the combination of seminars with practical
projects and the integration of training and consultation enhance the status of
employees and make them feel more responsible for their own quality skills-learning
contributing to the success of a learning organisation (Kailer 1994: 242ff).
The practical examples described in Part II of this thesis pick up some learning
situations where new techniques such as NLP support the learning process. It will be
shown how NLP can help in language learning, in selling and in content learning.
Today's business world requires many skills. The ongoing globalisation demands
fluency in foreign languages. Languages, again, are important in the international
sales business. Selling, in turn, requires effective communication skills.
Communication skills and coping with the load of new knowledge in today's
information explosion play a significant part in one's personal development. As one
can see, these skills are all linked with each other. Together they form a set of key-
qualifications that make students, trainees and employees fit for today's continuous
change.
Before showing the application of NLP in these case-studies, however, it is
necessary to introduce several basic ideas about Neuro-Linguistic -Programming.
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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4 Neuro-Linguistic-Programming (NLP)
This chapter aims at giving a concise overview of what NLP is, what principles it is
based on and which methods and models it applies.
4.1 Definition and Development
Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) can be defined as the study of the structure of
subjective experience and is based on the belief that all behaviour has structure
(http://www.purenlp.com/whatsnlp.htm).
NLP's beginning was in the early 1970's in Santa Cruz, California, when John
Grinder, an Assistant Professor of Linguistics and Richard Bandler, a psychology
student at that time, studied three very successful therapists: Fritz Perls, the founder
of the school of “Gestalt“ therapy; Virginia Satir, a successful family therapist; and
Milton Erickson, a famous hypnotherapist (Rosenberg 2000: 1). Grinder and Bandler
were interested in the behaviour of these experts. They wanted to find out what
excellent communicators automatically did right, what their thinking process looked
like, what were their core values, how they addressed people, how they moved etc.
(Darpe 1996). A presupposition of their research was that all human-beings possess
the same neurology, and therefore the behaviour and processes of effective
communicators can be modelled, learned, taught and changed (Mayer Wamos 1994:
43). Consequently, it is possible to learn from experts and geniuses (compare to
Bandura's Observational Learning in Chapter 2.4.3) and to develop one’s own
excellence. The aim is to generate high-quality skills oneself (Darpe, 1996), and in
this sense the concept of NLP is a valuable tool for becoming a self-directed learner.
The name Neuro-Linguistic -Programming can be explained as follows (Rosenberg
2000: 1 and http://www.excelquest.com/whatisnlp.htm):
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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Neuro is originated from the fundamental idea that all behaviour comes
from neurological processes through which we experience and
process information using our senses (visual, auditory,
kinaesthetic, olfactory, gustatory)
Linguistic indicates that we use language, verbal and non-verbal, to express
our feelings and thoughts.
Programming refers to our ability to organise our ideas and actions to achieve
specific goals and results.
NLP's application began in therapy to treat phobias in an efficient manner. Later, its
use was discovered for the sales business, and the last step was to apply NLP in
educational training (Rosenberg, seminar, February 4, 2000). Today various areas
make use of NLP (Ötsch 1996):
• therapy for efficient treatment
• training and teaching to motivate trainers / teachers and learners
• sports to achieve excellent performance
• business to coach managers
• politics to make better decisions
• medicine to cure psychological illnesses
• partnerships to show better understanding for the persons one loves
• self-application to improve the quality of life.
It is not possible to go into all applications of NLP in this thesis. Part II presents a
selection of practical examples that concentrate on a learner-centred approach to
enable students and employees to be prepared for important qualifications in
business life and to become better artists of their lives with NLP as a new form of
learning and communication (Decker 1995: 62).
4.2 Philosophy and Principles of NLP
NLP is based on several assumptions and beliefs that are derived from humanistic
psychology and pedagogy and have been systematised and developed further by
Learner-centred Training with NLP
32
John Grinder and Richard Bandler and other scientists (Decker 1995: 62). In the
following section the most important principles will be explained, as they are the
basis for a correct and adequate application of NLP.
4.2.1 Each human-being is unique
Each human-being takes part in the universe and realises it, but interprets the
environment in a different way (Decker 1995: 62). In NLP the ways we take in, store
and code information in our minds – seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting and smelling –
are known as representational systems (Rosenberg 2000: 9). However, it would be
too much to process all the impressions and signals we perceive. Therefore, our
senses are designed as “filters”, and each human-being builds up a different model of
the world, a different map, depending on the experience one has made, on thinking
perspectives and beliefs. In this way, it is possible to assimilate and organise the
experiences we have made (Decker 1995: 62f).
4.2.2 The map is not the territory
We create our own map from our sensory experiences, and we then operate as if our
map were reality (http:www.noceans.demon.co.uk/nlpresup.htm). The map is very
important for one’s personal orientation in the world, but it only shows a limited
picture; the real world is always different. NLP enriches the possibilities to get a
deeper insight into the maps of other persons (Decker 1995: 63).
4.2.3 Our behaviour is the result of our state of being
In our every day life we experience all different kinds of neuro-physiological states:
on the one hand, states that motivate and inspire us, such as trust, love, joy and
enthusiasm, but, on the other hand, also states that paralyse like depressions, fear and
sadness. The latter take all our energy (Decker 1995: 63) and block our behaviour
and learning process. NLP believes that individuals have all the inner resources
necessary to make any behavioural or state-change desired (Rosenberg 2000: 1), but
the access to these resources may sometimes be blocked (Bierbaum 1997: 29).
Consequently, individuals should be able to control their inner states, as only human
beings who have learned to successfully manage and use their states are able to
design their lives. The key to this lies in the skill to control one's brain activities
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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(Decker 1995: 64f). How we imagine ourselves in a certain situation and the way we
do that determine the state we are in and, finally, our real behaviour.
4.2.4 What is possible for one person is possible for anyone
This principle is highly connected to a person's perception. We have learned the
“map of our world“ throughout our lives, but it is possible to change it. An optimist
will find a glass half full, whereas a pessimist considers it to be half empty. The
pessimist is limited in his/her perception and the access to his/her internal resources
to make him/her happy is blocked. NLP wants to enlarge a person's perception
possibilities and create more alternatives for one's behaviour. Excellent performance
results from multiple choices (Decker 1995: 65). The more possibilities we have, the
greater are the chances of success (Rosenberg 2000: 1). However, this kind of
learning does not consist of simply copying outer behaviour, but requires going
through internal and external processes and modelling them (see also Section 4.3.1
and Section 4.1 “Definition and Development”).
4.2.5 The meaning of your communication is the response you get
(Bierbaum 1997: 27).
One of NLP's principles is that you are unable not to communicate. As soon as two
persons are together they interact, not only with words, but also with tonality and
body-postures, gestures, eye-contact and expressions. Studies have shown that 55 per
cent of the impact of a presentation in front of an audience are determined by our
body-language and only seven per cent by the contents (Rosenberg 2000: 3).
Figure 8: Impact on the Listener (Rosenberg 2000: 3)
Tonality38%
Content = Words
7%
Body Language
55%
Learner-centred Training with NLP
34
Communication is a loop. What we do influences our partners, what they do has
influence on us (Rosenberg 2000: 3). Therefore, not what you intend to say, but how
a partner reacts to a certain statement is important. The statement evokes an inner
experience and the partner reacts upon this experience, not necessarily upon the
words said before (Bierbaum 1997: 27). Words often block learning and
communication, which often leads to misunderstandings, as the same expression
may mean something totally different to another person (Decker 1995: 66).
According to the NLP philosophy, however, there are no failures in communication,
there is only feedback (Bierbaum 1997: 29). If a message does not reach your
partner, this can be told from his/her reaction, and it is best to try another “channel“
to meet him/her in his/her own model of the world.
4.3 Methods and Techniques of NLP
4.3.1 Modelling
As the Chapters 4.1. and 4.2.4 have already indicated, NLP assumes that excellence
can be learned and trained. Bandler and Grinder studied experts to get information
how these people performed so excellently. This process is known as modelling in
NLP. Modelling tries to split a process into very small parts and describe these parts
to make it possible for others to use the same structure to improve their performance.
Modelling is a natural process. Children, for example, intuitively model their parents
and other persons. In this way, they unconsciously learn complex behaviours,
attitudes and views (Ötsch 2000: Modellieren, Modell-Bildung, Modellier-Prozeß).
In training situations the technique of modelling can be used in a number of ways,
which will be shown in the case study situations.
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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4.3.2 The Art of Perceiving People - VAK (Visual - Auditory - Kinaesthetic)
Individuals process all information through their five senses (Rosenberg 2000: 1).
For educational training it is, therefore, essential to find out about the preferred
representational system of trainees - visual, auditory or kinaesthetic, because then the
trainer can design the course according to the preferred learning styles of the
individuals. Auditory and kinaesthetically oriented learners will not feel addressed if
the trainer only teaches visually (see also Section 2.3 of this thesis). Everybody has
one primary representational modality, and into this modality one goes back when
feeling under pressure. For example, a car-driver may find it comfortable listening to
the radio, but when he/she drives in an unknown town and looks for a certain place
to go, he/she may find the radio annoying and has to turn it off to concentrate. This is
an indication that he/she is most probably not an auditory type (Rosenberg, seminar,
February 4, 2000).
There are various exercises to find out about the preferred representational “channel“
of trainees in the course, which will be explained in the practical examples in Part II
to show their direct application in the very context of language learning, selling and
negotiating and content learning. However, there is one method to get more
information about the representational system of a partner in a conversation that can
be applied in any situation: eye-movements. According to NLP, automatic,
unconscious eye-movements, or “eye accessing cues“, often accompany particular
thought processes (Dilts 1998). With eye accessing cues it is possible to find out, if a
person thinks in pictures, sounds or feelings, as we move our eyes systematically in
certain directions (Rosenberg 2000: 9). The following figure shows the patterns that
appear to be constant for right handed people throughout the human race; many left
handed people, however, tend to be reversed from left to right (Dilts 1998).
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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From Beholder's Perspective!
Subject's Right Subject's Left
Figure 9: NLP Eye Movement Patterns (O'Connor 1996: 48)
From this picture it can be seen that people thinking in pictures regularly move their
eyes upwards, persons thinking in sounds move their eyes sidewards and human
beings thinking kinaesthetically, i.e. in feelings, downwards. It has to be noted that
the above shown figure demonstrates a difference between “remembered“ and
“constructed“. The movement of the remembrance goes into the left direction, the
construction into the right one. For example, a person can remember the colour of
his/her car (eyes up and left) and can imagine, i.e. construct, what it would be like
looking down on a city skyline from a cloud (eyes up and right) (Dilts 1998). The
same can be applied for auditory and kinaesthetic thinking.
Visual constructed Visual remembered
Auditory constructed Auditory remembered
Kinaesthetic Auditory digital
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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It has to be stressed that NLP is not another technique to press people into various
categories and stereotypes, human beings are richer and more valuable than the
generalisations made about them. NLP offers a wide range of models, consequently
it is best to select the most appropriate of these, depending on what human beings are
doing at the time, and not trying to adapt people to the stereotypes (Rosenberg 2000:
9).
4.3.3 Rapport
In NLP “Rapport“ is a generic term for all measures taken to establish a bias for
good communication (Bachmann 1999: 83). It is the key to getting into the loop of
communication, as communication seems to flow when two people are in good
rapport. Their body language as well as their words seem to match and reflect each
other. In order to establish rapport, one joins the other person's “dance“ by matching
his/her body language, but with sensitivity and respect. In this way it is possible to -
speaking in pictures - build a bridge over to the other person and cross over to his/her
model of the world. There are various possibilities to create rapport. One can match
• breathing
• body language and gestures
• posture
• tonality
• loudness of speech
• tempo of speech
• representational systems
• dialect and slang
• cultural customs
• distance between the speakers
• eye contact
The English play on words “When people are like each other, they like each other“
reflects exactly what is meant with rapport in NLP terminology (Rosenberg 2000: 4).
In Chapter 6 it will be shown which techniques are best to establish good rapport in
the case-study situations.
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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4.3.4 Pacing and Leading
Rapport allows building a bridge to another person; pacing and leading are the next
steps and very much related to rapport. When the bridge is finished, we can
begin to change our behaviour and the other person will probably
follow us. Pacing is the process of building the bridge through
rapport and respect; leading is the changing of behaviour in order to
make it easier for the other person to follow. Leading can only take place when
rapport has already been established because it is not possible to lead somebody over
a bridge which has not been finished. Therefore, it is important to show respect for
what the other person has to say, even if we do not agree. A principle of NLP is that
all behaviour has positive intention, and this has to be assumed also for the partner in
a conversation. In order to pace and lead successfully, it is essential to pay attention
to the other person and stay flexible enough oneself to react to what is heard and
seen (Rosenberg 2000: 7). According to these techniques, the best trainers are those
who can enter the world of the individual learner, build up a good relationship and in
this way make the material to be learned easier.
4.3.5 Reframing
Reframing can be defined as the art of giving a new meaning to experience and
thoughts (Decker 1995: 71). Reframing offers the possibility of looking at problems
and situations from many different perspectives, which may help to work through
them more easily (Rosenberg 2000: 38).
NLP terminology divides the Reframing technique into “context reframing“ and
“content reframing“.
Context reframing tries to find a new place or time for a special behaviour where it is
useful and positive. For example, jokes and giving funny answers is an important
skill for every comedian. This behaviour, however, may be inappropriate in serious
discussions. Therefore, it is necessary to give this behaviour the correct context:
when and where is it useful?
Content reframing tries to change the meaning of an experience through a new
interpretation; it looks for the positive value of a certain behaviour (Rosenberg 2000:
38). A stressed manager, for example, may feel annoyed when his/her telephone
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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rings a hundred times a day. A sensitive trainer may change this annoying content
for the manager into a positive one by suggestion he/she thinks to himself/herself,
“That's good, everybody needs you, you are the expert, you are important.“ Suddenly
the ringing of the telephone has a different meaning for the manager, he/she has the
feeling of being important and needed (Rosenberg, seminar, February 5, 2000).
The idea of creating a new frame for a situation or a behaviour is not new (see also
critical evaluation in Chapter 10), but already known from fairy tales and fables. The
trick is that fixed situations and behaviours lose their original meaning, and
consequently the way to a new orientation and interpretation is freed (Bachmann
1999: 99).
4.3.6 The Meta Model of Language
As already indicated in Chapter 4.2.1 NLP assumes that all models of the world
human beings build up are “filtered“ models. They are not a direct and identical
picture of the world, but a reconstruction of sensory experiences (Ötsch 2000:
Wahrnehmungs-Filter). Consequently, words and language never have only one
meaning. What an expression means depends on the individual experience made
with the very phrase, on the learned cultural meaning of the word and on the context
in which the word is used. The NLP Meta Model of Language aims at combining the
language a person uses with the experiences made and represented through the
language (Bachmann 1999: 160). Specific techniques of asking questions make it
possible to analyse unclear language patterns and to gain precise information quickly
(Ötsch 2000: Meta Modell der Sprache). The Meta Model of Language can,
therefore, also be described as the “art of asking the right questions“.
Bandler and Grinder refer to three processes how human beings build models:
generalisations, deletions and distortions. On the one hand, these models enable
human beings to survive, to understand and to experience the world, but, on the other
hand, they limit the possibilities of individuals (Bachmann 1999: 162). The
following paragraphs intend to describe these processes in depth, as a clear
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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communication without misunderstandings is important in many situations,
particularly in the case of selling (see Chapter 8).
Generalisations occur when one example is taken as the representative of a number
of different possibilities (Rosenberg 2000: 43). Often, they are expressed with
universal quantifiers such as “all“, “every“, “always“, “never“, “nobody“, etc. When
a person says, “I trust in nobody.“, the NLP Meta Model suggests several possible
reactions. Firstly, it is possible to exaggerate by using additional universal
quantifiers, e.g. “Is there really nobody in the whole world you trust?“ Secondly, it is
possible to ask for the original experience to gain additional information, e.g. “Have
you been disappointed by anybody?“. Thirdly, it is possible to ask for a counter-
example, e.g. “Do you know somebody you could trust?“ (Ötsch 2000:
Verallgemeinerung, Generalisierung). In this way, the speaker is encouraged to look
for exceptions from his/her generalisations (Bachmann 1999: 168).
Another form of generalisations are the model operators of necessity or possibility.
These indicate rules of conduct or needs which individuals have and are
characterised by words such as “cannot“, “must not“, “should“, etc. (Rosenberg
2000: 43). These operators define what is necessary or possible in the speaker's
model of the world and, therefore, are limiting to the speaker. Questions like “What
stops you?“ or “What would happen if you did?“ in response to the statement “I
cannot...“ allows the speaker to at least acknowledge the possibility of choice and to
disclose subjective limitations (Bachmann 1999: 168).
Deletion describes a process when a human being deletes parts of the meaning of
his/her original experience (Ötsch 2000: Meta-Modell der Sprache). Therefore, it is
essential for a good communications bias to recognise deletions and to bring back
the deleted information (Bachmann 1999: 166). The following forms of deletions are
possible and can be clarified by the Meta Model:
• Nominalisation occurs when a verb which describes an on-going process is
turned into a noun. The on-going action becomes a static noun, and often
nominalisations do not refer to sensory experience and eliminate most of the
specific information in a sentence. The sentence “Teaching and discipline,
applied with respect and firmness are essentials in the process of education“
is full of nouns, but does not give much information. The meaning can be
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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clarified by asking “Who is teaching? Who is being taught? What is taught?“
(Rosenberg 2000: 42).
• Unspecified verbs also leave out information. “Learn this for tomorrow.“ is
an example. It could be important to know how specifically the content
should be studied. The Meta Model helps to clarify this by asking “How
specifically ...?“ (Ibid).
• A lack of referential index may also make it difficult to understand a
statement correctly. “That can be learned easily“ leaves many open
questions: What can be learned easily? How can that be learned easily?
(Ibid).
• Simple deletions refer to sentences which leave out any type of information.
The statement “I can't stand it any more.“ leaves the listener unclear as to
what exactly is meant. A question like “What exactly can't you stand?“ may
throw more light on the intended meaning (Ibid).
• Comparative deletions leave out the comparison. Sentences using words like
“best“, “better“ or “worse“ and “worst“ need something to compare with.
“That is the best answer“ can be clarified by asking “The best among
which?“ (Rosenberg 2000: 40 and 42).
These forms of disclosing deletions make it possible to gather more information
about the intended meaning of a statement and allow a precise and complete
description of the presented content (Bachmann 1999: 165).
Distortions, the third process of building language models, express self-made
limitations, i.e. a person's model of the world is misrepresented (Bachmann 1999:
169). Three different cases can be distinguished:
• Cause - Effect:
The cause and effect-concept is built upon the subjective belief that
somebody else is responsible for one's feelings and emotional state. From
the view of the acting person there is no other possibility than reacting the
way he/she does, and, therefore, the person reduces the various alternatives
to one single behaviour, which usually is not favourable (Bachmann
1999:169). Consequently, it is very limiting to think that someone else is
responsible e.g. for one's anger. The common statement “You get on my
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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nerves“ can be challenged by asking “What specifically do I do that gets on
your nerves?“ The speaker may then discover that the other person is not
really the cause for the effect, i.e. the anger (Rosenberg 2000: 43).
• Mind Reading
When persons mind-read they presume to know, without concrete evidence,
what another person is thinking or feeling (Ibid). Apparently, this person
acts upon his/her own feelings and interpretations and projects these to the
other individual. The assumption “Everybody thinks I am too slow“ can be
made conscious by the question “How do you know what everybody
thinks?“ (Bachmann 1999: 170).
• Lost Performative
Lost performatives are generalised statements about the world that come
from the speaker's own model of the world and express value judgements
and opinions, e.g. “This is a stupid thing to do“. They are very closely tied
to the speaker's belief system. Therefore it is necessary to make the speaker
aware of this by getting him/her to add, “In my opinion...“ or “I think...“
(Rosenberg 2000: 43).
To sum up, the NLP Meta Model of Language is designed to develop the ability to
listen and to find out the complete meaning of a communication (Bachmann 1999:
165). The listener learns to know when he/she has got the relevant information and
when not and is able to ask for it any time. The Meta Model prevents individuals
from projecting their model of the world on others, and gives other people room for
their personal attitudes and models. With the Meta Model human beings train
themselves not to react too hastily to words, but to ask precisely and to build up good
rapport (Ötsch 2000: Meta-Modell der Sprache).
4.3.7 The Milton-Model
The Milton-Model consists of two parts: the inverse language-patterns of the Meta
Model and additional elements of hypnotic language. Whereas the Meta Model aims
at making statements more precise and specific to enlarge consciously the awareness
of alternatives, the Milton-Model describes a situation only vaguely to start a search-
process in the individual. The listener tries to connect what he/she has heard with
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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own experience, but as the other person has not directly addressed the experience, no
or less averse reactions are likely (Ötsch 2000: Milton-Modell).
4.3.8 Metaphors
Metaphors and stories are widely used in the domain of NLP. A metaphor can be
seen as any analogy, comparison, story, fairy-tale, myth or joke which is directly or
indirectly connected to the presented content (O’Connor 1996: 246). The intention
when making use of metaphors is to transfer knowledge from one context into
another (Ötsch 2000: Metapher) and consequently offer a new access to the content
which might make it easier for the learner to follow. Metaphors present an elegant
method to make a complex content clearer, to catch the attention of an audience, to
give meaningful feedback or to promote creative thinking (Ibid). Most people like
being told stories. The story-teller, however, has to bear in mind that the strength of a
metaphor is measured by the listener and not by the himself. Metaphors cannot be
classified in right or wrong, a good metaphor has many levels of meaning, and each
individual may consider different aspects as being important to himself/herself
(O’Connor 1996: 247).
4.3.9 Anchoring
Emotional states have a powerful influence on our thinking processes and behaviour.
It would therefore be useful to make resourceful states constantly available and
stabilise them in the here and now as they are the key to peak performance
(Rosenberg 2000: 35). In NLP, anchoring can be described as a consciously induced
stimulus-response-conditioning (difference to Pavlov’s Stimulus Response Learning
see Section 4.4 and Bachmann 1999: 93). Everybody has a personal history that is
rich in different emotional states. To re-experience these states, a trigger is needed to
bring back the original experience. A stimulus which is linked to and triggers a
physiological state is called “anchor” in NLP (Rosenberg 2000: 35). For
example, a remembered picture may become an anchor for a particular
internal feeling, a voice tone may become an anchor for a state of
excitement or confidence (Dilts 1999: Anchoring). Basically, anchors can be set in
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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any modality - visual, auditory, kinaesthetically, olfactory or gustatory (Bachmann
1999: 94). How anchoring can be used in training situations to make resourceful
states of trainer and trainees become vivid will be shown in Part II of this thesis.
It is significant that the metaphor of an “anchor” is used in NLP terminology. The
anchor of a ship is attached by the crew to some stable point in order to hold the ship
in a certain area and prevent it from floating away. Anchors in NLP serve as
reference points which help human beings to find a particular location on the
experiental “sea” and to hold the attention there and keep it from drifting (Dilts
1999: Anchoring).
4.3.10 Win-Win
A Win-win situation in NLP terminology can be described as a decision or a process
where both parties are winners, and not one winner and one
loser (O’Connor 1996: 350). A positive communication, as
NLP favours, does not accept a losing situation, but rather
one where everyone should benefit. This is extremely important in
training situations where the aims of trainer and trainee should not be contrary, and
in selling situations, where the seller as well as the buyer should have the feeling of
making a good bargain.
In the previous paragraphs a great deal of theory about NLP has been introduced.
The next chapter tries to combine elements of NLP-theory with the learning theories
explained in Section 2.4.
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4.4 Combining NLP-Elements with Learning Theories
Section 2.4 of this thesis has introduced several learning theories relevant for NLP.
The following section intends to establish a connection of NLP and these theories,
i.e. to find out where the parallels and perhaps some differences are.
The first theories referred to in Chapter 2.4 are the behaviouristic theories of
Pavlov's Stimulus Response Learning and Thorndike and Skinner's Operant
Conditioning. As already mentioned in Section 4.3.9, NLP's technique of anchoring
is a consciously induced stimulus-response-conditioning. It is a process that on the
surface is similar to the conditioning technique Pavlov used to create a link between
the hearing of a bell and salivation in dogs (Dilts 1999). According to Bandler and
Grinder, however, anchoring differs from the classical behaviouristic conditioning in
three points:
1. Also initial experience can function as an anchor (principle of „one trial
learning”).
2. In comparison to Skinner, reinforcement is not considered as a necessary
prerequisite for the establishment of anchors (Bachmann 1999: 93f).
3. In the behaviourist's stimulus-response conditioning formula, the stimulus is
always an environmental cue and the response is always a specific
behavioural action. The association is considered reflexive and not a matter
of choice. In NLP this type of associative conditioning has been expanded to
include links between other aspects of experience than only environment cues
and behavioural responses, e.g. a remembered picture or a voice tone (Dilts
1999). Consequently, inner experience and cognitive behaviour are equal to
outer reactions (Bachmann 1999: 94).
There is one more aspect of anchoring related to Pavlov's stimulus-response learning
that is worth mentioning. Pavlov's dog had to be in a certain state for the bell to
mean anything, i.e. it had to be hungry; then Pavlov could anchor the stimulus to the
response. Similarly, the state of learners are in, is important to effectively establish
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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an anchor. For instance, a good teacher knows when to send a message and when
not. If trainees have a sudden insight and the teacher turns on an overhead projector,
it is going to be received in a different way and associated differently than if the
trainees are struggling with a concept. Consequently, timing is a very important
aspect in setting effective anchors (Dilts 1999).
In addition to the comparison to behaviouristic theories, which is dealt with in
literature, the author herself has discovered several parallels of NLP-elements and
the theories of Observational Learning, Cognitivism, Constructivism and Multiple
Intelligences.
As already explained in Section 2.4.3, which deals with Bandura's Observational
Learning, learners imitate the behaviour of a certain model. NLP's belief that all
behaviour has structure and that excellence can be learned by everybody is highly
connected to this theory. Just like in the retention process described in Bandura's
theory, where the observer codes or structures the information in an easily
remembered form, modelling in NLP splits a certain behaviour into small processes
that can be explained and taught to everybody.
NLP's art of perceiving people - VAK - also addresses several learning theories.
Cognitive learning as well as constructivism and the theory of multiple intelligences
refer to the representational systems. As already mentioned in Section 2.4.6 learning
is not unidimensional. Each individual takes in and stores information in a different
way, maybe in pictures or sounds, and has a preferred representational channel
where learning can easily occur. Adressing the individual's preferred representational
system and making these modalities conscious to the individual are NLP-key
elements and can as well be found in the above-mentioned theories.
The theory of constructivism shows one more parallel to NLP. Constructivism
believes in learning as a search for meaning and requires understanding wholes as
well as parts (see Section 2.4.5). NLP's meta-programme of chunking-up and
chunking-down (see Glossary of Terms) can be seen as a parallel. Chunking-up in
NLP means to gain a general overview of a certain topic, whereas chunking-down
stands for looking for details and understanding parts of the whole.
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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Furthermore, constructivism assumes that the mind filters input from the world and
creates its own unique reality, each individual has his/her own model of the world.
This is exactly what NLP believes as well. Through sensory experiences human
beings create their “map” and believe it is reality. As already explained in Section
4.2.2 the “map is not the territory”, but it is important to understand the mental
models of others and to get deeper insight into them.
From the description above it can be seen that NLP has many elements from various
learning theories. It is, however, not only of interest to combine NLP with learning
theories, as recently many new approaches in educational training have done, such as
Mind Mapping, Superlearning and Mental Training. The next section aims at
presenting NLP as an integrative concept.
4.5 NLP as a Modern and Holistic Concept
The Sections 2.2 and 2.3. of this thesis have introduced some basic ideas about right-
and left-brain thinking and other factors of influence on learning, such as the
importance of the Alpha state. These ideas have become more and more important
for alternative learning techniques, which have been developed recently. The author
would like to briefly explain three of these new concepts - Mind Mapping,
Superlearning and Mental Training - and show their relatedness of character to NLP.
4.5.1 NLP and Mind Mapping
Mind Mapping is a technique of making notes developed by Tony Buzan. In contrast
to traditional techniques which are tied to making linear concepts, i.e. a “chain“,
Mind Mapping uses a net-structure. A proverb says that a chain is only as strong as
its weakest part, and, therefore, the danger of missing out an important part or losing
the thread in this linear structure is relatively high. The Mind Mapping net-structure
corresponds much more to the way the human brain works, as one term is in the
centre, which is directly related to branches and twigs (see Figure 10). Mind
Mapping combines words with forms and shapes, colours and pictures, and,
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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therefore, offers a very individual and personal structure to facilitate remembrance
and recognition.
The relatedness of Mind Mapping to NLP is easy to find. Mind Mapping as well as
NLP strongly relate to the theory of the hemispheres. Both methods favour the
stimulation of both hemispheres, and especially the right one, as this side is heavily
neglected in traditional schooling methods. Colours, pictures, visualisation, sketches,
anchoring and association play an important
role in Mind Mapping as well as in NLP. The
combination of words and pictures in Mind
Maps corresponds to the importance of
addressing the preferred representational
system of the individual in NLP. Furthermore,
NLP and Mind Mapping emphasise
individuality, personality and creativity, as each
Mind Map has an individual and personal
character, and NLP favours subjective
experience (Bachmann 1999: 188ff).
4.5.2 NLP and Superlearning
The concept of Suggestopaedia or Superlearning - the terms are used synonimously
today - was created by Georgi Lozanov. Two aspects can be emphasised. Firstly,
Superlearning also pursues the stimulation of both hemispheres, just like Mind
Mapping and NLP. Secondly, a relaxed state for learning is highly significant in the
concept of Superlearning. Chapter 2.3 has already stated that the Alpha state is a
condition where our brain is extremely active and creative, but our body relaxed and
not under pressure. Lozanov discovered that this favourable learning condition can
be created by an active design of the learning environment. He observed that baroque
music is a valuable tool for placing individuals in the Alpha state, as the rhythm of
the heart and the brain-waves adapt to the rhythm of the music. Furthermore,
Figure 10: Example for a Mind Map
(Bachmann 1999: 190).
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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Superlearning also has elements of addressing the various learner types, exercises for
group dynamics and activities for kinaesthetic learners like NLP. Even more,
Superlearning could be integrated in the NLP concept, as Superlearning's sequence
of “theory - relaxing - doing“ (Stanek, personal interview, 5 April, 2000) could
eliminate blocks to learning by evoking energy resources to allow for quick, efficient
and joyful learning (Bachmann 1999: 193 ff).
4.5.3 NLP and Mental Training
Mental training has become very famous because of its success in sports and space
science. Its characteristic is that the learning goal is first achieved mentally before it
becomes reality. This concept of mindfitness is highly connected to Dilts' learning
levels, which Section 3.2 of this thesis has presented. NLP as well as mental training
operate very much with a positive formulation of aims and objectives. Very much
indeed can be achieved on the beliefs-level. Often learners are blocked by their
attitude to learning. Expressions like “I cannot do that“ or “I will never learn that“
prevent individuals from performing as they are supposed to. And exactly here lies
the key. Individuals need to be aware about their aims; they have to set their own
goals and formulate them positively. NLP and mental training favour this personal
definition of goals. If a person believes in his/her mind that he/she will achieve the
goal, it will, in fact, be easier to accomplish (Decker 1995: 77ff and Bachmann 1999:
198 ff).
The preceding sections attempted to present NLP as a modern and holistic concept
among other new approaches to learning like Mind Mapping, Superlearning and
Mental Training. The following chapters of this thesis deal with the practical
application of NLP and how this application is received by trainees.
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PART II
NEURO-LINGUISTIC-PROGRAMMING
IN PRACTICE
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5 Methodology
Part I of this thesis has dealt with the theory about learning and NLP. The second
part presents a selection of practical applications of NLP in learning situations and
the methodology used.
5.1 Interviews
As Chapter 3 of this thesis has already explained, today's business world requires
certain key competencies. Among these, the author has selected language learning,
communication with particular emphasis on selling, and content learning to
investigate in practice. It was decided to conduct one expert interview in each case
study to get deeper insight of how NLP methods are applied in the varying
situations. The author established a set of interview-questions, which can be found in
the appendix (as the interviews were conducted in German, an English translation is
also available). The questions are divided into two parts. The first part includes
general questions about NLP in training situations; the second part was specifically
designed for the field of expertise of the very interviewee. It may be noted that the
general part also includes queries which directly relate to the title of this thesis, i.e.
the learner-centred approach, and questions about NLP-application in other than the
expert's field of activity. Concerning this point, the author intended not to violate
NLP's holistic concept by putting the key-competencies into boxes.
5.2 The Experts
To give the reader a clearer insight who the interviewed experts are and what their
relationship to NLP is like, the author would like to introduce them briefly.
The first interview concerning the language-learning case-study was conducted on
January 26 and February 2, 2000 with Ms. Karin Aricò (Mag. phil.) who is a teacher
of Italian at the Institute of Business Languages at the Johannes Kepler University in
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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Linz and applies many NLP elements in her Italian courses. Ms. Aricò has been
dealing with NLP since 1991, after her attention had been called to it by a colleague.
She decided to attend the NLP Practitioner Training, as NLP seemed to be very
useful and easy to put into practice (Aricò, personal interview, January 26, 2000).
The second interviewee was Mr. Wolfgang Stanek who is a communication trainer at
Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberösterreich reg. Genossenschaft m.b.H. and has been
working for the Upper Austrian Government since 1979. Mr. Stanek was
interviewed on April 5, 2000 as an expert for the second case-study, NLP in
communication and selling, accompanied by his wife, Mrs. Johanna Stanek (Dr.)
who is responsible for personnel development at Raiffeisenlandesbank
Oberösterreich and kindly arranged the meeting. Mr. Stanek made his first contact
with NLP in the early 1990s when he attended an introductory seminar at WIFI, the
Wirtschaftsförderungsinstitut. This seminar was not impressive to him at all. Only in
1994, when he started the NLP-Practioner- and the NLP-Master-course with Gundl
Kutschera, did he discover his fascination for NLP, especially for its holistic concept
and its individuality (Stanek, personal interview, April 5, 2000).
Finally, the third interview concerning the content-learning case-study was
conducted on May 9, 2000 with Professor Dr. Walter Ötsch, who is a professor at the
Institute of Economics at the Johannes Kepler University in Linz. Professor Ötsch
has been dealing with different aspects of communication for more than thirteen
years, first in the context of teaching, later in other areas as well. In 1988, he started
his NLP education with Gundl Kutschera and attended the NLP-Practitioner, the
NLP-Master and Trainer courses. Furthermore, he has gone through further NLP
training with Robert Dilts, Richard Bandler, John Grinder, Helmut Broichhagen,
Lucas Derks and Gunther Schmidt. Since 1992, Professor Ötsch himself has been
offering the NLP-Pracitioner course and, later on, many other seminars like
“change.design - NLP Business Trainer“. He also runs an NLP-server on the Internet
which gives a brief overview of what NLP is, which courses the “Linzer Akademie
für NLP“ (Linz Academy for NLP) offers, provides many good links to other NLP
Websites and includes a comprehensive glossary of NLP-terms (http://www.nlp.at).
The fact that Professor Ötsch teaches content, i.e. micro-economics, at university
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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made it interesting for the author to find out more about how NLP-techniques
support this kind of teaching (cf. Chapter 9 which deals with this case study).
5.3 The Questionnaire
The three expert-interviews, however, are only the first part of the methodology. For
scientific research it is not enough to hear from the experts how they apply NLP
principles and methods in their training. As the experts all have a profound NLP-
education, it is only natural that they are extremely convinced about NLP and its
techniques. Therefore, it was necessary to get some feedback from “the other side“,
i.e. the trainers' students and trainees. The author decided to conduct a quantitative
analysis and created a questionnaire to be distributed among the trainees in one
seminar of each expert to gain information on how the methods of NLP are received
and evaluated by students and trainees, whether students are aware of their own
learning styles and whether they felt the training to be learner-centred. An example
of the questionnaire can be found in the appendix. This example, however, is in
German. The quantitative study was conducted in German, as the courses where they
were distributed were not English classes. Consequently, the author would like to go
through the questions in this section and explain her intentions.
Question 1: You have been attending / have recently attended a seminar of µ. How
would you judge the quality of this seminar?
The trainees had a choice between very good, good, average and bad.
Question 2: What did you like / did you not like in this seminar?
Question 2 already goes more into depth. Students were asked to explain what they
liked and what they did not like in the very course. This was the author's first
possibility to see whether they responded positively to NLP techniques or not, no
matter whether they were aware of applied NLP or not.
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Question 3: How did you feel addressed as an individual in the seminar?
The choice ranked from very good and good to average and not at all. With this
query the author intended to establish a clear connection to the working title of this
thesis.
Question 4: Are you aware of the technique the trainer has used in the seminar?
How would you describe this technique?
Question 4 already wanted to know whether students are aware of the technique the
trainer applied in the courses. They could choose between “yes - plus name of the
technique“ and “no“. Furthermore, they were asked to explain the technique. With
this formulation the author wanted to test how many of the students mention NLP
and whether she could find any NLP-elements in the answers of the technique
description.
Question 5: How would you judge the course design?
The matrix for trainee answers about the course design was the following:
1 2 3 4 5
interesting o o o o o boring
varied o o o o o one-sided
professional o o o o o childish
useful o o o o o useless
individual o o o o o global
learner-centred o o o o o teacher-centred
flexible o o o o o rigid
As the chapters in Part I of this thesis have explained, NLP aims at addressing all
learner types - auditory, visual and kinaesthetic. This demands trainer flexibility and
creativity and should lead to a learner-centred course design, i.e. that every
participant feels addressed as an individual. With the ranking from 1 to 5, which has
a framework of contrary criteria, the matrix shown above wants to draw a picture of
how the course design, especially its variety, individuality, flexibility and usefulness,
is received by the trainers' students.
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Question 6: Which media or exercises /tasks supported the seminar?
Question 6 is another awareness question. It asked the students to mark the media
and exercises which supported the seminar and to give an indication whether the use
corresponded to their representational system, i.e. whether the media were used too
much, just right or too little. This question can be seen in connection with Question
12 which wanted to make students think about what learner type they are. The
author's intention was to check whether the media they marked and the judgement of
their application correspond to their preferred representational system.
Question 7: In which way is this seminar different to others?
The seventh question asked the trainees to describe in which way, if any, the very
seminar is different from other seminars they have attended. With this question the
author hoped to gain some more indications about applied NLP methods which
eventually make the experts' seminars higher quality courses.
Question 8: Do you feel that this seminar helped you acquire important
competencies for your studies / education / profession? If yes or partly, which
competencies?
Question 9: How do you feel about putting the acquired knowledge / competencies
into practice?
The Questions 8 and 9 are very important for practice. As Section 2.1 of this thesis
has explained, there is a difference between data, information, knowledge and skill.
Chapter 3 indicated that the transfer of knowledge is no longer enough.
Consequently, with these questions the author wanted to find out if the seminars
have reached their purpose of not only transferring knowledge but equipping
students with skills they can make use of in practice.
Question 10: Can you imagine that the design and technique of this seminar helps
you in the following situations?
Question 10 is another attempt to incorporate NLP's holistic concept in this thesis.
Just like the experts were asked about other possibilities of NLP application than
their field of expertise, the students of their courses were asked whether they could
imagine that such a course design and the applied technique could help them in the
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following situations: language learning, communication, selling, content learning
and preparing for exams. A choice was given between yes, maybe and no.
Question 11: How would you describe your emotional state during the seminar?
The NLP chapter in the first part of this thesis referred to the importance of a good
emotional state for one's learning process. With Question 11 the author asked the
trainees to mark the positions which come closest to their emotional state in the
seminar.
Question 12: Thinking about your sensory impressions, what type of learner do you
think you are?
This question was already dealt with in the explanation of Question 6.
Question 13: How important is a positive attitude to life for your personal learning
success?
Question 13 is very much related to Question 11. NLP very much stresses a positive
attitude to learning and life as a success factor in one's life and profession.
Consequently, the author wanted to find out with Question 13 whether this positive
attitude to life plays a significant, neutral or no role in students' lives.
Question 14: How would you judge the following “beliefs“?
Question 14 started to pick up some of NLP's beliefs, which the author on purpose
formulated in a provocative manner and without any context given to make trainees
think. For each belief the author created a matrix similar to the one in Question 5.
Students were asked to respond to the beliefs “It is important to discover the joy of
learning“, “There is no failure, only feedback“, and “Each behaviour has a positive
intention“ with the following scheme:
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1 2 3 4 5
useful o o o o o useless
true o o o o o false
practical o o o o o theoretical
strong effect o o o o o weak effect
relevant o o o o o irrelevant
Question 15: How important are the following positions for you?
Question 15 lists several positions which already go into the direction of autonomous
learning where the learner is required to take over responsibility for his/her own
learning success. Chapter 3 of this thesis has explained that the learner should no
longer be only the recipient of knowledge, but be prepared to design his/her own
learning and to give input into training sessions, which, again, demands trainer
flexibility. Furthermore, a good relationship between trainer and trainees is
necessary, which should result in a joyful learning atmosphere where everybody is
enabled to reach his/her learning goals. Therefore, in Question 15 students were
asked to mark whether the following positions are very important, relevant, not very
important or not important at all: responsibility for one's own learning success,
decide oneself about time and place of learning, select learning media oneself,
reflection of interest in the training, possibility to give input, nice and likeable
trainer, humour and fun in the training, trainer flexibility, rigid training programme
and having clear learning goals.
Question 16: What does NLP stand for?
Finally, with Question 16 the author wanted to find out whether students know what
NLP stands for and offered a choice of terms looking similar: Neuro-Linguistic -
Processes, Neuro-Linguistic -Programming, Natural-Life-Programme, Neuro-Lipo-
Pigment, and Neuro-Linear-Processes.
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After having explained the direction of the questionnaire and the intentions behind it,
the author would now like to present the results of the interviews and the quantitative
analysis.
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6 NLP in Training Situations
In the conducted interviews and the seminar “NLP for Language Teachers“ the
author attended in Graz, she has found out that there are several aspects of applying
NLP that fit for any training situation. This chapter intends to summarise these
aspects and to describe what makes a good training situation and which criteria are
necessary for the trainer and the students to apply and benefit from NLP.
As Chapter 3 of this thesis has already mentioned, a common problem in today's
learning and training culture is that trainers teach from their point of view and do not
pay attention to learner needs (Stanek, personal interview, April 5, 2000). Teachers
are not aware of different learning styles; they teach the way they were taught or the
way they prefer to learn. Consequently, they need to become aware of these
differences and learn how to adapt their teaching styles, especially to learn to
become more flexible. (Rosenberg, e-mail to author, March 18, 2000).
NLP offers a variety of possibilities to solve this problem. Teachers can use rapport
to increase the understanding of trainees' models of the world.
Greeting students, smiling at them and showing them that the trainer
likes and understands them can already contribute a lot to
building up stable rapport and, as a consequence, a good training atmosphere.
Mr. Stanek reported that many trainers see their trainees as “pupils“ and not as
“clients“. However, treating trainees as clients rather than pupils is very important,
because it makes is possible that the trainer stands on the same level as his trainees,
and not at a higher one like in traditional schooling. This would create too much
distance and destroy any rapport and relaxed atmosphere. If the level of personal
relationship works, it will be much easier to transfer knowledge, and the factual level
will work as well (Stanek, personal interview, April 5, 2000).
In this context, a good emotional state of the trainer and his/her trainees is also very
important. A trainer will hardly be able to create a good and relaxed training
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atmosphere if he/she is in a bad mood or has to struggle with private problems.
Concerning this point, we should remember the sensitivity of children. They can tell
exactly from their parents' voice and their behaviour if something is wrong. Trainers
should keep in mind that their trainees are sensitive as well and that a bad emotional
state has effects on their learning progress. Consequently, it is of utmost importance
for trainers to disassociate themselves from private problems. This is where NLP's
technique of anchoring comes in. Thinking about positive and successful
experiences, or establishing eye-contact with trainees who are very interested in the
seminar can help to bring back the trainer's positive attitude and energy (Aricò,
personal interview, January 26, 2000).
Vice versa, it is important for the trainer to be aware of and sensitive to the mood
and emotional state of the group. A trainer will find it hard to motivate, inspire and
make the group feel enthusiastic if he/she enters the classroom full of power and
ready to present a huge amount of exercises or content on a Friday evening to
participants who have worked very hard all week long and feel tired. According to
NLP, the trainer will be much more successful if he/she goes into the very mood of
the group. Phrases like “It has been a tough week for us all and you must feel tired.
We will start slowly with today's evening programme. Is this ok for you all?“ put the
trainer on the same level as his/her trainees, establish rapport, show understanding
and will, in fact, contribute to a better training atmosphere (Rosenberg, seminar,
February 4 and 5, 2000).
A positive attitude to learners and the belief in the resources each learner has and
that can be activated, if conditions are favourable, also helps to build up a teacher's
self-confidence, which is very important indeed, as a teacher will never be able to do
his teaching well if he/she is blocked by the belief “I am such a bad teacher“ (Aricò,
personal interview, January 26, 2000). Professor Ötsch stated in the interview that,
unfortunately, teaching does not enjoy a high status at university. Investing time and
energy in good teaching is very low, as many university teachers do not see
themselves as teachers, but rather as researchers. For excellent teachers, however,
teaching is like exercising, which gives them energy, and they feel happy and
relaxed after their classes. This belief and attitude should become a desirable goal for
every teacher (Ötsch, personal interview, May 9, 2000).
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Furthermore, with its VAK-model (VAK = visual, auditory, kinaesthetic), NLP
offers a magnificent opportunity of addressing each trainee's representational system,
and is, therefore, a very individual approach to teaching (Stanek, personal interview,
April 5, 2000). How the experts design the use of media to address visual, auditory
and kinaesthetic learner types will be described in the case-studies. It is, however,
more important for a trainer to find out about his/her trainees' preferred
representational system first to be able to adapt the course design. The author would
like to describe a few possibilities to do this in the following examples.
Ms. Aricò, for example, uses the following learning-strategy exercise. The trainer
writes approximately twelve numbers, letters or symbols (or mixed) onto the
blackboard. The trainees may have a look at these, afterwards the blackboard is
turned away. Now it is the trainees' task to remember and write down as many
numbers, letters or symbols of the blackboard as possible. When this step is
completed, the trainer asks his/her trainees how they remembered these numbers,
letters and symbols. For example, as a certain row of numbers and pictures - this
would characterise a visual type, or with a certain rhythm - this would indicate that
trainees are auditory or kinaesthetically oriented. With this exercise it is possible for
the trainer to get a better impression about the preferred representational system of
his/her course participants and he/she can adapt the course design accordingly
(Aricò, personal interview, January 26, 2000).
Another possibility is to read out a story for the participants. Afterwards, students are
asked to write down or report what they remembered in particular. Depending on the
choice of words, e.g. “the movements of the Indian horse“ or “the brilliant blue sky“,
the trainer can draw conclusions about the various learner types. In this case, it
would be a kinaesthetic type reporting about the movements of the horse and rather a
visual type speaking about the blue colour of the sky (Ibid).
In the seminar “NLP for Language Teachers“ the author attended, several criteria
were worked out by the participants of how observing trainees can give hints about
their representational system.
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Visual learner types
• make very much use of neon markers or rulers
• ask the teacher to write things on the blackboard
• are very tidy and use files with separators
• write in the same colours as the teacher on the blackboard or flipchart
• like receiving handouts and want to have a copy of overhead-slides
• usually bring a dictionary with them to the class, which gives them a feeling of
security, as they can have a look how a word is written down
• show an orderly hand-writing
• eventually prefer working alone to group-/pair-work
• want to see the phonetics to be able to imagine how a word is pronounced
Auditory learner types
• hardly write anything down during classes
• learn by listening and talking
• may talk to themselves or think aloud
• learn and memorise in sequences
• often speak in rhythmic pattern
• like music and rhythm.
Kinaesthetic learners
• like to sit comfortably and like to move
• enjoy role plays very much
• like to play with objects during class
• need to feel well and comfortable in the group.
In a real learner-centred course with the intention of increasing learner-autonomy
learners can also be challenged to find out more about their preferred learning styles
themselves, in single or in pair work. For instance, learners could go through a
survey with different statements about learning, like the one by Ms. Marjorie
Rosenberg and can be found in the appendix (Rosenberg, seminar, February 4 and 5,
2000).
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Another possibility to discover more about one's own modality is the “improvised
Swassing & Barbe Diagnostic Activity“. The activity is done in pairs sitting opposite
each other. Each person has a total of twelve items. There must be three different
sorts of items and four pieces of each. For example, each person could have four
coins, four paper clips and four erasers. Person A starts by laying out four items in a
pattern which Person B looks at until he/she thinks he/she is able to duplicate the
pattern. Person A then covers the items and Person B tries to reproduce the pattern
with his/her items. Person A adds one item each time until it becomes too difficult
for Person B to remember. This is continued through six different input-output
combinations, which are shown in the matrix below, then the pairs switch roles. It is
important for both Person A to observe carefully what Person B is doing, as well as
for Person B to become aware of his/her own strategies.
Person A is responsible for choosing the items and their order. For the visual and
kinaesthetic mode, he/she must arrange them. For the auditory mode, he/she needs to
arrange them and say them aloud.
Person B's tasks are the following:
INPUT OUTPUT
Visual looks at items ð Kinaesthetic/
Visual
arranges items
Visual looks at items ð Auditory says order aloud
Auditory hears order of items ð Kinaesthetic/
Visual
arranges items
Auditory hears order of items ð Auditory says order aloud
Kinaesthetic feels items ð Kinaesthetic/
Visual
arranges items
Kinaesthetic feels items ð Auditory says order aloud
Figure 11: Swassing & Barbe Diagnostic Activity (Rosenberg, 2000: 25)
Another important factor which is closely related to NLP's feel-well principle and
good emotional state is the learning environment. Ms. Aricò and Mr. Stanek both
referred to and confirmed this importance. Both trainers do not use the classical
arrangement of tables and chairs in the training room, but use U-forms or a form
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where the participants sit together in groups and are able to see each other, which
makes it easier to build rapport. Ms. Stanek does not even use tables because they
are barriers to communication. A sunny and bright room is of utmost importance to
him. Even more, for Mr. Stanek a good learning environment in a seminar also
includes good food or going outside to enjoy fresh air and scenery (Stanek, personal
interview, April 5, 2000). Professor Ötsch also believes in the relevance of the
learning environment and stated that it is often connected to anchors. For example,
the smell of “Hörsaal 1“ (Lecutre Hall 1) at the Johannes Kepler University in Linz
is a negative anchor for many students, which hinders them in their learning process.
However, Professor Ötsch also argues that teacher beliefs in the context of a good
learning environment are decisive. For instance, if a sunny room is important for the
trainer, it will also play a significant role for his/her trainees. If the trainer does not
refer to it, it will not be that relevant (Ötsch, personal interview, May 9,2000).
This argument leads the author to the qualifications and the characteristics a good
trainer who teaches with NLP must have and, on the other hand, what is expected
from trainees:
First of all, trainers need to be congruent. They have to believe in what they are
doing in order to teach it to others. Otherwise, they will lose their credibility
(Rosenberg, e-mail to author, March 18, 2000).
Moreover, a good and profound NLP-education is a prerequisite. All three experts
agree that courses which try to teach NLP-methods in a few days or weeks are not
serious, even dangerous, especially when techniques like anchoring are used.
Anchoring may also create negative feelings, and it can be very dangerous for
psychologically unstable persons if a trainer does not know how to deal with such a
situation (Aricò, personal interview, January 26, 2000).
Trainees, on the other hand, need to show a certain amount of openness and
flexibility. They need to be prepared to try out new things and to get involved in the
seminar (Stanek, personal interview, April 5,2000). This may be a hurdle for very
structured and rigid personalities (Aricò, personal interview, February 2, 2000).
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After having discussed general NLP-principles and prerequisites for a successful
seminar, the author would now like to go into detail by describing the three case-
study situations mentioned before. The following structure will be pursued. Firstly,
the author will deal with common problems in the learning situation and then try to
describe alternatives and solutions using the information she could gain from the
interviews and a personally attended seminar. This descriptive part, which represents
the trainer's view mainly, will be followed by an analysis of the quantitative study.
The questionnaire examines how what the experts say they do is received by their
trainees.
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7 NLP and Language Learning
“Language is about concepts and ideas – it’s not about the use of the subjunctive. […] Communi-cation is what it’s all about. Everything else is irrelevant.“ (Beaver, 1999).
Language is one of the many forms of communication (Beaver, 1999) and learning a
foreign language, in particular English, is a growing social and economic necessity
in many countries (Maguire, 1997). This case-study is built upon an interview
conducted with Ms. Karin Aricò at the Johannes Kepler University in Linz, upon
personal experience the author has made in the seminar “NLP for Language
Teachers” and conversations and e-mail contacts with Ms. Marjorie Rosenberg,
Master of Fine Arts and NLP-Trainer who gave the author valuable insight into her
methods. The case-study intends to give ideas how commonly reported problems in
language learning can be overcome and how traditional language classes can be
designed more learner-centred with the use of NLP-elements.
7.1 What Makes Language Learning Difficult
Concerning the point “problems in language learning“ the interview with Ms. Aricò
took its starting point with a statement made by Diana Beaver who is a Member of
the Institute of Linguists and a consultant and trainer of NLP:
“People are nervous about getting totally involved in learning
another language because they are terrified of losing their identities
[…]” (Beaver, 1999).
One of the crucial problems that hinder people in learning a foreign language is fear.
Ms. Aricò stated in the interview that this fear is mainly derived from the negative
experiences students have made at school, where teachers only stress the mistakes
they make, but leave unmentioned what they do correctly. This kind of teaching
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creates fear and negative beliefs in the learner, which leads to the effect that learners
set themselves unnecessary limitations. Ms. Aricò has experienced several learners
say “I will never learn that” or “I do not dare to speak out loud if I am not perfect”.
They show a real lack of spontaneity, refuse the principle of “learning by doing” and
are terrified about trying out new things. The reason for this attitude may lie in the
very analytical way of teaching and learning traditional schooling pursues. Ms. Aricò
referred to the differences of adult and child learning (see also Section 2.1 of this
thesis) and reported in the interview that children like to learn very intuitively and by
playing games, whereas adults learn very analytically and like a system of rules, as
traditional schooling mainly stimulates and encourages the left brain hemisphere.
Exactly this system of rules, however, often limits learners in their capabilities and
provokes the problems mentioned above (Aricò, personal interview, February 2,
2000).
7.2 NLP - Methods and Exercises in Language Classes
Ms. Aricò's prime intention is to take away students' fear of the foreign language.
Good rapport between trainer and trainees as a basic rule of communication is a
prerequisite. As already mentioned in Chapter 6, this includes a communicative
arrangement of tables. Furthermore, it is important to allow mistakes, because
“nobody is perfect“. Ms. Aricò paces her students by repeating what they do or say
correctly. In comparison to many traditional language teachers she stresses the
positive and the correct answers of students and not their mistakes. She tries to
support her students' self-confidence by letting them work in very small groups or in
pairs and does not force them to role-play in front of the whole class, which may
again create fear.
Another remedy to help learners of foreign languages build up a positive belief about
themselves are songs. Ms. Aricò asks her trainees to listen for certain words and to
write down how often these words could be heard. This creates a positive belief in
the learners, as they become aware of what they already understand in the foreign
language. In addition, students often join in singing, when they hear a song and have
a feeling of getting acquainted with the very language.
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There is one more situation, especially in university courses, that creates fear: the
final exam. Ms. Aricò does not do any grammar checks in her examinations, but puts
more emphasis on students' writing and creativity. For example, they need to find
arguments for a project of the European Union or to write a comment on a discussion
on TV. In this process, a discussion in groups is possible and allowed in the first
hour of the exam. The purpose of this procedure is, again, to take away fear. In the
second hour of the exam students have to write down their arguments individually.
The following NLP techniques, which Ms. Aricò applies in her language classes and
the author partly has experienced personally in Ms. Rosenberg's seminar, shall be
explained explicitly:
• Modelling:
Ms. Aricò presents listening comprehension exercises to her students. They have
to find out what was being talked about. Afterwards, the trainees are asked to
role-play in groups to the same content they heard on the tape. In this way, they
model the native speakers from the tape, as they try to adopt their vocabulary,
expressions and pronunciation.
• Pacing:
Ms. Aricò likes to pace her students by repeating and reinforcing correct
answers, by meeting them at their own learning pace and by allowing every
learner his / her own learning pace and learning style. This is also what children
do: They decide for themselves how fast and in which way they learn.
Consequently, Ms. Aricò paces her students and pursues the principle of picking
up the learners at the point where they are at the moment and then lead them with
new inputs.
• Future Pacing:
This technique can be easily applied in connection with role-plays. For example,
Ms. Aricò asks her students to role-play a hotel reservation. The trainees work in
groups and when they finish the exercise, Ms. Aricò positively reinforces them
by saying “When you travel to Italy in the summer, you will already be able to
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book a room perfectly.” The current status of students being able to book a room
at a hotel in the foreign language is projected into the future and gives students a
positive feeling of what they already can express in Italian.
• Leading:
In this context, the trainer gives a new input. For example, Ms. Aricò wants her
students to tell her which topics are of interest to them. However, which text is
being dealt with is selected by the trainer. This selection is the leading technique
the trainer applies, as she is aware of her intentions with the very text and leads
the students in this direction, e.g. discovering new grammar structures or making
them aware of certain linguistic characteristics. Ms. Aricò does not appreciate
traditional teaching of grammar. She prefers to let her students explore grammar,
when, for example, trainees have to find all verbs in a specific tense in a text or
in a song. Then they are requested to make hypothesis about the formulation of
the tense or grammar structure.
• Reframing:
Section 4.3.5 of this thesis has explained that reframing means to give something
a different context or content. Ms. Aricò applies this technique in particular with
difficult learner types who disturb the class by calling out solutions before
weaker students or beginners even had the time to think about the question. Ms.
Aricò changes the disturbing behaviour of these students into a positive one by
using them as specialists for more difficult tasks. In contrast, she also addresses
the beginners directly with easier exercises that are suitable for them.
The same technique can be applied for changing the context and content of an
unsuccessful presentation of a group. The bad presentation receives a different
“frame”, and the positive aspects are emphasised, e.g. “You have now received a
lot of information about the Benetton family.”
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• Metaphors
Ms. Aricò has experienced that most students favour stories. Therefore, she likes
to tell short stories, also stories from her own experiences, and likes to use
metaphors to explain vocabulary.
• Anchoring
With the anchoring technique Ms. Aricò reanimates the positive experiences of
the group. For example, she likes to recall her students’ memories to the journey
to Italy they went on together. “Do you remember how much fun we had?” In
this way, she triggers the positive learning experience of her students to the
present (Aricò, personal interview, February 2, 2000).
The author herself has experienced the anchoring technique in language training.
There are several other possibilities and rituals of setting anchors in trainees, for
example music and colours. Ms. Rosenberg repeats playing a certain song to end
a break. Students are prepared to get back to work again, and they know when
they hear this song the pause is going to end. During this song trainees can finish
their coffee and their conversation with other colleagues in peace and quiet.
Another ritual is using different coloured paper for different activities, for
example yellow colour for grammar sheets, pink colour for songs. When students
see the colour, they know exactly what is going to come next.
However, caution has to be paid to the setting of negative anchors. For example,
a video camera or a tape recorder may evoke negative feelings and fear. Many
students remember their negative experiences with these tools at school or at
other traditionally held seminars. Consequently, it requires a great deal of trainer
sensitivity to use these media (Rosenberg, seminar, February 5, 2000).
• Meta-Programmes
Ms. Aricò applies NLP meta-programmes especially for teaching reading
strategies, for example the “away from – towards” and the “similarities –
differences” meta-programmes.
When Ms. Aricò goes through a text with her students, there are two possibilities
to do so: The first one is from global understanding to detailed understanding. In
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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this process the primary aim for students is to find out the main statements of the
text before going into detail. This is called the “towards”-strategy. For difficult
texts, however, Ms. Aricò prefers the second procedure. She first explains
difficult vocabulary and expressions to take away students’ fear from the text. So
this time, she starts with the details, i.e. the vocabulary and structures, before
going to a global understanding. This technique is named “away from”-
technique.
The “similarities – differences” technique is applied in pair-works. It is possible
to put two communicative students together (= similarities-technique) or to form
a group of one student who likes to talk very much and one student who is rather
silent (= differences-technique). The intention of this grouping is that the
communicative student should draw the other one out of his / her reserve.
• VAK in language teaching:
Especially in language teaching it is quite easy to do exercises that address the
representational systems of learners. Concerning English language classes there
are various possibilities to practise the use of tenses in a learner modality centred
way.
Visual learners, for example, could work together in pairs to practise the English
present perfect tense. One partner looks at the other, then he / she closes the eyes
and the other partner has to change something on himself / herself, e.g. remove a
ring from the finger or open a button of the shirt etc. When the colleague opens
the eyes again, he / she is asked “What have I changed?” and has to guess. In this
way, addressing visual learners is combined with practising grammar in an
entertaining way.
In the same sense, the following auditory tool can be applied for practising and
explaining the past tense: All the group members close their eyes and the trainer
makes a noise, for example, he / she might clap his / her hands or tear a paper
apart. The trainees only concentrate on the noise. When they open their eyes
again, the teacher asks them “What did you hear?” and they have to answer using
the past tense, e.g. “I heard you clap your hands”. The fact that the noise is over
Learner-centred Training with NLP
72
now and does not last to the present may make the use of the past tense clearer to
auditory learners.
Kinaesthetic learners, however, need to move and feel something to learn. For
example, they could be asked to role-play a statue, or a tree or any other object.
One student starts and one after the other joins. When they have finished their
role-play, they sit down again and start talking about the exercise. The trainer
might ask, “What happened? Who was the first to begin the role-play? What did
the others do?” etc. and the students would have to use the past tense in their
answers. They feel that the object they role-played is not there any longer. In this
way, they “feel” a better understanding of the past tense.
Another exercise to practise the present continuous tense that actually addresses
all learner types is to role-play a machine. One student starts making a certain
movement and noise of a machine. Other students keep joining making different
noises and different movements. The other students watch them and talk about
their colleagues’ activities: “What are they doing?” This exercise serves the
visuals – they can “see” what their colleagues are doing, as well as the
kinaesthetics – they can move and play, and the auditory learners – they can
make a noise and “hear” which noise their partners are making.
All these exercises have one major advantage in common – N.T.P., which is
short for “No Teacher Preparation” (Rosenberg, seminar, February 4 and 5,
2000). These effective exercises hardly require any trainer preparation. Thus the
teacher can invest more time in preparing other exercises that may be more time-
consuming, for example the “re-teaching” exercises. The sense of re-teaching is
that kinaesthetic learners cannot fully follow the “teaching” process but may
need “re-teaching”. The author would like to explain this technique by using an
example of the third person “s” in the English language and asking questions
with “does”:
The trainer writes the following sentence on the blackboard:
Learner-centred Training with NLP
73
The attention of the learners is drawn to the use of the third person “s”. An
auditory reinforcement is given by explaining orally, a visual reinforcement by
using colour. The trainer now explains what happens when this statement is
transformed into a question, i.e. the use of “does” and that the third person “s” in
“eats” disappears.
The visually oriented students notice that the “s” of “eats” moves to the question
word “does” by the colour. The auditory learners realise the difference because of
the trainer’s oral explanation and use of words. However, what happens to the
Maria eats pizza.
Maria eats pizza.
Does Maria eat pizza?
Learner-centred Training with NLP
74
kinaesthetic learners? With the “teaching” methods used in this example they are
fairly neglected, they need some kind of “re-teaching”. This can be done by the
following activity:
The trainer prepares different colourful cards for each word and punctuation mark
and selects one student each word to hold the card.
The students place themselves in the correct word order and the kinaesthetics can
feel that the third person “s” of “eats” is there. As a next step, the “point” is
replaced by the student with the “?”-card and the student with the “s” is replaced
by the trainee with the “Does”-card. They have to move around to find the correct
word order again.
Maria eat s •
pizza
Maria eat
Does
pizza
?
Learner-centred Training with NLP
75
This kind of re-teaching helps the kinaesthetic learners in their understanding of
the correct formulation of a question. They can experience that the third person
“s” of “eats” moves to the question-word “does”.
The same kind of exercise can be applied for teaching the names of colours in a
foreign language. Students move around and according to the instruction of the
trainer, e.g. “Touch something blue” they look for an object of this colour and
touch it. In this way, kinaesthetically oriented students can really “feel” the
colours (personal experience in seminar “NLP for Language Teachers”, February
4 and 5, 2000).
The techniques described in this section make it obvious that in these language
classes the learners are really part of the training, because they are directly involved.
The following paragraphs draw a picture of trainees' feedback.
7.3 Feedback from Trainees
This section presents the results which were achieved from the quantitative analysis
in Ms. Aricò's Italian II course in the summer semester 2000. The questionnaire was
distributed to 33 students. 31 persons among these were between 18 and 30 years
old, one student was aged between 31 and 40, and one more between 41 and 50
years. 67 per cent of the questioned students were female, 33 per cent male.
Concerning their current occupation, 48 per cent of the trainees were full-time
students, 39 per cent part-time students and 6 per cent were employees.
The data which could be gained from the questionnaire are as follows:
Learner-centred Training with NLP
76
Question 1: Quality of Seminar
Figure 12: Quality of Seminar
Concerning the quality of the seminar the diagram clearly shows that a great
majority of Ms. Aricò's students, i.e. 80 per cent, considered her teaching to be very
good. Still 18 per cent believed it to be good, whereas only 2 per cent voted for
average. Nobody ranked the quality to be bad.
Question 2: What did you like / did you not like in this seminar?
Many responses came to this open question. The most significant ones relate to the
topics treated in the course and the use of media. 64 per cent liked the current topics
and that Ms. Aricò involves her students in the topic -selection. Although most of the
students were content with the topic selection, still 18 per cent would prefer less
politics in the course and three per cent did not like the topics relating to school and
university.
A majority of 55 per cent appreciated Ms. Aricò's use of media in the course, in
particular songs, videos and films. At the same time, however, the bad quality of the
video recorder and a too small TV were mentioned as negative points.
The varied selection of exercises and tasks as well as the teaching of competencies
relevant for practice and the tempo of teaching were judged very positively. Nine per
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Quality
Per
cen
tag
e
A 80% 18% 2% 0%
very good good average bad
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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cent referred to going to the cinema together, to Ms. Aricò's creativity and her
stories. However, nine per cent of the trainees did not feel good about the
presentations they had to do. They had little motivation for preparation and
considered the presentations of their colleagues to be boring for the audience.
Another nine per cent felt overloaded with texts, they would prefer fewer texts and
going through these texts together. Group work was seen positively as well as
negatively, depending on the students' preferences.
A very positive image was given about the atmosphere in the course. The students
liked Ms. Aricò's friendliness and the very personal relationship between trainer and
trainees and among trainees as well. Obviously, rapport was established very well in
the course. Furthermore, students felt that Ms. Aricò involves and motivates
everybody and that course requirements as well as explanations were very clear and
exact.
A detailed table with absolute and percentage figures to the reported arguments can
be found in the appendix.
Question 3: How did you feel addressed as an individual in the seminar?
Figure 13: Individuality
The response to this question is very clear: A vast majority felt addressed as an
individual participant in Ms. Aricò's course, 64 per cent very good and 33 per cent
good. This result is a significant proof of the individual and learner-centred approach
of Ms. Aricò's language teaching.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Per
cent
age
A 64% 33% 3% 0%
very good good average not at all
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Question 4: Are you aware of the technique the trainer has used in the seminar?
How would you describe this technique?
Figure 14: Awareness of Technique
The result of Question 4 was a clear “no“: 79 per cent were not aware of the
technique Ms. Aricò applies. It was interesting to see, however, that six per cent
clearly responded with NLP and that nine per cent also answered yes, but did not
mention NLP. Yet in their description the author found several elements that come
very close to NLP, for example that teaching is adapted to sensory impressions of
individuals by the use of different media. Other descriptions ranked from
autonomous working and learning by doing to the sequence and combination of
reading/listening, speaking in pairs and general discussion. Some students also
referred to Ms. Aricò's resource exercises and to a unconscious and intuitive
language learning process.
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%P
erc
en
tag
e
A 6,1% 9,1% 78,8% 6,1%
yes NLPyes (NLP not mentioned)
no no response
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Question 5: How would you judge the course design?
1 2 3 4 5
interesting 60,6% 27,3% 12,1% 0,0% 0,0% boring
varied 60,6% 24,2% 15,2% 0,0% 0,0% one-sided
professional 57,6% 42,4% 0,0% 0,0% 0,0% childish
useful 54,5% 42,4% 3,0% 0,0% 0,0% useless
individual 27,3% 45,5% 21,2% 6,1% 0,0% global
learner-centred 42,4% 36,4% 18,2% 3,0% 0,0% teacher-centred
flexible 45,5% 36,4% 18,2% 0,0% 0,0% rigid
Figure 15: Course Design
The chart shown above reflects explicitly the arguments students reported in their
answers to Question 2 - what they liked or did not like in the seminar. More than 50
per cent gave a one to each of the following characteristics: interesting, varied,
professional and useful. The individual, learner-centred and flexible approach of the
teaching method was also evaluated with good grades.
Question 6: Which media or exercises / tasks supported the seminar?
The following table lists the media which were recognised by Ms. Aricò's students.
overhead slides videos, films flipchart
filming with videocamera penboard singing songs
pictures listening to music blackboard
handouts games with motion group / pair work
individual work role playing discussion
posters exercises with cassettes story telling
listening to texts text reading crosswords
Internet / Intranet
Figure 16: Recognised Media in Ms. Aricò's Course
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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It was interesting to see that only two media were marked by 100 per cent of the
trainees: listening to music and text reading. Still 94 per cent marked group/pair-
work, 91 per cent videos and films and discussion, 88 per cent the blackboard and
exercises with cassettes. The rest of the media, which are listed in the above table,
were marked with percentage figures between three and 69 per cent. For details see
appendix.
The reasons for these differences in noticing the use of media may be various.
Firstly, it may be that some media did not appeal at all to students' preferred sensory
modality and, consequently, they did not realise them. Secondly, the other way
round might also be possible - that students did like these media so much that their
use is almost automatic and not consciously realised. Thirdly, it may also be the case
that the author did not define and name the media exactly enough and that some
students had a different understanding of the terms.
The second part of Question 6 wanted to get information if the interviewed students
agreed with the use of the very media or exercise or whether its use was too much or
too little. Most students were very confident with the media and exercises. 30 per
cent, however, would prefer to see more videos and films, 21 per cent would like to
listen to music more often, 18 per cent want more discussion, 12 per cent desire
more role playing and nine per cent would like to get more handouts and to listen to
stories more often. There was only one significant figure for an excessive use of
media: 12 per cent found that text reading was too much, which was already
indicated in Question 2.
Question 7: In which way is this seminar different to others?
The following chart shows the results of this open question:
Criteria %
relaxed atmosphere 18%
fair teacher 6%
very personal 18%
interesting topics 24%
relevant for practice 15%
Learner-centred Training with NLP
81
learning from each other 3%
addressing trainees individually 21%
interactive, varied, flexible 24%
not compulsory – higher motivation 12%
no feeling of stress, no unnecessary pressure like in French 6%
friendliness, likeable teacher 9%
use of media 6%
Ms. Aricò is very open to students' problems, always ready to help 12%
better structure 3%
understandable, clear 3%
team work 3%
not much work required 3%
too much like school, too little independent work (e.g. project) 9%
NLP application 6%
no response 3%
Figure 17: Difference to Other Seminars
This table is a full reproduction of the answers that came up. The highest percentage
figures of 24 and 21 per cent refer to the chosen topics and the course design, which
is very flexible, interactive and varied. The relaxed and friendly atmosphere was
another point that was mentioned again. Six per cent of the questioned students even
directly responded with NLP application, which equals the six per cent who were
aware of NLP application in Question 4.
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82
Question 8: Do you feel that this seminar helped you acquire important
competencies for your studies / education / profession?
Figure 18: Competencies
A significant majority of 82 per cent are clearly convinced that Ms. Aricò's course
helped them acquire important competencies for their further education and
profession. Another 15 per cent voted for partly, and only three per cent felt that they
did not acquire any new skills.
Among the competencies mentioned by the trainees were a better use of the Italian
language and knowledge of the culture, but also social competencies like working in
a team and a feeling for personal development and self-confidence as well as NLP.
These answers underline the holistic approach of Ms. Aricò's teaching, as not only
language learning is a matter of interest, but also the personalities of her students.
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Pe
rce
nta
ge
A 82% 15% 3%
yes partly no
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Question 9: How do you feel about putting the acquired knowledge / competencies
into practice?
Figure 19: Putting Competencies into Practice
As Figure 19 shows, 97 per cent of Ms. Aricò's students feel very good or good
about the practical use of the acquired knowledge and competencies. Only three
percent have mixed feelings.
Question 10: Can you imagine that the design and technique of this seminar helps
you in the following situations?
yes maybe no
Language learning 79% 15% 6%
Communication 85% 15% 0%
Selling 24% 52% 24%
Content learning 61% 24% 15%
Preparing for exams 61% 21% 18%
Figure 20: Usefulness of Technique in Different Situations
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Per
cent
age
A 24% 73% 3% 0%
very good good average bad
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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79 per cent of the questioned students are convinced that Ms. Aricò's teaching
method helped them in their language learning. Even more students, 85 per cent, find
it useful for communication. Content learning and preparing for exams is also
supported by a majority of 61 per cent. Concerning selling 52 per cent consider the
technique eventually useful, the answers “yes“ and “no“ balance each other with 24
per cent. The selling situations obviously is a matter of uncertainty, probably because
it is not directly related to the Italian II course the students attended.
The author was very happy to receive even more feedback from the trainees. Some
students reported that Ms. Aricò's course helped them develop their self-
presentation, their ability to work in a team and to work through texts in a very
efficient manner.
Question 11: How would you describe your emotional state during the seminar?
The importance of a good emotional state for a successful learning process has
already been stressed several times in this thesis. The following data could be
obtained from Ms. Aricò's students:
Figure 21: Emotional State
6%
12%
48%
79%
33%
61%
76%
6%
33%
3%
9%
55%
0%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
under stress
tense
concentrated
relaxed
receptive
tired
motivated
positive attitude
indifferent
expectant
negative attitude
passive
eager to learn
Percentage
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Figure 21 clearly shows that the majority of Ms. Aricò's students show a positive
attitude to the course and felt very motivated, receptive and relaxed, which might be
an effect of Ms. Aricò's resource exercises. A rather high percentage, however, also
felt tired - 33 per cent. Some of the students blamed Monday morning, when Ms.
Aricò's course took place, for their tiredness.
Question 12: Thinking about your sensory impressions, what type of learner do you
think you are?
Figure 22: Learner Types
The data which could be gained from this question indicate that Ms. Aricòs's
students are very well aware of their learning preferences. Nobody crossed the point
“do not know“. A minority of the trainees, i.e. three per cent, consider themselves to
be auditory learner types, already 27 per cent think they are primarily visually
oriented, and a majority of 67 per cent could not tell exactly and marked a mixture.
Among these students the distribution is as follows:
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Per
cen
tag
e
A 3% 27% 3% 67% 0%
auditory visual kinaesthetic mixture do not know
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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Figure 23: Mixed learner types distribution
42 per cent think they are visual and auditory, nine per cent each believe they are
visual and kinaesthetic or auditory and kinaesthetic, and six percent learn in all three
modalities.
Question 13: How important is a positive attitude to life for your personal learning
success?
Figure 24: Importance of Positive Attitude
For the majority of the questioned students a positive attitude to life is a crucial
factor for their personal learning success. Only nine per cent marked neutral, and
three per cent did not know. The results of this question are also reflected in
Question 11, where 76 per cent of the students stated that they had a positive attitude
to the course.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Per
cen
tag
eA 42% 9% 9% 6%
vis+aud vis+kin aud+kin vis+aud+kin
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Per
cent
age
A 88% 9% 0% 0% 3%
very important
neutralnot very
importantirrelevant do not know
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Question 14: How would you judge the following “beliefs“?
It is important to discover the joy of learning.
1 2 3 4 5 n.r.
useful 57,6% 24,2% 9,1% 3,0% 0,0% 6,1% useless
true 60,6% 21,2% 3,0% 6,1% 9,1% 0,0% false
practical 6,1% 27,3% 36,4% 24,2% 0,0% 6,1% theoretical
strong effect 6,1% 45,5% 36,4% 6,1% 3,0% 3,0% weak effect
relevant 3,0% 51,5% 33,3% 12,1% 0,0% 0,0% irrelevant
There is no failure, only feedback.
1 2 3 4 5 n.r.
useful 18,2% 42,4% 15,2% 9,1% 9,1% 6,1% useless
true 6,1% 21,2% 45,5% 6,1% 15,2% 6,1% false
practical 0,0% 12,1% 39,4% 24,2% 21,2% 3,0% theoretical
strong effect 6,1% 6,1% 18,2% 45,5% 9,1% 15,2% weak effect
relevant 15,2% 21,2% 33,3% 12,1% 9,1% 9,1% irrelevant
Each behaviour has a positive intention.
1 2 3 4 5 n.r.
useful 18,2% 21,2% 36,4% 0,0% 15,2% 9,1% useless
true 12,1% 15,2% 27,3% 18,2% 24,2% 3,0% false
practical 3,0% 18,2% 36,4% 15,2% 21,2% 6,1% theoretical
strong effect 3,0% 15,2% 42,4% 21,2% 9,1% 9,1% weak effect
relevant 6,1% 21,2% 42,4% 6,1% 15,2% 9,1% irrelevant
Figure 25: Beliefs
As already mention in Chapter 5 of this thesis where the author described her
intentions with the questionnaire, these beliefs were formulated in a provocative
manner on purpose. In the table shown above the author marked the highest
percentage figures to elucidate the meaningfulness. Especially the first belief “It is
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important to discover the joy of learning“ was given very good grades by the
trainees. More than 50 per cent each found it useful, true and relevant. The
uncertainty obviously grew with the second belief “There is no failure, only
feedback“. The highest percentage figures are ranked around the middle. A trend
towards a positive thinking concerning this believe can, nevertheless, be noticed.
Concerning the third belief “Each behaviour has a positive intention“ the highest
percentage figures can be found at the neutral position. The rest diverges very much
between the good and bad grades. However, the fact that the students did not
automatically reject this belief makes the author assume that they thought about it
and tried to believe in the positive.
Question 15: How important are the following positions for you?
very relevant not very not important
important important at all
responsibility for own learning success 72,7% 27,3% 0,0% 0,0%
decide oneself about time and place of learning 60,6% 33,3% 3,0% 3,0%
select media oneself 30,3% 39,4% 30,3% 0,0%
my interests should be met in the training 33,3% 63,6% 3,0% 0,0%
possibility to give input in training 39,4% 48,5% 12,1% 0,0%
nice and likeable trainer 57,6% 39,4% 0,0% 3,0%
humour, joy and fun in the training 54,5% 36,4% 9,1% 0,0%
flexibility of trainer 45,5% 42,4% 9,1% 3,0%
rigid, good organised training programme 27,3% 27,3% 39,4% 6,1%
have clear learning goals 45,5% 45,5% 9,1% 0,0%
Figure 26: Important Positions for Learning
The results which could be obtained form this question demonstrate that Ms. Aricò's
students are already far along the way of taking over responsibility for their own
learning process concerning design, time and location of learning, giving input and
having fun with learning. It is important for them to set their own learning goals and
enjoy flexibility.
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Question 16: What does NLP stand for?
Figure 27: Meaning of NLP
A clear majority of 88 per cent chose the correct answer of Neuro Linguistic
Programming and are probably familiar with Ms. Aricò's methods. It is interesting,
however, that only six per cent in Question 4 claimed to know that Ms. Aricò applies
NLP, but 88 per cent do know the correct meaning of NLP.
12%
88%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Natural Linguistic Processes
Neuro Linguistic Programming
Natural Life Programme
Neuro Lipo Pigment
Neuro Linear Processes
no response
Percentage
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8 NLP in Communication – “Selling“
“Everybody lives by selling something.“ (R.L. Stevenson, as cited in Cohen 1991: 375)
As already mentioned in Section 3.2 of this thesis today’s ongoing globalisation
promotes the international sales business. In this branch good and effective
communication is a must for every seller. Winfried Bachmann and Armin Priester
write in their book “Win-Win – Die Handschrift des erfolgreichen Verkäufers” that it
is very important for human beings who professionally depend on many and good
contacts with clients to know what makes them appear likeable to the other person
and how they can create and keep good rapport (Bachmann 1992: 103). The
following case study is an attempt to find out what makes a good seller and how
NLP can support communication in the selling business. It is based upon an
interview conducted with Mr. Wolfgang Stanek, the corresponding literature and a
quantitative study conducted in one of Mr. Stanek’s communication seminars.
8.1 What Makes a Good Seller
The selling business has been undergoing profound changes in the last 50 years.
After the Second World War goods were very rare in Europe. Consequently, quick
and easy selling was nearly guaranteed. At this time, the customers were hardly
critical, competition was not very harsh and changes did not occur as rapidly as
today. However, the markets soon started to saturate, and customers were no longer
willing to buy everything. A new type of seller was demanded, a seller whose prime
orientation was to boost sales and turnover, irrespective of customers' needs and
demands. Clients' disappointment and anger about being sold products and services
they did not need or did not meet their expectations created a very bad image of
sellers. This phase lasted approximately until the seventies. Since this time, a new
kind of seller is in its development (Deelen 1996: 15ff). A seller who is only
interested in his/her own commissions or only works under pressure from above to
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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meet targets will no longer be successful. Clients no longer want to be persuaded that
they need something, they are very well able to decide for themselves about their
needs. What they do need, however, is accurate and professional information (Hurst
1996: 155ff). Very rarely do clients need only one product today, much more often
they demand solutions for complex problems, and they want to find these solutions
together with the selling person (Gronwald 1999: 138). In this context, it is easy to
discover the problems in today's selling culture. Mr. Stanek says that many sellers
pursue their own aims too eagerly and neglect their customers' needs and
requirements. A lack of active listening and weak or too little questioning and
analysing often lead to misunderstandings and different interpretations. In fact,
customer and seller often talk at cross purposes. Consequently, a profound
knowledge of communication techniques and empathy is a prerequisite for every
successful seller. In the interview Mr. Stanek stated several criteria a good seller
needs to have. Firstly, he/she must like people and be able to adjust quickly to
different situations. A good seller must know which behaviour is adequate at the
very moment. Secondly, he/she needs to be convinced about the products he/she
sells. It will not work, if the seller himself/herself has doubts about the product, as
the clients will certainly feel this uncertainty. Thirdly, mission and attitude are
important as well. A seller should see himself/herself as consultant or companion
rather than as a seller, meant as somebody who tries to push up his/her sales quotes
irrespective of customers’ needs. Consequently, a long-term client-seller relationship
should be more important than short-term sales figures.
In Mr. Stanek's view, NLP facilitates to adjust quickly to different personalities and
situations. NLP in its tolerance towards other people helps sellers who deal with this
kind of technique to accept that their customers may have different views and
different opinions (Stanek, personal interview, April 5, 2000). The following section
tries to give clearer insight in Mr. Stanek's training methods and is supported by
corresponding literature.
8.2 NLP – Methods and Exercises in Communication (Training)
The course design in Mr. Stanek's seminars is individually suited to the very group.
Therefore, it is not possible to describe a certain sequence of exercises or tasks. Mr.
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92
Stanek likes to work with “surprise-effects“. For example, at the beginning of a
seminar when the participants introduce themselves, trainees are required to
memorise the first name and surname of the other participants. Everybody expects an
exercise repeating the names to be the next step. Here, Mr. Stanek surprises his
trainees by doing something completely different. Only at a later stage, trainees are
asked to recall the names of all the others. According to Mr. Stanek the effect is that
trainees receive a positive feeling of “I can do that“ and thus are strengthened in their
self-confidence.
• Rapport, Pacing & Leading
Furthermore, a long enough warming-up phase is also very important for a
communication training. Mr. Stanek reports that this phase of getting to know
each other and establishing rapport often lasts up to half a day in a two days
seminar. It does not make sense to “attack“ trainees immediately with a video
training. A trainer needs to strive for transparency, because trainees need to know
what they will be confronted with in the training. Fear and uncertainty must be
taken away from trainees. It is important that the trainer creates an atmosphere
where mistakes are allowed and that he / she excites the participants' curiosity.
The exercises in the warming-up phase vary depending on the group's openness
and flexibility. Sometimes, Mr. Stanek lets the group “dance“ into a good
morning and seminar start to establish a comfortable atmosphere.
Especially for human beings working in the selling business the ability of
establishing good and stable rapport is a prerequisite. Too often sellers rely on
their clients concerning building up good contact. However, this will only work
if the customers depend on the seller's offer. Today, the situation is the other way
round in most cases, and therefore it is the seller's task to establish good rapport
(Schott 1996: 25).
In today's modern business world new media like mobile phones and e-mail
often replace personal conversations between customers and sellers. Upon the
author's question whether it is possible to establish rapport with these media as
well Mr. Stanek answered that the telephone definitely allows building up good
contact. The seller can adapt his voice in loudness and tonality, he / she can pick
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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up the customer's choice of words, and thus pace and lead the conversation
partner. Rapport via e-mail is rather difficult in Mr. Stanek's opinion, as the style
of language is very short and precise. Eventually, taking over the same concise
style may create rapport. It is, however, much more difficult than creating
rapport in letters, for example.
Sales people often have to cope with the problem that rapport suddenly breaks
up. Mr. Stanek mentioned in the interview that it is not possible to give any rules
how to re-establish rapport again. The seller must, however, ask himself / herself
what the reason for the rapport break-up was, which can be various, and then act
accordingly (Stanek, personal interview, April 5, 2000). In his book “NLP - Die
letzten Geheimnisse der Starverkäufer“ Alfred Bierach gives several examples of
rapport-killers: Minimising or making fun of the client's problem, criticising or
evaluating the customer or pacing bad habits. These behaviours make it
impossible to build up trust and understanding what rapport is all about (Bierach
1990: 76 ff).
• VAK in communication training & selling
Mr. Stanek has made the experience that in most cases the preferred
representational system of trainees cannot be filtered clearly enough in the
training. Therefore, in his training sessions nearly everything is visualised and
intensified by exercises. Consequently, all three modalities are addressed with
the same intensity. Among the media he uses and exercises he applies are group
work, role plays, educational conversations, videos and educational films,
flipchart, overhead, video beamer etc. With its VAK technique NLP is perfectly
suitable for a learner-centred approach to teaching, as it addresses the individual.
Everybody has one's own talents and abilities, and it is the trainer's task to make
the trainee aware of his / her abilities and develop them.
This process can only take place when trainer and trainee are on the same level.
An accompanying approach is needed. It will not work if there is a hierarchy of
superior and subordinate between trainer and trainee (Stanek, personal interview,
April 5, 2000). For people in the sales business it is useful to address their
customers' representational system for example with pictures or brochures
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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(visual), with samples or models (kinaesthetic) or by telling stories and giving
information about the product (auditory). It is, of course, also possible to pick up
the customer's modality in his / her choice of words (Bandler 1995: 73 ff).
• Metaphors:
Mr. Stanek is highly in favour of using metaphors. Concerning selling, he
advises the use of as many metaphors as possible from the client's area of
business. Speaking “the same language“ results in better rapport, and as a
consequence the factual level becomes more effective and productive as well.
• Anchoring
Relaxing and activation exercises are part of every seminar in Mr. Stanek's
courses. He tries to anchor these good emotional states of his trainees.
• Modelling
NLP's technique of modelling is easily applied in a communication training. Mr.
Stanek reports that video training automatically induces modelling. Participants
can see what the other trainees do well and model this behaviour. They
instinctively try out new things and incorporate good techniques they see from
other trainees.
• Future Pacing
Mr. Stanek applies future pacing in connection with the formulation of aims.
Trainees are requested to ask themselves how they feel when they have reached a
certain goal. Triggering this positive feeling creates higher motivation in most
cases. Consequently, future pacing can also be applied in time management, as
high motivation usually leads to a more efficient working pace (Stanek, personal
interview, April 5, 2000).
• Meta Model of Language
Concerning the meta model of language Mr. Stanek is not very familiar with its
use. In the interview, however, he stated that he can very well imagine its
application in the selling business. Especially, discovering generalisations,
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95
making comparisons and asking the customer for details seems to be well
applicable for him (Stanek, personal interview, April 5, 2000). Successful sales
people have the ability to ask the right questions to eliminate unclarity in the
customer's style of language concerning generalisations, deletions and distortions
(see Section 4.3.6). The following examples give clearer insight into the
precision probing technique:
Customer's statement Precision Probing
“Your competitor’s product is better.“ Which competitor do you mean?
Which product do you mean?
“Sellers are very insistent.“ Can you remember a sales person
who was not insistent?
Really all sellers?
“I am waiting for the best offer.“ The best offer compared to what?
“I would like something different.“ Different compared to what?
Figure 28: Precision Probing (Bandler 1996: 105ff)
• Reframing
NLP offers a huge variety of techniques and methods. This variety makes it
possible for any trainer to pick up the techniques which suit him / her most, and
as NLP is very individual it does not claim that every trainer has to make use of
all techniques. Reframing, for example, does not fit into Mr. Stanek's personal
repertoire. He can, however, imagine the use of the “yes, and...“-technique
instead of the “yes, but...“-phrase the author referred to in the interview, which is
suggested in Richard Bandler's and Paul Donner's book “Die Schatztruhe - NLP
im Verkauf“ as a solution to cope with objections made by the customer (Stanek,
personal interview, April 5, 2000). Bandler and Donner claim that agreement
frames reinforce rapport, whereas the use of the word “but“ destroys it. If the
seller says “I understand what you mean, but...“ he / she communicates that he /
she actually does not understand what the customer means and creates objection.
Consequently, sellers should replace the use of words like “but, nevertheless,
although“ by connecting words like “and, because, as“, etc. (Bandler 1995: 129
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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ff). In the second part of their book Bandler and Donner present a script with
different selling situations and suggest solution patterns. In the interview Mr.
Stanek stated that he himself thinks little about solution patterns, but that these
patterns facilitate the selling of the book, as many persons expect concrete tips
and solutions (Stanek, personal interview, April 5, 2000).
• Different Perspectives:
Upon the author's question whether he applies any other NLP techniques in his
training, Mr. Stanek mentioned the model of the three positions. A powerful
possibility to promote flexible thinking is to take different positions. NLP lists
three positions, i.e. three possibilities to look at any conversation. The first
position is the individual's own reality, what the individual thinks due to his / her
experience. The second position is the reality of another person in the same
situation. Finally, the third perspective, the “meta perspective“, is the position to
look at relationships from outside (Stanek, personal interview, April 5, 2000).
For example, a trainee asks the trainer a question. For the trainer being in the first
position the answer is so clear that the trainer asks himself / herself why the
participant asks such a question. In this case, it is helpful for the trainer to be able
to look at the problem from the trainee's point of view. He / she will notice that a
certain aspect of the explanation did not reach the trainee, thus he / she answers
the question. From the third perspective, the meta position, the trainer can then
see if the trainee is now content with the reply (O'Connor 1996: 52f). This model
can be extremely helpful in the selling business, as the seller can take the
customer's position and see what is not clear to him / her. As a result, better
understanding is guaranteed and rapport is strengthened.
8.3 Feedback from Trainees
The following paragraphs concentrate on the presentation of the results that could be
obtained from the quantitative study in Mr. Stanek’s seminar “Communication”,
which is a seminar teaching the basics of communication for employees of the Upper
Austrian Raiffeisen Banking Group. The seminar does not only address employees
who have constant contact with clients, but actually all employees, because good
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communication is a prerequisite for everyone who works in a team or deals with
other people. Mr. Stanek’s seminar groups are very small, there are fourteen persons
as a maximum in a course. For the author’s case study, the questionnaire was
distributed to a seminar group which counted eight people. Among this group, four
persons were between 18 and 30 years old, and another four persons between 31 and
40 years. The proportion of sex was equally divided, 50 per cent female and 50 per
cent male. Concerning their occupation, a full 100 per cent were employees of the
Raiffeisen Banking Group in Upper Austria.
The data which could be obtained from the questionnaire are as follows:
Question 1: Quality of Seminar
Figure 29: Quality of Seminar
The chart shown above says it all: 100 per cent judged the seminar to be very good,
which is indeed a very good rating for the trainer.
Question 2: What did you like / did you not like in this seminar?
A clear majority of 63 per cent liked the good and relaxed atmosphere in the course,
which can be interpreted as a sign of good rapport among the group members and the
trainer. Another 38 per cent appreciated the exchange of work experience, the
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Quality
Per
cen
tag
e
S 100% 0% 0% 0%
very good good average bad
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examples and their closeness to reality. 25 per cent of the trainees liked the variety of
the course design and the open communication which was possible throughout the
seminar. The trainer’s flexibility, knowledge acquisition and the positive aspects also
for private life were mentioned by another 13 per cent of the trainees. There was
only one negative point mentioned by 13 per cent of the group, i.e. one group
member: the use of the video camera. The trainee reported that its use is not realistic.
The answer did not give any hint whether the trainee had had any negative
experiences with this kind of media and, consequently, showed a feeling of fear, but
it indicated that the person obviously has some rejections about being filmed with
the camera.
Question 3: How did you feel addressed as an individual in the seminar?
Figure 30: Individuality
The diagram gives a very clear impression of Mr. Stanek’s individual and learner-
centred training. A vast majority of 75 per cent felt very well addressed as individual
participants, 25 per cent judged the individuality to be good. One of the factors that
may have contributed to this result is the fact that Mr. Stanek's seminar groups are
very small, which makes it, of course, easier to address trainees individually than, for
example, in a lecture at university.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Per
cent
age
S 75% 25% 0% 0%
very good good average not at all
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Question 4: Are you aware of the technique the trainer has used in the seminar?
How would you describe this technique?
Figure 31: Awareness of Technique
Like in Ms. Aricò’s Italian course, the answer of Mr. Stanek’s group upon the
question of awareness which technique was used in the seminar is a clear “no”.
62,5 per cent of Mr. Stanek’s participants were not aware of the technique he
applies, and 12,5 per cent did not give an answer at all. However, one quarter of his
trainees found NLP as the correct answer, which is an increase by 19 per cent
compared to Ms. Aricò’s course where only six per cent responded with NLP. In the
trainees’ description of technique some elements relating to NLP were found like
addressing the participants’ various sensory stimuli and the individuality of the
course.
0,0%
20,0%
40,0%
60,0%
80,0%
Pe
rce
nta
ge
S 25,0% 0,0% 62,5% 12,5%
yes NLPyes (NLP not mentioned)
no no response
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Question 5: How would you judge the course design?
1 2 3 4 5
interesting 87,5% 12,5% 0,0% 0,0% 0,0% boring
varied 62,5% 37,5% 0,0% 0,0% 0,0% one-sided
professional 75,0% 25,0% 0,0% 0,0% 0,0% childish
useful 87,5% 12,5% 0,0% 0,0% 0,0% useless
individual 25,0% 50,0% 25,0% 0,0% 0,0% global
learner-centred 37,5% 50,0% 12,5% 0,0% 0,0% teacher-centred
flexible 50,0% 50,0% 0,0% 0,0% 0,0% rigid
Figure 32: Course Design
In the table shown above the author marked the highest percentage figures to
facilitate the chart reading. The positive image of the communication seminar is
beyond doubt. It can be seen clearly that the majority graded Mr. Stanek’s course
with a “one” in five of seven cases. His seminar is very interesting, varied,
professional, useful and flexible. Concerning the individual and learner-centred
approach 50 per cent voted for “two”. The neutral phase, “three”, was only marked
twice: in the “individual – global” and in the “learner-centred – teacher-centred” pair
of terms.
Question 6: Which media or exercises / tasks supported the seminar?
overhead slides videos, films flipchart
filming with video-camera penboard cards
listening to music blackboard handouts
games with motion group/pair work role playing
discussion posters story telling
listening to texts
Figure 33: Recognised Media in Mr. Stanek’s Course
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Compared to the answers of Ms. Aricò’s group, the answers to this question of Mr.
Stanek’s trainees are much more homogenous. A full 100 per cent noticed the media
videos and films, flipchart, recording with video camera, penboard, cards, listening
to music, games with motion and group/pair work. Still 87 per cent marked role
playing as being used in the seminar, 75 per cent noticed discussion and 50 per cent
each could remember overhead slides, handouts and story telling. It has to be noticed
that one trainee did not give any answer to whether the very media were used too
much or too little. The majority was very content with the media and exercises. Only
one trainee in each case found the recording with the video camera (compare to
Question 2), listening to music and role playing too much. On the other hand, one
participant in each case wanted more use of the flipchart, listening to music more
often, more games with motion, more group and pair work and more discussion.
Question 7: In which way is this seminar different to others?
Criteria %
trainer's positive aura 13%
not rigid, but flexible 38%
seating plan (semicircle) 13%
no pressure to succeed 13%
involvement of trainees, no frontal presentation 13%
open course, working together 13%
the person is most important, not a topic 25%
Figure 34: Difference to Other Seminars
Figure 32 lists the answers that were given to this openly formulated question. The
highest percentages of 38 per cent and 25 per cent refer to the trainer’s flexibility and
to the fact that the person as individual is most important and not a specific topic like
in other banking seminars. The other points mentioned by 13 per cent each case
mention the trainer’s positive aura, sitting in a semicircle and not in rows like at
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102
school, the openness in the course and the trainees’ involvement and that there is no
pressure to succeed.
Question 8: Do you feel that this seminar helped you acquire important
competencies for your studies / education / profession?
Figure 35: Competencies
A vast majority of 87,5 per cent feel that they have acquired competencies and
abilities to be useful for their further profession. The rest of the group voted for
partly; noone felt that he / she did not acquire any new skills. Among the
competencies mentioned by Mr. Stanek’s trainees were the ability to listen actively,
to express oneself clearer and to adjust to a conversation partner in a better way. 13
per cent also reported that they had learned how to reduce tensions in a conversation
and that they had become aware of what can go wrong in a conversation and how
these situations can be handled in a better way.
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Per
cen
tag
e
S 88% 13% 0%
yes partly no
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Question 9: How do you feel about putting the acquired knowledge / competencies
into practice?
Figure 36: Putting Competencies into Practice
As the diagram demonstrated above shows, all of Mr. Stanek’s trainees feel very
good or good when they think about putting the acquired competencies into practice.
This is probably the best grade a trainer can get, as he / she has reached the goal of
enabling students to make use of what they have learned in the seminar.
Question 10: Can you imagine that the design and technique of this seminar helps
you in the following situation?
yes maybe no n.r.
Language learning 12,5% 62,5% 25,0% 0%
Communication 100,0% 0,0% 0,0% 0%
Selling 87,5% 12,5% 0,0% 0%
Content learning 50,0% 37,5% 12,5% 0%
Preparing for exams 25,0% 50,0% 25,0% 0%
Figure 37: Usefulness of Technique in Different Situations
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Per
cent
age
S 12,5% 87,5% 0,0% 0,0%
very good good average bad
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From the numbers in Figure 37 it can be assumed that the seminar-technique has
reached its purpose. A full 100 per cent of the participants feel that it helped them in
the matter of communication, and a high majority of 87,5 per cent found it useful for
selling. Even the technique’s usefulness for content learning was agreed to by half of
the participants. In this case, the situations of language learning and preparing for
exams reflect uncertainty. In both cases, the majority could not decide between yes
and no, probably because it is not relevant for their situation. A quarter of the
trainees rejected it, whereas 12,5 per cent were convinced that such a seminar could
also help them in their language learning and in preparing for exams. Like in Ms.
Aricò’s case study, Mr. Stanek’s trainees also gave additional information. 25 per
cent reported that they had derived a very personal benefit for private and family life,
especially in dealing with children.
Question 11: How would you describe your emotional state during the seminar?
Figure 38: Emotional State
The diagram in Figure 36 gives a positive image about the emotional state of Mr.
Stanek’s learners. The importance Mr. Stanek himself puts on a relaxed and friendly
atmosphere is clearly reflected by his seminar participants. All of them had a positive
13%
25%
25%
38%
63%
100%
100%
88%
50%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
under stress
tense
concentrated
relaxed
receptive
tired
motivated
positive attitude
indifferent
expectant
negative attitude
passive
eager to learn
Percentage
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attitude towards the course and felt motivated. 88 per cent were expectant about the
course, 63 per cent felt receptive and half of the trainees were eager to learn. The
involvement of learners is confirmed by the fact that no trainee at all marked the
possibilities of “passive”, “indifferent” and “negative attitude”. However, compared
to Ms. Aricò’s course, the number of relaxed people is 10 per cent lower and counts
38 per cent. Furthermore, it can be noticed that 25 per cent of the trainees felt tense
and 13 per cent under stress. The latter figure, which equals one person in Mr.
Stanek’s course, may be identical with the trainee who did not like the recording
with the video camera, which may have created a feeling of stress.
Question 12: Thinking about your sensory impressions, what type of learner do you
think you are?
Figure 39: Learner Types
Only 12,5 per cent of Mr. Stanek’s trainees think they are mainly visual, a quarter
considers themselves to be kinaesthetic learner types, and one learner did not know.
Like in Ms. Aricò’s course, the highest percentage figure can be found at the
“mixture” criteria. The 50 per cent who marked this point believed that they learn
mainly in the visual and auditory modality.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Per
cent
age
S 0,0% 12,5% 25,0% 50,0% 12,5%
auditory visual kinaesthetic mixture do not know
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Question 13: How important is a positive attitude to life for your personal learning
success?
Figure 40: Importance of Positive Attitude
Like in Ms. Aricò’s seminar, the majority of Mr. Stanek’s trainees also considers a
positive attitude as an important factor for learning success. 12,5 per cent each case,
however, have a neutral position or do not attribute importance to this factor.
Question 14: How would you judge the following beliefs?
It is important to discover the joy of learning.
1 2 3 4 5 n.r.
useful 37,5% 62,5% 0,0% 0,0% 0,0% 0,0% useless
true 50,0% 37,5% 12,5% 0,0% 0,0% 0,0% false
practical 25,0% 37,5% 25,0% 0,0% 0,0% 12,5% theoretical
strong effect 62,5% 12,5% 12,5% 0,0% 0,0% 12,5% weak effect
relevant 37,5% 25,0% 25,0% 0,0% 0,0% 12,5% irrelevant
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Per
cent
age
S 75% 13% 13% 0% 0%
very important
neutralnot very
importantirrelevant do not know
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There is no failure, only feedback.
1 2 3 4 5 n.r.
useful 37,5% 37,5% 0,0% 0,0% 12,5% 12,5% useless
true 50,0% 25,0% 0,0% 12,5% 12,5% 0,0% false
practical 25,0% 12,5% 25,0% 12,5% 12,5% 12,5% theoretical
strong effect 62,5% 0,0% 12,5% 0,0% 12,5% 12,5% weak effect
relevant 37,5% 37,5% 0,0% 0,0% 12,5% 12,5% irrelevant
Each behaviour has a positive intention.
1 2 3 4 5 n.r.
useful 50,0% 12,5% 25,0% 12,5% 0,0% 0,0% useless
true 37,5% 37,5% 0,0% 0,0% 25,0% 0,0% false
practical 37,5% 0,0% 37,5% 12,5% 0,0% 12,5% theoretical
strong effect 25,0% 37,5% 0,0% 12,5% 12,5% 12,5% weak effect
relevant 37,5% 25,0% 12,5% 0,0% 12,5% 12,5% irrelevant
Figure 41: Beliefs
Like in the first case study, the author marked the highest percentage figures in the
tables shown above. Compared to the answers that were given in Ms. Aricò’s course,
Mr. Stanek’s trainees show less uncertainty concerning the beliefs they were
confronted with. Concerning the joy of learning, the highest percentage figures can
be found at the grades “one” and “two” only, and there are no “fours” and “fives”.
The second belief, “There is no failure, only feedback”, seems to appeal very much
to Mr. Stanek’s seminar participants and reflects clearly his personal attitude to open
communciation and a “safe” learning environment. With the third belief, “Each
behaviour has a positive intention”, the spread of the highest percentages is a little
wider, but nevertheless the answers reflect a very positive attitude to this belief,
much more than in Ms. Aricò’s group, where the neutral position leads.
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Question 15: How important are the following positions for you?
important relevant not very
important
not important
at all
n.r.
responsibility for own learning success 87,5% 12,5% 0,0% 0,0% 0,0%
decide oneself about time and place of learning 37,5% 37,5% 12,5% 0,0% 12,5%
select media oneself 37,5% 50,0% 12,5% 0,0% 0,0%
my interests should be met in the training 0,0% 75,0% 12,5% 0,0% 12,5%
possibility to give input in training 25,0% 25,0% 37,5% 0,0% 0,0%
nice and likeable trainer 75,0% 12,5% 0,0% 0,0% 12,5%
humour, joy and fun in the training 75,0% 25,0% 0,0% 0,0% 0,0%
flexibility of trainer 62,5% 37,5% 0,0% 0,0% 0,0%
rigid, good organised training programme 0,0% 37,5% 50,0% 0,0% 12,5%
have clear learning goals 50,0% 37,5% 0,0% 0,0% 12,5%
Figure 42: Important Positions for Learning
The pattern of the highest percentage figures of Ms. Aricò’s students and Mr.
Stanek’s trainees is very much alike. Responsibility for one’s own learning success
and autonomy concerning time, location and the selection of media as well as good
rapport in the training and flexibility rank among the most important factors for
learning. A rigid, good organised training programme is not very important for 50
per cent of the participants. The spread among the point “possibility to give input in
training”, however, is eyecatching. A quarter each considers this point to be very
important or at least relevant. For 38 per cent of Mr. Stanek’s trainees, however, it is
not very important. The reasons for this high figure can only be guessed, the trainees
did not give any further explanations for their decisions.
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Question 16: What does NLP stand for?
Figure 43: Meaning of NLP
The results of this question of Mr. Stanek’s students are nearly the same than the
ones of Ms. Aricò’s students. 87,5 per cent know what NLP stands for, only one
trainee gave his/her choice to Natural Linguistic Processes. From these results it can
be assumed that Mr. Stanek’s training technique is familiar to his participants.
12,5%
87,5%
0%
0%
0%
0%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Natural Linguistic Processes
Neuro Linguistic Programming
Natural Life Programme
Neuro Lipo Pigment
Neuro Linear Processes
no response
Percentage
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9 NLP and Content Learning
“Lernen ist wie Rudern gegen den Strom, wer aufhört, treibt zurück.“ (Britten, B. as cited in Duden - Reden gut und richtig halten: 1994: 559).
Preceding chapters of this thesis have already mentioned that we live in a fast
moving world. Research in every field, technological progress, information
dissemination in the Internet's data-highway occur faster and faster, and noone who
wants to keep up in business can permit himself/herself to stay behind. As a
consequence, abilities how to cope with this huge amount of information have
reached a high status in the business world, also among sales people in particular, as
they are at the front dealing with the customer and need to know any details and new
developments concerning the product, their company, or their industry. Students as
well are confronted with many more information sources in their studies than they
used to be a decade ago. The following case study is based upon an interview
conducted with Professor Dr. Walter Ötsch, who teaches economics at the Johannes
Kepler University. It intends to demonstrate possible approaches for students and
anyone who has to fight his/her way through the information jungle how to prepare
for and how to cope with performance anxiety, which is often connected to exams
and presentations.
9.1 What Makes Content Learning Difficult
The interview started off with the author's question about what makes content
learning sometimes so difficult for students. In the specific case of microeconomics
Professor Ötsch stated that economics is very formal. Economics contains many
models and in most cases it cannot be combined with any knowledge taught at an
earlier stage of education. Consequently, the gap between theory and practice is very
big, the trainer usually cannot take for granted that students at the beginning of their
university studies already have acquired basic knowledge of economics.
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Furthermore, a sound knowledge of mathematics is needed to understand economics.
This is, however, often a problem. In the beginning of this thesis the author stated
that when children leave school they have often learned to hate learning. Professor
Ötsch remarked in the interview that it is the same case with mathematics. Only
when they hear the word “maths“ many students' hair stand on end. Traditional
schooling spoiled their joy of dealing with mathematical models. Therefore,
Professor Ötsch considers it of utmost importance to gain control of this horror-
scenario.
In this connection it is also significant to be able to deal with performance anxiety.
There are three types of performance:
“the one you prepared, the one you gave, and the one you
wished you had given. The first and third may be roughly
similar - if only the middle one matched as well!“
(http://www.lambent.com/article.htm).
Fear of exams, being tested and being in the spotlight often create butterflies in one's
stomach. The fear of failing is always present and overburdens the human body,
which reacts with unease, chills, and blocks to creativity and humour. Negative
stress, nervous feelings and negative internal dialogues consume a great deal of
students' energy, and leave only little power for the imminent performance. The
emotional state when one performs, however, has the greatest influence on success.
Consequently, it can be very useful for students to learn how to befriend their inner
critic and how to change anxiety into joy and challenge (Schott 1994: 7f and
http://www.lament.com/article.htm).
9.2 NLP – Methods and Exercises for Content Learning
The further course of the interview concentrated on the possibilities how the
problems in connection with content learning mentioned above can be solved with
the help of NLP.
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• Representation and Development of Joy
Professor Ötsch stated that it is, first of all, important to establish a personal
relationship to the content. At school, interest and relation were united in the
personality of the teacher. At university, this is different. Students need to
become aware that they themselves and their personal learning success are
concerned and need to develop their own access to the content. The second step
would be, for example in economics, to represent the formal models. These
models need to be worked up in a suitable manner, visualising them, for instance,
and practising this visualisation process. The third step would then be to develop
interest and joy. In this connection, Professor Ötsch referred to NLP's concept of
excellence. The trainer should create an atmosphere to enable students to
understand their individual excellence. Students should research and discover in
themselves how they do the things they do well in such an excellent manner.
They need to become aware of these patterns and then project them to the content
they need to study or to the exam they are preparing for. Professor Ötsch
mentioned hobbies as an example. In their hobbies, human beings are able to
learn very much in a short time and to proceed quickly. They simply devour
books dealing with their hobby and memorise this content easily. According to
Professor Ötsch, finding out how one is able to perform to excellence will be one
of the most important abilities in future. Students should be able to develop an
internal model how they are able to learn quickly and effic iently, for example,
how to be able to read ten books a week and enjoy it.
Learning is a permanent process. Professor Ötsch also stated that it would also be
possible to ask oneself “What hinders me in my learning? Is it school or the
institution university?“ Today, information is abundant, just thinking about the
medium Internet, it is only necessary to find an access that creates joyful
learning.
• Emotional State - Beliefs and Rapport
As mentioned in the preceding section, a good emotional state is very important
for joyful learning and good performance. Professor Ötsch suggested two
possibilities how to gain control of the horror vision of failing:
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The first one is to develop an inner simulation process. Students should change
the worst case scenario, which is failing the exam, into a positive one. Therefore
it is necessary to establish new inner beliefs. The inner critic that constantly tells
me “I should“ and “I cannot“ needs to be befriended. A critic can be a good
friend, and a necessary part of the creative process. Consequently, the critic
needs to be reframed. One possibility to do so is to listen for the positive
intentions of one's inner critic and to reformulate negative beliefs. “I should do
well“ becomes “I can do well“ and “I must not make this mistake”, becomes “I
will not make this mistake.“
Secondly, according to Professor Ötsch non-verbal contacts with one's examiner
play an important role for success as well. Social competence is important,
because the examiner also evaluates the quality of the social relationship, which
may affect the mark the student gets by one or two grades. Therefore,
establishing good rapport is very useful for examinees.
Furthermore, Professor Ötsch cares very much about the emotional state of his
students in the lecture. In his opinion, the trainer has two roles. Firstly, he/she
defines the social situation, and secondly, he/she is a coach, a mentor to
encourage students to learn. The latter function is very important in Professor
Ötsch's view, because it is much easier to learn if one feels well. In this context,
however, he criticises the university as a very hierarchical institution. He stated
that university is very authoritarian, in particular in the German speaking world.
This construction makes students appear authoritarian as well, because they act
very little. Consequently, it should be a trainer's prime intention to encourage
students to contribute more input in the training and to take them out of their
passiveness.
• Reframing
Professor Ötsch stressed the significance of students' attitudes towards an exam.
He mentioned that probably the expression “exam“ or “Prüfung“ in itself is
wrong, as it immediately creates a negative anchor and triggers stressful feelings.
Professor Ötsch supports a change from “exam“ to “feedback“. In this sense,
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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reframing takes place, because the “exam“ receives a different context. Professor
Ötsch advises students to see exams with the attitude of a sportsmanship. The
worst attitude in his opinion is to combine the exam with one's identity, like
“There is so much to learn, it is so difficult, and I am too stupid to learn it.“
• VAK in content learning:
Concerning media, Professor Ötsch mainly uses overhead slides. He himself is
very strongly visually oriented, and this is also reflected in his teaching. He
stated that some good simulation programmes would be available, but he does
not use them in his teaching. In Professor Ötsch's view, visual and auditory
learner types are well addressed at university, kinaesthetic learners, however, are
strongly neglected. Again, he considers the university in its hierarchical
construction to be the cause, but he does not break through these limitations.
9.3 Feedback from Trainees
To provide a congruent methodology a quantitative study was executed in one of
Professor Ötsch’s courses as well. The questionnaire was distributed in the lecture
“Microeconomics”, which is part of the curriculum students of “Ecnomics” have to
go through. 20 students in the first part of their degree were questioned, and a full
100 per cent of them were between 18 and 30 years old. Concerning sex, 40 per cent
of the sample were female, 60 per cent male. The majority, i.e. 80 per cent, of
Professor Ötsch’s trainees were full-time students at the Johannes Kepler University,
only 20 per cent were part-time students.
After having presented the results from Ms. Aricò’s and Mr. Stanek’s group, the
following paragraphs finally show the analysis of Professor Ötsch’s students of
microeconomics.
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Question 1: Quality of Seminar
Figure 44: Quality of Lecture
Concerning the quality of Professor Ötsch's lecture his students give very positive
feedback about his teaching. 70 per cent of his trainees judged the lecture to be very
good, a quarter found it good, and only 5 per cent gave average grades to the
microeconomics lecture.
Question 2: What did you like / did you not like in this seminar?
35 per cent of Professor Ötsch's students valued the open teaching he pursues and
that he looks for dialogue with his students. Some students even referred to an
atmosphere where students are allowed to make mistakes and are not supposed to be
perfect already at the beginning of the course. They also gave positive feedback
concerning the good and exact explanations Professor Ötsch gives, and even 30 per
cent explicitly liked his overhead-slides and how he visualises processes. Another 15
per cent of the trainees judged very positively that Professor Ötsch treats problems
from different perspectives and offers several approaches how to solve the very
problem. Consequently, it is possible for each individual student to find his / her
preferred access to the problem. In this case, Professor Ötsch's students reported
exactly what he stated in the interview to facilitate content learning, i.e. that students
need to find a personal access or relation to the content to study.
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Quality
Pe
rce
nta
ge
O 70% 25% 5% 0%
very good good average bad
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Among the criteria that came-up in the section “what I did not like“, 15 per cent
reported that the pace in the lecture was too quick. Another five per cent each case
did not like the request for feedback and claimed that the lecture does not have
enough structure.
Question 3: How did you feel addressed as an individual in the seminar?
Figure 45: Individuality
Like Ms. Aricò's and Mr. Stanek's trainees, Professor Ötsch's students also give
positive feedback concerning individuality. 55 per cent felt very well addressed as
individual participants, the rest of 45 per cent judged the individuality to be good.
This result is remarkable in that way that Professor Ötsch's course was a lecture,
which traditionally is very global and teacher-centred at university compared to a
seminar.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Pe
rce
nta
ge
O 55% 45% 0% 0%
very good good average not at all
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Question 4: Are you aware of the technique the trainer has used in the seminar?
How would you describe this technique?
Figure 46: Awareness of Technique
The answers of Professor Ötsch's students about the awareness of the technique
applied differentiate a little from those of Ms. Aricò's or Mr. Stanek's trainees. 40 per
cent reported they were not aware of the technique, and 15 per cent did not give an
answer at all. 45 per cent, however, believed in their awareness, but did not mention
NLP. Nevertheless, in their description several criteria come very close to NLP's
principles, for example visualisation and explaining contexts with pictures, inviting
students to participate actively, addressing students individually, working on
problems together in an interactive manner and Professor Ötsch's flexibility.
Compared to Ms. Aricò's and Mr. Stanek's students, however, noone mentioned NLP
explicitly.
0,0%
20,0%
40,0%
60,0%
80,0%P
erce
nta
ge
O 0,0% 45,0% 40,0% 15,0%
yes NLPyes (NLP not mentioned)
no no response
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Question 5: How would you judge the course design?
1 2 3 4 5
interesting 35% 50% 5% 10% 0% boring
varied 5% 60% 25% 10% 0% one-sided
professional 25% 45% 30% 0% 0% childish
useful 25% 30% 35% 10% 0% useless
individual 10% 35% 45% 10% 0% global
learner-centred 50% 25% 20% 5% 0% teacher-centred
flexible 30% 40% 25% 0% 5% rigid
Figure 47: Course Design
Like in the case studies before, the highest percentage figure of each term-pair is
marked. It can be seen that the grades are quite good, especially the learner-centred
approach is eyecatching. The neutral positions at the “useful - useless“ and
“individual - global“ criteria may be explained by the difficulty of learning
economics Professor Ötsch referred to in the interview, i.e. the gap to practice due to
its formality and the fact that students have only little basic knowledge of economics
when they begin their university degree.
Question 6: Which media or exercises / tasks supported the seminar?
overhead-slides blackboard handouts
group-/pair-work individual work discussion
colours story telling
Figure 48: Recognised Media in Prof. Ötsch’s Lecture
The answers given to this question reflect clearly what Professor Ötsch stated in the
interview, i.e. that he is very visually oriented and designs his lectures and courses
accordingly. A full 100 per cent of his students were aware of his overhead-slides
and liked their use, which was already mentioned in the analysis of Question 2.
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Furthermore, Professor Ötsch's students noticed the use of the blackboard, handouts,
group- and pair-work as well as individual work, discussion and the use of colours.
Four students referred to another technique to the use of which Professor Ötsch did
not refer to: story telling. From the detailed numbers in the appendix it can be seen
that most students are content with the use of media, some, however, would have
liked the use of videos, the flipchart, cards, songs and music, role-playing, computer
games and CD-ROMS, or more story-telling. One can draw the conclusion that
mainly the kinaesthetic and auditory learners are speaking in these answers.
Question 7: In which way is this seminar different to others?
Criteria %
no difference to other lectures 5%
students' contributions are welcome and requested 30%
practical examples 5%
student-centred, eye-contact, conversation with students 15%
understandable 15%
interesting, motivating 5%
course design 5%
lively and varied 5%
personality of teacher 5%
no response 25%
Figure 49: Difference to Other Seminars
A quite high number, 25 per cent, did not give an answer to this question, which
makes the author question herself, whether the question was not formulated clearly
enough. 30 per cent, however, mentioned that the trainer welcomes students'
contributions. Another 15 per cent wrote that the course is very student-centred, that
the trainer keeps eye-contact with the participants and that in comparison to other
courses Professor Ötsch's lecture is very understandable. Five per cent in each case
valued the practical examples, the interesting and motivating course design and the
personality of the teacher. Only five per cent did not find any difference to other
courses at university.
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Question 8: Do you feel that this seminar helped you acquire important
competencies for your studies / education / profession?
Figure 50: Competencies
Compared to the answers of Ms. Aricò's and Mr. Stanek's students more uncertainty
concerning the acquisition of important competencies can be noticed among
Professor Ötsch's students. 55 per cent marked “yes“, whereas 45 per cent decided
for “partly“. The reason for the increased equality of this distribution may again lie
in economics' formality and in the gap to practice. Among the acquired competencies
that were mentioned by trainees were the visualisation of processes, economic and
analytical thinking and knowledge and the ability how to transfer knowledge to
colleagues.
Question 9: How do you feel about putting the acquired knowledge / competencies
into practice?
Figure 51: Putting Competencies into Practice
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Pe
rce
nta
ge
O 55% 45% 0%
yes partly no
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Per
cen
tag
e
O 10% 75% 10% 5%
very good good average bad
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A clear majority, i.e. three quarters, of Professor Ötsch's students feel good about
putting the acquired competencies into practice. The feelings “very good“ and
“average“ balance each other with ten per cent. Only five per cent have severe
doubts about applying what they have learned in practice.
Question 10: Can you imagine that the design and technique of this seminar helps
you in the following situations?
yes maybe no n.r.
Language learning 10% 10% 65% 15%
Communication 25% 30% 30% 15%
Selling 25% 30% 30% 15%
Content learning 70% 20% 10% 0%
Preparing for exams 70% 25% 5% 0%
Figure 52: Usefulness of Technique in Different Situations
The results of this question are remarkable in the following way. A clear majority of
65 per cent rejected the course design's use for language learning, and 60 per cent
each case found it doubtful or useless for communication and selling. The reasons
for these answers would be worth further investigation, for example whether these
students have already attended any language classes at university. The author herself
tried to find out more about the background by examining the course of study for
economics. The results of this question are even more surprising, as she found out
that one foreign language to the extent of eight hours is a compulsory component of
the first part of the economics degree, including communication training, language
training for specific purposes, case-studies and a lecture about foreign culture. The
foreign language, which can either be English, French, Spanish, Russian or Italian is
ranked as a “Vorprüfung“ in the first diploma exam (http://sowi.oeh.uni-
linz.ac.at./plans/140.htm). A clear agreement by 70 per cent, however, is given to the
technique's usefulness for content learning and for the preparation for exams, which
gives evidence that Professor Ötsch's lecture has reached its purpose.
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Question 11: How would you describe your emotional state during the seminar?
Figure 53: Emotional State
An overwhelming majority of 95 per cent showed a positive attitude towards the
lecture. In fact, Professor Ötsch's course must have been very captivating, as 70 per
cent felt receptive, 45 per cent were eager to learn and concentrated, 35 per cent
relaxed and motivated. Only five and ten per cent had indifferent or tense feelings or
felt tired. Nobody had a negative attitude or felt under stress, which indicates that the
course must have taken place in a relaxed and harmonious atmosphere.
5%
45%
35%
70%
10%
35%
95%
5%
20%
15%
45%
0%
0%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
under stress
tense
concentrated
relaxed
receptive
tired
motivated
positive attitude
indifferent
expectant
negative attitude
passive
eager to learn
Percentage
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Question 12: Thinking about your sensory impressions, what type of learner do you
think you are?
Figure 54: Learner Types
Figure 54 clearly reflects Professor Ötsch's teaching style, as 30 per cent of his
students think that they are primarily visually oriented. 70 per cent, however, are
convinced that they cannot definitely say which learner type they are. The mixture
presents itself as follows:
Figure 55: Mixed Learner-types Distribution
The highest figure of 45 per cent in the diagram shown above corresponds to the
answers of Ms. Aricò's and Mr. Stanek's students who also responded that their
preferred modalities are visual and auditory. However, the number of Professor
Ötsch's students who are visually and kinaesthetically oriented counts for 20 per
cent, and is more than twice as high than in Ms. Aricò's course, for example.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Per
cen
tag
e
O 0% 30% 0% 70% 0%
auditory visual kinaesthetic mixture do not know
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
Per
cen
tag
e
O 45% 20% 5%
vis+aud vis+kin vis+aud+kin
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Question 13: How important is a positive attitude to life for your personal learning
success?
Figure 56: Importance of Positive Attitude
The results of this question are very similar to the ones in Ms. Aricò's and Mr.
Stanek's courses. 85 per cent of Professor Ötsch's students think that a positive
attitude is very important for their personal learning success. Only 10 per cent
consider it to be neutral, and only five per cent attribute little significance to this
factor.
Question 14: How would you judge the following beliefs?
It is important to discover the joy of learning.
1 2 3 4 5 n.r.
useful 45% 40% 5% 0% 0% 10% useless
true 55% 20% 20% 0% 0% 5% false
practical 25% 35% 25% 5% 0% 10% theoretical
strong effect 40% 40% 15% 0% 0% 5% weak effect
relevant 40% 35% 20% 0% 0% 5% irrelevant
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Per
cent
age
O 85% 10% 5% 0% 0%
very important
neutralnot very
importantirrelevant do not know
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There is no failure, only feedback.
1 2 3 4 5 n.r.
useful 20% 35% 20% 5% 10% 10% useless
true 15% 35% 15% 10% 15% 10% false
practical 5% 35% 15% 5% 25% 15% theoretical
strong effect 10% 15% 45% 10% 5% 15% weak effect
relevant 15% 35% 25% 5% 10% 10% irrelevant
Each behaviour has a positive intention.
1 2 3 4 5 n.r.
useful 5% 25% 40% 10% 10% 10% useless
true 5% 15% 35% 20% 15% 10% false
practical 0% 20% 50% 10% 15% 5% theoretical
strong effect 5% 25% 30% 20% 10% 10% weak effect
relevant 5% 15% 55% 5% 10% 10% irrelevant
Figure 57: Beliefs
From the tables in Figure 57 it can be seen that the joy of learning obviously is very
important for Professor Ötsch's students, as the highest percentage figures can be
found at the grades “one“ and “two“, and nobody marked this belief with a five. It
can be noticed, however, that throughout the given beliefs between five and 15 per
cent of Professor Ötsch's students did not give an answer. The second belief, “There
is no failure, only feedback“, was judged positively as well. Students seem to have a
good attitude to this believe, which may result from the fact that Professor Ötsch's
students are allowed to make mistakes, as they already reported in their answers to
Question 2. Concerning the third belief that each behaviour has a positive intention
the pattern of answers is similar to Ms. Aricò's group where the neutral positions
hold the highest percentage figures.
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Question 15: How important are the following positions for you?
very relevant not very not important
important important at all
responsibility for own learning success 85% 15% 0% 0%
decide oneself about time and place of learning 65% 35% 0% 0%
select media oneself 20% 40% 40% 0%
my interests should be met in the training 45% 40% 15% 0%
possibility to give input in training 45% 35% 20% 0%
nice and likeable trainer 35% 40% 25% 0%
humour, joy and fun in the training 40% 55% 5% 0%
flexibility of trainer 45% 40% 15% 0%
rigid, good organised training programme 25% 50% 25% 0%
have clear learning goals 65% 30% 5% 0%
Figure 58: Important Positions for Learning
From the answers to this question it can be concluded that Professor Ötsch's
economics students are already very far along on their way to autonomous learning.
85 per cent consider it to be very important to take over responsibility for their own
learning success, and 65 per cent want to decide themselves about time and location
of learning and have clear learning goals. Concerning interests and the possibility to
give input in the training Professor Ötsch's students are in the lead, compared to Ms.
Aricò's and Mr. Stanek's trainees. Humour, joy and fun in the training as well as a
flexible and likeable trainer also rank among relevant criteria for learning. It is
remarkable, however, that for 80 per cent of the questioned trainees the selection of
media is only secondary.
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Question 16: What does NLP stand for?
Figure 59: Meaning of NLP
The answers to this question are rather differentiated compared to the other two case
studies, where 88 per cent each case gave the correct answer of Neuro Linguistic
Programming and only 12 and 13 per cent marked Natural Linguistic Programming.
Only 45 per cent of Professor Ötsch's students voted for the correct answer, another
20 per cent gave their choice to Natural Linguistic Programming. However, several
students also chose the other possibilities and 15 per cent did not give an answer at
all.
20%
45%
10%
5%
5%
15%
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Natural Linguistic Processes
Neuro Linguistic Programming
Natural Life Programme
Neuro Lipo Pigment
Neuro Linear Processes
no response
Percentage
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PART III
CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
Learner-centred Training with NLP
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10 Critical Thoughts and Recommendations
Part II of this thesis has presented several possibilities of NLP's application in
training situations and the feedback trainees gave to their trainers in a very detailed
manner.
After having studied these results one can say that the questioned trainees draw a
very positive picture about the courses they attended. Quality and individuality as
well as the practical touch of the seminars are shown in a favourable light.
Furthermore and foremost, the majority of the trainees appreciated the relaxed
atmosphere in the courses, seem to be very well aware of their preferred learning
styles, and have the feeling of having acquired important competencies for their
studies or profession.
It has to be mentioned, however, that teacher preferences also have influence on
trainees. This aspect was reflected at some points in the case studies. Professor
Ötsch, for instance, stated himself that he is primarily visually oriented (Ötsch,
personal interview, May 9, 2000); this preferred modality is reflected in a high figure
of his students, 30 per cent, who also consider themselves to be visual learner types.
Mr. Stanek is another example. His personal preference for a comfortable learning
environment, which was already mentioned in Chapter 6 of this thesis, is reflected by
his trainees who favour the good and relaxed atmosphere in his courses.
Although the majority were not aware that it was NLP that the trainers applied in the
seminars, the techniques appealed to them, which can be concluded from their
answers to the questions what they liked in the seminar and in which way the very
seminar is different from others. From these answers it can be assumed that the
trainers who were interviewed apply NLP techniques in a very sensitive and serious
manner, which is very important indeed, as in the course of studying literature the
author has come across several examples that produce a negative image of NLP. In
addition, all three experts stated in the interviews that NLP has several weaknesses
and that the danger of abuse is certainly given.
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Mr. Stanek, for example, sees NLP's weaknesses mainly in the transfer of the
concept. In his opinion, if trainers offer an NLP-Master course to be completed in
three weeks, this is not to be taken seriously, but rather to be regarded as dangerous.
Furthermore, there are no requirements to be met for the attendance of an NLP-
Practitioner or an NLP-Master course. Mr. Stanek reported that some trainers believe
they can also work in therapy when they have completed the Master course. This is,
however, very dangerous when it goes into the changing of beliefs. Concerning this
point, Ms. Aricò agrees as well, and warns of a too unconcerned application of NLP,
especially with psychologically weak persons. As already mentioned in Section 7.2
of this thesis, the effects can be quite bad, if a trainer does not know how to deal with
a trainee, if an anchor triggers negative feelings. This critique is also met by
Professor Ötsch. He stated that NLP has a quality problem, as its application is often
uncontrolled. No doubt that NLP offers a variety of pragmatic methods that can
easily be developed further, but according to Professor Ötsch NLP lacks theory, and
its moral optionality is definitely a problem. This leads the author to the problem of
manipulation, which throws negative light on NLP. Some authors describe NLP as
the “turbocar“ for selling and offer it to the reader as an effective instrument of
suggestion to boost one's own selling targets (Bachmann 1999: 54 f).
Furthermore, some authors try to give advice to “megateaching“ with NLP in a way
that lets these techniques appear absurd and grotesque. For instance, they
recommend to use anchoring in a mainly kinaesthetic way by touching trainees to
trigger certain feelings. These authors forget, however, to deal with the problem how
to establish acceptance of students for touching them regularly. Another example is
their suggestion of the individual observation of eye-movement patterns in the
classroom. Apart from the fact that this technique requires a certain amount of
practical experience, the question of how such an individual observation in a regular
classroom with approximately 20 students can be done is left unanswered
(Bachmann 1999: 56f.). The author would like to emphasise that none of her experts
referred to the technique of observing eye-movement patterns in the interview, even
though they were given various opportunities. This is probably an indication that this
technique is not applicable in a training situation where between eight and 30
individuals participate. An empirical study executed by Jens Schiermann also could
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not prove the correlation between the prime representational system and accessing
cues (Bachmann 1999: 208).
Ms. Aricò claimed in the interview that particularly American literature tries to sell
NLP too much like a recipe. This statement is met by practical examples the author
found while sounding out literature as well as by a critical evaluation of Winfried
Bachmann. Bachmann states that a too literal translation from English into German
and a direct transfer from therapy to pedagogy may create problems. Preliminary, it
is necessary to find out the conditional framework of the various situations to avoid
initially good approaches and ideas being turned into the opposite (Bachmann 1999:
57f). The author would like to mention Bruce King's book, “Psycho-Verkauf“
(“Psycho-Selling“), as a negative example to show how some authors make NLP-
techniques appear ridiculous. This book was translated from English into German by
Annemarie Pumpernig and Stephan Gebauer, and reduces NLP's techniques of
rapport and pacing to “mimicry“. King claims that mimicry directly addresses the
client's subconscious and, consequently, is very effective. He advises the seller to
imitate the customer as quickly and exactly as possible and gives several examples.
For instance, he writes, if the customer has one hand in his/her pocket, the seller is
advised to do the same, if the customer crosses his/her arms, the seller should take
the same position, if the customer plays with his/her ball-point, the seller should also
start to play with it, etc. The list of examples goes on, and King is convinced that the
seller's exact imitation of the client will make the signing of the contract only a
formality (King 1993: 74ff). The strategy as it is described in this book is strictly
rejected by the experts the author interviewed. Mr. Stanek reported that such a
behaviour will provoke the client rather than establish good rapport as a basis for
leading, as he/she will probably feel mimicked or caricatured. Rapport can rather be
compared to dancing, where one partner does not imitate the other one, but adjusts
and follows the movements (Stanek, personal interview, April 5, 2000).
Another point of critique of NLP is that many of its concepts are not new. Rapport,
for example, incorporates all “good rules of communication“ which may already be
known by persons who have never dealt with NLP, just like reframing and using
metaphors are not new either. Giving a situation a “different frame“ and using
analogies was already done years ago, when people told fairy-tales and fables to
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teach a certain behaviour. One can get the feeling that in NLP “old techniques“
receive a different cloth, which also leads to the constraint that NLP has a lot of
jargon. The positive intention of jargon is to enable communication and to express
complex thoughts in a simple way. The constraint of the technical vocabulary is,
however, that it makes NLP seem distant, academic and hard to understand
(O'Connor 1997).
In this context it might also be interesting to refer to an interpretation of Josef
O'Connor that NLP is trapped by its name which gives its operating metaphor. The
meaning of the components of the term NLP was already explained in the theoretical
part of this thesis. According to O'Connor the term “Programming“ is the one that
creates problems. It is a “mechanistic computer metaphor“, it is called a
“technology“ and sometimes “installation“ is mentioned as well. Drawing out this
mechanical metaphor may lead to a view that excellence comes packaged like a
software programme. Brains, however, are not like computers, because human-
beings are all different, which is, in fact, one of NLP's principles. The mechanical
metaphor of “Programming“ reduces individuals to mechanical models (O'Connor
1997). Metaphors are powerful and shape human-beings' thinking. Therefore, it is of
utmost importance to use them cautiously, which the operating metaphor in the term
NLP shows.
Derived from these constraints it is recommended to apply NLP techniques which
touch the psyche of an individual, i.e. anchoring for instance, only with great
sensitivity. A sound knowledge of its techniques and practical training are also a
prerequisite for a responsible application of NLP. If these conditions are given,
which in the case-study situations was certainly the case, NLP is definitely an
enrichment for any training situation. Its openness and flexibility allow a wide range
of application, and it is important to bear in mind that not every technique suits every
person. Mr. Stanek is a good example. For him, many NLP elements are very
applicable and pragmatic, but some of them do not appeal to him. NLP's repertoire
leaves it to the trainer and learner to pick out the elements they feel comfortable
with. In this way, the learner-centred approach of NLP cannot be denied. What is
needed, however, is an open training culture. It is therefore recommended to try to
break up any hierarchical structures, especially at university, which hinder NLP in its
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application and to provide for a climate where kinaesthetic learners are served as
well.
Whether the application of NLP in training situations works the same way in other
than the Western European culture, where it was examined, would certainly be worth
further investigation. Concerning the distribution of NLP instruments the author
agrees with a statement made by Professor Ötsch:
“NLP instruments are fantastic. They should be spread and
become commonly used, as these techniques provide valuable
opportunities to stabilise, motivate and encourage oneself and
one's own learning process, which will be very important in
future“ (Ötsch, personal interview, May 9, 2000).
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12 Appendix
12.1 Glossary of Terms
12.2 Guide for Interview Questions
12.3 Questionnaire
12.4 Analysis of Questionnaire
12.5 What Type of Learner are You?