Evolving Education Volume 1 https://education.we-evolve.

world

Evolving Education
Volume 1
Five-Minute Tools

Increase Well-Being

Support Learning

Motivate with Words

Improve Social Skills

Develop Global Skills

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Evolving Education Volume 1

by
Brian Cullen
Sarah Mulvey
Habiba Zmerli Triki
Sehil Triki
Virginie Vernois
Philippe Vernois
Alicja Gałązka
Lilianna Kupaj
Angela Bachfeld
Laura Schnelle
Nandana Nielsen
Karl Nielsen
Richard Bolstad
See the end of this book for full details of the authors.

Editors: Brian Cullen & Sarah Mulvey

Published by we-evolve
Copyright © 2021 by we-evolve. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without
permission in writing from the publisher.
First Edition published March 2021.

We-Evolve

Email: office@we-evolve.world
Website: https://education.we-evolve.world

Please send us your comments and suggestions.

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Introduction to Volume 1
Welcome to the Evolving Education Toolbox. Education is one of the most important jobs
in the world. It is through education that humanity can survive and thrive and live together
successfully. We value and appreciate the very important work educators do for our
children and youth, for their wellbeing and for the sustainable future of all humanity. This
toolbox is the first volume of our contribution to helping education evolve and move
forward. Volume I in the Evolving Education series contains five short, easy to use, and
highly effective tools for supporting educators and learners.

Each tool is introduced and explained with four key questions:

Why? Why would you want to use this tool and how can it be helpful?

What? A brief description of the tool.

How? A step-by-step guide to using the tool to support education.

What if? Ideas for adapting and extending the tools.

About the We-Evolve Organization

This book is brought to you by Master Trainers from the We-Evolve group who specialize
in Coaching, Hypnosis, NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), Positive Psychology,
Mindfulness, and Systemic Constellation.
The six associations of the We-Evolve group already have more than 7,400
members in 87 countries worldwide as of January 2021. Please use this opportunity to
benefit from the rich expertise of our Master Trainers. Try out the exercises in this book
with your learners. We look forward to hearing your feedback. We invite you to be a part
of the Evolving Education journey. If you have not joined yet, please visit us at:

https://education.we-evolve.world

Nandana Nielsen & Karl Nielsen, Presidents of the 6 Associations

Contact us at: office@we-evolve.world

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Introductory Frames and Beliefs

“What you model is what you get.”
Lara Ewing

The most natural human state is learning. This process can be enhanced for learners
through our behavior as educators and the ways we in which we provide information and
create learning experiences. As an educator, your behavior is the most powerful message
you send to your group. What you do is what they will repeat. What you say may be
ignored or distorted if it’s not said in a pertinent way. Your curiosity, openness, flexibility
and enthusiasm for learning is ultimately the most important message you send to learners
to motivate them.
Students learn faster in an environment in which they are respected, welcome
and not judged because the foundation of learning is safety. Criticism, comparison,
sarcasm and cynicism undermine learning. If we criticize just one person, each member
of the group will feel insecure. Conversely, every opportunity to offer admiration and
respect to one group member will be of benefit to the whole group.
As experts on communication in cultures all around the world, what we have
noticed is that the formal educational system is more focused on the “content” than on
how to deliver it. The reality is that the way of communicating is as important as the
information itself. From this perspective, we can understand why a lot of students are
not focused on class, prefer some subjects more than others or prefer some teachers more
than others, and why some students learn better and faster than others and develop social
skills.
There are a few essential questions to consider which may either enhance or slow
down learning:
As educators, what are our beliefs about learning?
• What do we do to establish an atmosphere to support learning?
• How do we structure a course or learning program to arouse curiosity and
motivate the learner?
• And finally, we can consider: how do we transmit this information or skill to
ensure that it is learned?
In the Evolving Education Toolbox, we offer tools to enhance learning from the fields of
NLP, hypnosis, coaching, positive psychology and mindfulness. The effectiveness of
these tools to support communication has been shown in many different fields. When
utilized to support learning in schools, families, companies, or the wider community, we
believe that these tools can motivate learners, promote social skills and generate rapport,
support learning, motivate learners and create a richer and more enjoyable experience for
both educators and learners.

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The Toolbox Part 1:

Increase Well-Being &
Happiness

Three Blessings / Three Good Things

A way to greater happiness

Why?
Three Blessings or Three Good Things is a simple but extremely powerful exercise
which research has shown significantly increases well-being and happiness.

Through doing the exercise, you become aware of useful and beneficial strategies and
behaviors, as well increase self-efficacy. Besides, it can lead to greater social connections,
enhanced memory, a stronger immune system and improved sleep. You can start a habit
of noticing positive things in your life – and create a collection of individual “happiness
recipes”.

It’s simple, fun… and life changing!

What?
This exercise was first created by Dr. Martin Seligman, University of Pennsylvania, the
founder of positive psychology. It is one of the best researched exercises of positive
psychology, including high school and middle school students (Penn Resiliency Project).
Researchers found that doing this short exercise for just one week significantly increases
well-being (and decreases negative affect and symptoms) for up to six months afterwards.

How?
Treat yourself and take a few minutes at the end of the day to write down:
1. Three events or things (blessings) that were positive, good or beautiful that day.
It can be anything at all, from the most ordinary to the most exceptional, as long as it
is a good, positive, happy thing for you. Take time to recall and enjoy all the positive
feelings.
2. Reflect why each was so positive or went well - and what you have to do with it.
Determining the "why" lets you decide reasons for each that make sense to you and
gives you important insights.

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Examples
1. The sun was shining, which was beautiful.
2. I consciously decided to take time during the lunch break to go and sit outside on my
favorite bench and really enjoy the sunshine. I closed my eyes and let the delicious
warm sunrays caress my face. Time just to relax and recharge. It felt like a mini-
holiday.

1. I went for a walk outside.

2. After sitting for a long time at the desk in front of the computer, I got up and went
outside. It was great to move, feel my body, to enjoy the fresh air and to get a change
of scenery. In particular, I focused on enjoying nature, flowers, trees, … and even
took a couple pretty photos.

To get the most benefit, enjoy this exercise for at least one week, or longer!
Further Tips:
• While you write, re-experience and relive the situation again, as if looking through
your own eyes, with all of your senses, and notice particular details.
• Get yourself a nice notebook. Place it somewhere convenient, such as beside your bed,
to serve as a reminder.

What if?
A great way to get even more out of the Three Blessings is to share them with others.
Sharing it is a very simple way to brighten someone’s day around you – and possibly
instill a positive habit that will continue to be shared with many others.
There are so many ways to share. In a classroom, it can be a really fun, positive
group exercise—sharing in a group, where each person says their findings, or having each
person post them (on cards, a whiteboard, the wall, …). Or you can set up a buddy-
support-system. You can do it with your friends, your family, or your partner.
Notice how this strengthens your relationships as you get to know yourself and
others better.

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The Toolbox Part 2

Support Learning

VAKOG

Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic, Olfactory, Gustatory

Why?
Everything that we know about the world comes to us through our eyes, ears, sense of
touch, smell, and taste. In addition, when we learn something or remember something,
we use these same senses to represent what we are learning. Your brain has specialized
areas to think and to remember and to recreate a scenario by using these senses. You have
a visual cortex to see things in the outside world. Then, when you remember what
something looks like, your visual cortex is activated, and you can ‘re-see’ that picture
inside your head. By using all of these senses better, people are able to learn and
remember things much more effectively. Do you think that would be useful?

What?
To understand VAKOG and how it is useful, let’s consider an example. If you learn about
a new fruit called an apple, you will remember what it looks like (visual), what it sounds
like to bite into (auditory), how it feels in your hands and mouth (kinesthetic), what it
smells like (olfactory), and how it tastes (gustatory). Together, we can call these senses
VAKOG for short. When you or your learners are learning anything new, you can support
that learning by encouraging them to think of the different senses of what they are
learning: what they see, hear, feel, smell, and taste.

How?
Here are two fun ways to make learners more aware of VAKOG.
Example 1: Give them something to eat
You can give your learners something to eat, such as a small piece of chocolate or a
blueberry. Make sure that they don’t eat it immediately, but rather put it on the desk or
table in front of them. Then you can ask questions like the ones in the table.
V Visual Look at the blueberry. Don’t touch it yet. What do you see?
A Auditory Imagine that the blueberry is talking to you.
What do you hear? What does it say?
K Kinesthetic Pick up the blueberry. How does it feel in your hand? Gently put it in your mouth
and roll it around. How does it feel?
O Olfactory How does it smell?
G Gustatory Allow yourself to eat it very slowly. How does it taste?
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Students always love this activity and it really raises awareness of the power of VAKOG.
This can also be used as a mindfulness exercise.
Example 2: Have learners describe a positive experience
Ask students to remember a positive experience. Some possible examples are winning a
sports game, being at a party with friends, enjoying a wonderful meal. Have them describe
the VAKOG to others in the group. It is usually helpful to provide a table like the one
below to help the learners to prepare and to think more deeply about the experience. They
fill in the spaces beside each question with simple sentences.
What was the experience? Imagine you step back into that moment.
V What do you see?
A What do you hear?
K What are the physical sensations in your body?
What emotions do you feel?
O Is there any smell associated with it?
G Is there a taste associated with this experience?

What if?
Some learners may find it easier to remember certain senses than others. VAKOG
reminds us there are different ways to perceive the world, and everyone can learn to
perceive and learn in richer ways. From neuroscience research, we now know that words
relating to the senses activate particular parts of the brain. So, for example, a word like
“cinnamon” activates the part of our brain that deals with smell, and a word like “red”
activates our visual cortex. We can utilize this deliberately in our teaching.

Sense Example words to elicit that sense Sample learning activity

Visual look, see, observe, visualize, view, to Look at this colorful graphic. Observe the
clarify, to locate, to shine, see the bright areas. Close your eyes and recall
screen, the photograph, image the image. Clarify the image and colours
in your mind.
Auditory listen, express, sound, dialogue, Listen to a sentence. Repeat it several
question, to hear, to resonate, to speak, times with the same rhythm to make it into
to say, to evoke, to repeat, voice, note, a melody which resonates with you.
song, music, musicality, noise,
resonance, sound, melody, dialogue ...
Kinesthetic feel, sense, touch, hold, manipulate, Focus on the different words in this text.
move, sensation, tension, pressure, How do you feel when you read it? What
feelings, emotions, experience, calm, changes in your state as you do this?
relaxed, warm, strong, soft, hard, firm,
excited, concrete

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The Toolbox Part 3

Motivate with Words

Send Secret Messages with Embedded Suggestions!

Why?
Do you ever want to send a message to your learners without telling them directly what
that message is? Sometimes, asking for things directly can actually cause people
(especially rebellious ones!) to do the opposite. If you are looking for a way to get your
message across more indirectly and yet effectively, sending secret messages with
embedded suggestions may be a useful tool for you.

What?
An embedded suggestion is a suggestion hidden or embedded inside a longer sentence or
paragraph or story. Embedded suggestions are a tool commonly used by coaches and
therapists, and they are also potentially useful in educational settings. Here is a short
example of a suggestion embedded in a story:
“… and then the king said to his youngest son, ‘always do your best in
everything’, and then his son set out on his journey.”
Here the embedded suggestion to the learners is “always do your best in everything.”

How?
Think of the secret message that you want to send to your students. Create an embedded
suggestion for your students in a few words and insert it into a phrase that is not conveyed
directly as a command or instruction to the students. For example, if your secret message
is "always do homework", you can embed it in an anecdote or class reading like the
example below:

“Research has shown that students who always do homework are also
the same students who achieve well in other areas of their life. In
contrast, students who do not always do homework are less likely to
be successful in other areas of life.”

Here, the embedded suggestion “always do homework” was repeated twice

within the natural flow of a story about other people, but at an unconscious level the
students in your own classroom will hear the suggestion.

Make the Secret Message Stronger with Analogue Marking

The effect of embedding suggestions is greatly increased by using analogue markers, i.e.,
changes in your voice tone, gestures, or other changes at the point where the embedded
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suggestion occurs. For example, you could raise the volume of your voice very slightly
as you say the words “do homework”. Or you could make a unique gesture such as raising
one hand slightly as you say that phrase. Or you could combine the raise in volume with
the raising hand.
Analogue markers can be subtle and yet still be powerful. The unconscious mind is
always on the lookout for changes because it is changes in the current situation that
provide the most interest. So, a slight change in volume or a subtle gesture may not even
be noticed by the conscious mind and yet is enough to allow the unconscious mind to
recognize the marked phrase as important in some way.
Students are bombarded with teachers giving them instructions and they can happily
let those direct commands go in one ear and out the other without having any real effect.
Embedded suggestions offer a powerful and subtle way to help your students to learn
more effectively. Try experimenting with some embedded suggestions in your classes
and let us know how you get on!

What If?
What if your students are reading a text rather than listening to you speak? To present
the embedded suggestion in a text, you could;
• put it in capital letters (DO HOMEWORK).
or more subtly, use one of these options…
• capitalize the first letter of each word (Do Homework)
• italicize the words (do homework)
• use a different font for one letter in each word

What if your students catch you and realize what you are doing? Well, that’s not so
bad really. For one, it indicates that they are really listening. And it could also indicate
that they are going to focus on the suggestion even more!

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The Toolbox Part 3

Improve Social Skills

Flight Path: Learning Names and Learning to Focus

Why?
We learn our social skills by interacting with others at school and in other groups.
However, in many schools and organizations, people are shy or afraid to open up and
connect to others. This can inhibit people from reaching their true potential to connect to
others. Two powerful ways of supporting social skills and creating an effective learning
community is to ensure that;
a) everyone knows each other’s names, and
b) people are actively focusing on what is to be learned.
This is a fun and simple game that you can use to achieve both of these goals.

What?
In this game, ten or more learners stand in a circle and throw around some soft objects.
You should prepare at least six soft objects to throw (e.g. small cushions or “koosh balls”
or juggling balls). The participants throw one of the objects around the circle to another
person while calling out that person’s name. Later, multiple objects are thrown around in
a specific order (the “Flight Path”) and it helps the participants to learn to associate this
group with focusing and learning new things (and fun!)

How?
Part 1: Create the “flight path.”
1. Have the group stand in a circle.
2. Explain that this activity will help to learn everyone’s name and that you have
permission to ask the name of the person they are throwing to.
3. Begin by calling out the name of someone across the group from you. Then throw the
ball to that person.
4. The person who catches the ball needs to remember who threw it to them, and then
throw it on to someone across the group who has not yet had the ball while calling out
that person’s name. Keep reminding people to remember who threw the ball to them, and
who they threw it on to. After throwing the ball, the person places their hands behind their
back, so the next thrower can see who is left to throw the ball to (each person gets the ball
only once).
5. Once the ball has been around every person, the last person throws it back to you.

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6. Have everyone put their hands out again. Check that they all know the name of the
person who they threw it to and who threw it to them.

Part 2: Utilize the flight path

1. Explain that the game will use this same “flight path” from now on.
2. Throw the ball again to the person you first threw it to, and check that it goes all the
way around the group from person to person along the same flight path.
3. Once that has happened throw the ball on again. Now the fun really starts. After a few
seconds, throw the second ball along the same route. And after a few seconds more, the
third ball… and so on until there are several balls flying through the air.

What if?
If you have a small group, you can use less objects.
If you have a large group, you can break it into two or more smaller groups.

You can extend this activity in many ways that will help to build the learning community.
Some possible examples include:
1. Have each person introduce themselves briefly and then throw the ball to the next
person in the flight plan.
2. Reverse the flight plan so that people remember names better.
3. Check that everyone still remembers the flight plan the next time that you are all
together.

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The Toolbox Part 5

Develop Global Skills

Equilateral Triangles

Why?
We are all part of one global community, but sometimes we forget, and we get caught up
in our own little worlds. What can happen then is that we focus only on our own goals,
losing sight of the bigger picture and our place within it.
The “equilateral triangles” provides a great activity for helping people understand that
supporting the whole system (the family, the classroom, the school, the nation, or the
globe) will also help them to ultimately meet their own needs.

What?
This activity can be used in A
groups from 10 to 130 people. D
Each member of the group
secretly chooses two people in
the group and tries to stay the
same distance from both. In other C

words, each person tries to create B

an equilateral triangle with two

other people. Because everyone F G
is trying to do this at the same
E
time, it will take some time for
the system to reach a stable state Person A is trying to stay the same distance from B and C.
(about ten minutes). It Simultaneously, B is trying to stay the same distance from D
demonstrates to everyone the and E. C is trying to stay the same distance from F and G. The
importance of working triangles can be different sizes and everyone is moving!
cohesively in groups.

How?
Part 1: Set up the Game
1. Have the group stand in a circle. Invite each person to silently choose any two
other people at random from the circle, not including you.
2. Explain the Game: The game is finished successfully when each person is
standing in an equilateral triangle with the two people they have chosen.
3. Demonstrate: Demonstrate this with two people from the group. Then point out
that as they go to do that, the two people may of course also start moving so that
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they can create their own equilateral triangles. Everyone needs to adjust while
everyone moves!
Important: Tell the learners that they are not allowed to talk at all!
Part 2: The Game
Once you have set up the game, step back and time the result. Chaotic waves of movement
will rise and fall for between 3 and 6 minutes. Eventually, providing people do not talk,
the situation will resolve.
Part 3: Explain what Happened
Once the movement has stopped, ask how many people were convinced that it would
never stop. Explain that you set up a system, like any organization or group. Each person
in a system acts to meet their own individual needs (in this case represented by the need
to be in a triangle). Unfortunately, as they try to meet their needs inside the system, every
other person is also trying to meet their individual needs. It is easy for people to become
convinced that “If only so-and-so would stop moving around we’d be able to sort this
out.”
People become quite frustrated with individuals, not realizing that they are only
acting to meet their needs, and that the changes that prompt them to keep moving in this
annoying way may even be linked to the movements that you yourself have made recently.
Actually, the adjustments are systemic, and not caused merely by individual needs; they
result from an interaction of individual needs and system rules.

What If?
What happens if one person tries to take charge because they think that they can sort
things out better. They take over and start telling each other person where to go. But in a
large system this will actually take longer than allowing the system to self-organize. In a
large system, it may be impossible for a single person to achieve it. This game
demonstrates how challenging it is to trust the system, and yet how effective the group
itself can be.
This game also demonstrates the importance of basic expectations in a system.
If this game was played on an open playing field, it would be almost unsolvable because
people would be tempted to move further and further out to meet their needs. The room
in which the game is played acts like the ground rules or “culture” of a system in real life.

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Meet The People Behind “Evolving Education”

Name Role Bio

DR. BRIAN Editor, Dr. Brian Cullen is a professor at Nagoya Institute of Technology in

CULLEN author Japan and has been a teacher and trainer for almost 30 years for

Master Trainer learners of all ages. He is a certified coach and trainer of positive

psychology, NLP, and hypnotherapy.

SARAH Editor, Sarah Mulvey is an NLP practitioner and life coach in Nagoya,

MULVEY author Japan. Her focus is on assisting foreign women in Japan find their

NLP niche, whether in the area of personal development, goal-setting, or

Practitioner inter-cultural relationships.

DR HABIBA Author Habiba Zmerli TRIKI is a master trainer in Ericksonian hypnosis

ZMERLI and mindfulness. She is also a certified trainer in Process

TRIKI Communication Model®.

Master Trainer

SEHIL TRIKI Author Sehil TRIKI is the official representative of Psynapse in Africa. He

Master Trainer is a master trainer in coaching, NLP, hypnosis and mindfulness. He

is president of the German association IN, ICI, WHO and In-Me in

Tunisia.

VIRGINIE Author Virginie Vernois is head of the training institute Psynapse. She is IN

VERNOIS & ICI President of France.

Master Trainer

PHILIPPE Author Philippe Vernois is head of the training institute Psynapse. He is IN

VERNOIS & ICI President of France.

Master Trainer

PROF UŚ DR Author Prof .UŚ dr hab. Alicja Gałązka is a psychotherapist, educationalist,

HAB ALICJA linguist, a licensed coach, and international master trainer. She is

GAŁĄZKA president of ICI in Poland.

Master Trainer

MGR Author Lilianna Kupaj is a licensed coach master trainer ICI, accredited

LILIANNA supervisor and trainer for Transforming Communication™.

KUPAJ

Master Trainer

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ANGELA Author Angela Bachfeld is a well-respected top-level international Master

BACHFELD Trainer, Master Coach, state licensed therapist in psychotherapy, as

Master Trainer well as a seasoned business executive.

LAURA Author Laura Schnelle is a certified trainer for Nonviolent Communication

SCHNELLE (FVGFK), NLP trainer (IN), coach (NVC & NLP) and certified

"NLP Trainer, yoga teacher.

IN"

NANDANA Author Nandana Nielsen is professor at the Psychology Faculty:

NIELSEN “International School of Psychology” at Universidad Central de

Master Trainer Nicaragua (UCN).

KARL Author Karl Nielsen is professor and the dean of the Psychology Faculty:

NIELSEN “International School of Psychology" at Universidad Central de

Master Trainer Nicaragua (UCN).

RICHARD Author Richard Bolstad is a fellow member trainer of NLP (IANLP), a

BOLSTAD master trainer (ICI, IN), Time Line Therapy™ Trainer, a certified

Master Trainer chi kung instructor with the Universal Tao and Chi Lel™.

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