Creating Tomorrow’s Schools Today, Author Richard Gerver talks organisational communication via Disneyland

IT’S TIME TO TAKE THE MICKEY!

A few years ago, after much scrimping and saving, my wife and I were able to take our children to Disney. I am not sure who was more excited; I know that I didn’t sleep the night before we left! I also remember the feeling each day as Cinderella’s castle came into view; a fast beating heart and the sense that something special was about to happen; every day was like a new adventure!
I have often been laughed at when I tell people that upon taking up my Headship in 2001, I asked the staff one question; how do we turn our school into Disneyland? I realise that this may appear to be a daft enquiry to some; somewhat trivial, almost naïve to others, but I was serious. I am a committed and I hope, highly professional, educator who chose teaching as most do, because I wanted to make a difference to children’s lives; to help to prepare them for the challenges and opportunities in their futures; the moral imperative. In no way did the asking of that question seek to devalue or make light of the incredible responsibilities we carry as teachers, it was a symbolic way of underlining to my new colleagues that during my tenure as Head our job was to focus on our primary customers; our children.
As educators we know that successful learning can only occur in schools filled with happy people; staff, parents, governors but most importantly, children. We know that learning is most successful when our students are engaged, excited, intrigued and we know that teachers are at their best when they demonstrate passion and enthusiasm. When I was given the extraordinary privilege of taking on my Headship, I wanted to help create a school where people arrived in the morning with their hearts beating faster; it’s why I asked the Disney question. I knew that we would be on the way to success, when on a cold February morning, in the middle of the winter virus season, if our pupils woke up with a sore throat and they would still want to come to school, in the same way that if they were waking up in Paris on that same cold morning, with the same condition, nothing would stop them on their trip to Walt’s world.
As a profession, we know more about learning, brain and emotional development and the links between them, than we ever have. Every Child Matters gave us the political mandate to do what we have always known was right; to educate the whole child. There is rightly still huge concern around the issues of inclusion and achievement, but the solutions do not come in the shape of targets, or in rows of desks and more prescriptive approaches to teaching and learning, the solutions lie in refocusing the agenda. We have to make learning matter to our kids, for some, for the first time, for others to ensure that they can rediscover that joy. For that to happen learning must be rich in context and purpose; children must be able to see the links to their own lives and how by engaging in education, it makes things better and can make their hearts beat a little faster.
Although I blame the advertising industry for many, many things; including the rows I have with my teenage daughter over shopping and pocket money! I am fascinated by the science of their craft; after all, if we could convince our children to buy in to school as a brand in the same way they do certain technologies or clothing lines we’d be on to a winner, wouldn’t we? Interestingly, there are two questions that branding experts ask of new clients when taking on a brief, the first is;
What do you want to stand for in the eyes of your customer?
And the second is:
How are you going to shape your behaviours, as an organisation, so that you support the response to the first question?
Whether we like it or not, our children are incredibly sophisticated consumers; they are the first truly ‘on demand’ generation. The future of education does not lie in how we control them but how we sell to them; a great education is one of the foundations of a successful society; it is of more value than any computer game, pair of trainers or music download and we need to ensure that children feel that. At its best learning stirs the senses, quickens the pulse and fires the imagination; much like Disney.
Education is a serious business, so is the Disney Corporation, it after all, one of the world’s most successful organisations. At the heart of the Disney ethos are the concepts of education and entertainment and as a result they captivate generation after generation, it strikes me that great schools follow exactly the same formula.

BUY RICHARD’S BRILLIANT BOOK TOMORROW’S SCHOOLS TODAY FOR YOUR HOLIDAY READ, NOW

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NLP is a set of effective communication concepts which enable us to build trust with others quickly and effectively. It provides powerful linguistic patterns and change techniques to empower others to make changes in their thinking and behaviours.

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The course will provide you with a practical and strategic approach to supporting others to bring about change in their lives and their work. You will be able to blend your existing practice with the NLP approaches to create effective strategies for building trust and effecting change.
The course provides highly effective change techniques for overt and covert change work. This programme introduces you to the foundations of NLP and some of the most useful tools for use in your work context.

What will I learn?

You will learn:

• What NLP is and what it is not
• The presuppositions of NLP
• The NLP communication model ( an easily understood communication framework)
• More about the role and functioning of the unconscious mind and how to work with it
• To further improve your ability to notice subtle changes in others
• Future-basing for really motivating goals
• How to disrupt problem states
• Advanced linguistics for relaxation (how to induce hypnotic trance conversationally)
• How to embed commands in conversation
• How to use metaphor to promote change
• About sub-modality shifts and their use in directly changing how people hold problem states of mind How is the programme structured?

The first day provides the essential underlying concepts of NLP and begins to explore the advanced language patterns and change techniques which can be applied to your context.
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Who is your trainer?
Will Thomas will lead the training. He is a qualified coach, and Certified Master Practitioner of NLP, Timeline Therapy™ and Hypnosis. He is an experienced trainer and personal development coach offering high quality training and coaching in the UK and Europe. He is author and co-author of a number of books on coaching, leadership and managing workload.

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Creating a coaching culture. 1 day

Why attend The Coaching Organisation?
This programme provides the necessary strategic overview to develop a high quality professional development programme with peer coaching at its heart. You will explore the core Organisational Coaching Model, and ways to implement a high quality colleague to colleague coaching system. A growing body of research shows that coaching creates bottom line improvements.

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• How to set up coaching across your organisation
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The programme will introduce the current research and case studies on organisational coaching model success. Delegates will explore what they want to achieve in their own institution and then select appropriate strategies for setting this up.
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Developing Peer Coaching and Mentoring between young people. 2 days with at least 8 weeks separation

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• Why tools are so important in the coaching process
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• Overcoming resistance to change
• Conflict resolution
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• Why some people don’t make changes and how you can enable them to make progressHow is the course structured?

The course is structured so that you review the basics of effective coaching and then get a series of tools to generate a variety of helpful thinking patterns. There is opportunity to review your current practice, use a series of the tools, and their is freedom to explore further tools of interest to you. The programme is designed to beenjoyable and informative, in a relaxed atmosphere.

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Anyone who has an interest in using tools in their support of others. Anyone who has attended any of Will’s other coaching courses and would like a focus on a toolkit for their coaching. Anyone whose coaching feels a bit dry and needs some sparkle. Anyone who has read The Coaching Solutions books and wants to try out tools in a safe and supportive environment and pick up further tips on their use.

So what if I attend Tools for Coaches?
Consider having a repertoire of tools that you can use to help people make changes. Imagine already having the advanced language patterns of coaching and NLP built into the tools so you can relax and let the tools do the work. Having a bank of tools takes the pressure off you in so many ways and in particular it provides an easy way to extend improvement work beyond the time you can physically be with your group or individual coachee. Tools spice up the coaching process, making it more engaging and inspiring, than talk alone.

Coaching Skills 3: Advanced linguistics : 1 day
This course provides you with the secrets of trance inducing language patterns, opportunity to develop language patterns for working with metaphor with people you coach. More information in 2009.

Coaching Skills 4: More advanced linguistics : 1 day
This course provides very specific techniques for dealing with emotions in coaching. More information in 2009.

Advanced techniques 2 day course

Why attend this course?
This course builds on your learning from the day 1 Foundations for Change programme. You’ll take your coaching skills to an even greater level and learn the precision use of language to support others. You’ll really improve your confidence using a wide range of techniques and tools. You will have a series of effective strategies for dealing with challenging people.

What will I learn?
You will learn

• How to structure review and feedback so that people really listen and take action
• Further secrets to build positive relationships with others
• How to generate really motivating targets
• When to ask questions and when to stay silent
• Precision questioning techniques so that your questions have greater impact
• How people construct problems and why they do it
• Conversational techniques to help people break out of problems and develop their own solutions
• Techniques to build really high levels of confidence in yourself and others
• Techniques for dealing with challenging people
• How to fine tune your senses to pick up even more information about what others are thinking
• How to promote relaxation in others through careful construction of language
• About the potential for wider organisational coaching approaches

You will also have the opportunity to practice your coaching skills and receive supportive and constructive feedback.

How is the programme structured?
The programme is carefully designed to enable you to:

• The programme builds on the one day foundations for change programme*
• Reconnect with your current practice
• Gain constructive feedback throughout the programme
• Actively experience each technique and out it into practice
• Learn in a safe and supportive environment

The programme culminates in opportunities to put all of your skills into action in a formative coaching session.

Who is the trainer on Coaching Skills 2 Advanced techniques?
The two-day Advanced Coaching Skills Programme is designed and delivered by Will Thomas. Will is a highly experienced performance coach and trainer. A Marks and Spencer Personnel manager from University, Will moved into education and became Head of Faculty in a large comprehensive school, he has used coaching extensively to enable people to maximise performance and overcome personal barriers to success. Will is co-author of the book Coaching Solutions and author of The Coaching Solutions resource Book.

What if I attend this course?
Attending this course will bring you new levels of confidence and capability in supporting others. From high flyers to the struggling individual, this course gives you tools for helping. Your ability to precisely use language to get results will give you the edge in any work or social setting. The programme will give you the most useful tools and techniques for promoting change in others.

*It is a prerequisite that you attend a one day coaching programme with Alite or Vision for Learning prior to attending the advanced course. This could happen within an open course setting or you may have the course in your workplace.