by Laura Szmuch and Jamie Duncan
About twenty years ago, we felt we had reached a point
in our teaching careers when we had the need to go further in understanding the
learning process. In particular, we paid
attention to some important aspects in teaching which were not generally
covered in most training courses, like the delicate chemistry produced by the
communication between teacher and student.
We
began to play with this intuitively and change things in our teaching and we
started to read a lot about NLP. We
wondered what would happen if we took all these marvellous
ideas and technology and used them in education. We realised we had
a lot to learn and that there was an amazing world to which we had only just
gained entry, so we decided to take some courses and learn about it properly.
As we were
both very enthusiastic about applying what we had been learning to our classes,
we began to try things out, take notes, read, and get books from the US, the UK
and New Zealand that were not available here.
Above all, we shared
everything we were discovering.
Individually, we started giving some workshops to friends and
colleagues, until the day, when as we were about to finish the Master
Practitioner training, we organised a study group
together. From this group, there were
requests or almost 'demands' from our colleagues who wanted something deeper
and more structured than just a workshop, to be given in English and dedicated
to education and language teaching. At
this point we were completing the Trainer training and we realised
that we had all the material and ideas in our heads. What was needed was to put it in order and
form a course. And our first NLP Practitioner Certificate course in Education
started, and we founded "Resourceful
Teaching". As time went by, we decided to continue studying other
disciplines and started to give shape to this new course, which expands the
excellent basis that NLP has given to our teaching to include many other
interesting components. Among these are Neurosciences, Cognitive Psychology,
Jungian Psychology, Humanistic Psychology, Ontology of language and Coaching tools.
Instant results!!!
The
wonderful thing about working with teachers is that we see almost instant
results. They tend to have a phenomenal
drive and come to us interested in acquiring techniques to help their students
learn more easily.
Little
by little, however, they realise that they are also
helping themselves immensely. They
become more open and more complete as people and discover that they have
resources available to resolve conflicts and communicate more effectively. They
see that they possess an enormous treasure in the form of their academic
knowledge and training but that however rich this intellectual knowledge may
be, it is still not quite enough.
Therefore,
they acquire tools to transmit learning, not just from the mental perspective. It
is incredible to see the difference in their classes when they learn to use
their bodies, their voices, aspects of non-verbal and
unconscious communication and to value their intuition. They improve their communication with their
students, parents of students, colleagues, heads and other staff in a
remarkable fashion. And this is because
their communication reveals a different point of view, one which has been
nourished by reflection, practice, application, and not only through academic
readings, which is often the case with postgraduate courses.
Can we share something with you?
What
most excites us is that they approach us as 'professionals', committed to their
work and then they discover themselves as 'people'. They realise that
they need to devote time and space to themselves and to the organisation
and planning of their lives and careers in a wider perspective. Teachers normally live in a whirlwind of
classes, preparation, marking, exams and different groups and undoubtedly this
is a situation in which it is easy to lose oneself. The changes that we witness in teachers have
to do with finding themselves again and reacquainting themselves with their
subject, their pupils and their lives.
Apart from dramatic improvements in their classrooms, they tell us of
important changes in their families and with their partners, of new jobs or
growth in their institutes, of more useful free time which emerges from better organisation and clear objectives. They also tell of better physical health and
we insist a lot on this point as teachers need strong and flexible bodies,
loads of energy and to eat well. Teachers
need to set an example for students.
And what is "Resourceful Teaching"?
The
vision of Resourceful Teaching is to
see teachers growing and developing with wisdom, maximising
their skills as communicators and models of excellence in their field. These
teachers are committed to using their talents and strengths in helping the
world recognise the supreme importance of meaningful
education as a birthright of all human beings.
The mission of RT is to provide a structure through which teachers have
access to the skills and technology of NLP as applied to education and to other
relevant humanistic
disciplines. This includes
high quality training and support, materials and information, contacts and
networking. Our graduates are empowered
with the awareness, choices, communication skills and facilitating beliefs and
values to make a real difference in their teaching context.
The strategy of RT
has been to create a Practitioner's Certificate and Master Practitioner's
Certificate course completely orientated towards practising
teachers. It is also to run workshops,
shorter courses and other training for teachers. We offer consultancy and information to
teachers and to educational institutes.
We develop materials and literature applying NLP to the teaching and
learning processes. While NLP has been a major influence in our work, we have
also incorporated learnings and techniques from the
Neurosciences, Cognitive Psychology, Jungian Psychology, Humanistic Psychology,
Ontology of language and Coaching. This new Resourceful Teaching Practitioner course
is the culmination of our experience and expertise at applying these techniques
and philosophies to the classroom.
The
structure of RT is
to offer training and consultancy in Education in the following ways:
* General Educational workshops
* Tailor-made on-site workshops responding
to special needs of schools or other educational institutions
* Practitioner Certificate in NLP for
Education courses
* Master Practitioner Certificate in NLP
for Education courses
* Consultancy upon request
* Electronic mail newsletter and blog
* Free introductory talks
* Participation in major ELT events
* Ongoing access to instruction and
trainers
* Networking and a forum for contact both
within Argentina and internationally.
Education with a capital "E"
When people complain about the crisis in education, we consider that it is a good idea to teach those who teach. When those who are part of the teaching-learning process know where they are going, what their beliefs and values are and how to find their mission, the crisis becomes a path of opportunities. The huge changes that we are experiencing in the world are an excellent challenge and the better prepared we are and the greater our self-knowledge and our personal and spiritual development, the more chances we have for continued learning and growth in all aspects of our life.
BIODATA
Laura Szmuch is a graduate of the "Dr. Joaquín V.
González" Teacher’s Training College and works as a teacher of English as a
Foreign Language in her studio in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She’s a certified
coach and has trained in Psychoneuroeducation. She’s the author of Aprendiendo
inglés y disfrutando el proceso (Learning English and Enjoying the Process), Las
seis inspiraciones (The Six
Inspirations) and A Teacher’s Motivational Grammar: The Reasons to Teach,
for her Master’s Degree in Cognitive Psychology And Learning with FLACSO and
UAM.
They
are Master Practitioners and Trainers in
NLP (Neurolinguistic Programming).
For
further details check out http://www.resourcefulteaching.com.ar/