NLP and Learning Styles

NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) is currently big business. And it's being applied to more and more areas of our working lives - just check out the latest NLP book titles on Amazon. Some people I know swear by NLP. Consultants and coaches are particularly keen on employing NLP techniques and they are being applied in a wide range of disciplines from sales training to education. I'm not an expert on NLP - I've just read a couple of books and articles on the subject but I can see its attraction - meta models, chunking and re-framing are all so 'obvious' once you sign-up to the concept, and are great for adding to your repertoire of management speak. But the following article in a recent edition of Education Guardian sounded a note of caution:

"..proto-science of NLP. A system devised by a Californian. Learning styles are cobblers. There is no proof that children have such preferences. They are of use only in describing styles of input, not in terms of describing a child's hard wired bias for one style over the other."
Philip Beadle, Education Guardian 3 Oct 2006

The NLP entry on Wikipedia is substantial and ultimately quite complex, and peppered with warnings about lack of objectivity (and sometimes likened to astrology). So beware NLP lovers, don't overestimate the power of proto-science. Having said that, I do like the insights that NLP gives us and as a working hypothesis it appears to provide some useful tools for working with people in a variety of contexts. I'm also keen to investigate the application of NLP to learning more closely (keeping in mind of course the warning from Philip Beadle).

Talking of proto-science another really interesting take on all this pseusdo-science is at Bad Science.

Comments

[Carol]

Hi John, I was interested to read that comment on learning styles. I never realised until recently there was a backlash kind of movement against some of the ideas generated from that corner.
I love the insights that learning styles and preferences offer. My feeling is that everyone is different, and not that any of us are hardwired at all (as the quotee also suggests) but that through lots of factors could end up leaning towards specific approaches and getting more benefit from them.
E.g. I am less into the 'audio' (listening) - I can drift off very, very, very (too) easily [snooze] into a world of my own if someone is talking at me or I am in a lecture. But if a mix of visuals and stimulating, engaging conversation, which I am *really* involved in is used, with a bit of audio thrown in to emphasise some main points, I really switch on.
I know some people though who really just love to sit down and read (another form of visual text obviously).
I prefer one-to-one or small groups, but I know others who like to get lost in a big crowd or just go it completely alone...
I think there *is* something in learning styles, but that it should be used by learning technologists and educational facilitators to make sure they are adept at catering to different audiences and switching between modes for various people, and that all educational materials should be made available in all modes so that no-one misses out and so that all education and training and learning opportunities can maximise opportunities to reach the parts that Victorian classrooms would never reach :-)

[Mark Vane]

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[The NLP Secret]

Thank you for the warning about NLP.

I just found the secret to NLP, and I wrote an article about it here:

http://johnderrick.com/law-of-attraction/wealth-abundance/the-nlp-secret-neuro-linguistic-programming/

When one considers the speed with which results appear by using NLP, it boggles the mind.

It is very complex to look at from the outside, but extremely easy to use.