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Sensory Preferences
A Class of... Roosters? Rabbits? Dragons? This is a rough guide for teaching at Ko Hsuan. By no means is it a rule book. Each person's path here is highly individual and you may find totally different truths from what is outlined here. All this is a compilation of different ideas and experiences a few of us have found in the time we have been here. We hope they may be of some use to you but that's it! Enjoy the ride! The following will be totally familiar to anyone with NLP or hypnotherapy
training, Here it is condensed and simplified to go on one page: People tend to
have a sensory preference. That is, they receive most immediate information
through one sense. This has enormous implications for teaching, If, for example,
the teacher is using a blackboard for most of the lesson this may be fine for
pupils who are primarily Visual but not for those who are Auditory.
The distinctions go like this: A Class of... Roosters? Rabbits? Dragons? A class is an animal! If you find out the dominant Chinese sign in your
class, it could be both fun and useful. Beyond Status would be very relaxed, smiling and making jokes. Johnstone
realized that this last teacher was an excellent status player; that is, he
wasn't stuck in one role and he could vary his status according to the
situation. It helps to be able to play the game! If you are interested, I
recommend you read Johnstone's book. It's excellent. Then forget the whole thing
and just be yourself. This can be one of a teacher's best friends and, like all best
friends, it can tell the truth. It comes in the guise of: The kids: their
response is fairly immediate. They also write in their own reports at the end of
the term, outlining which subjects they liked, didn't like etc. It can feel
fairly crushing when they don't like you and ego-fulfilling when they do. It
helps to remember that their feedback tends to be honest - but also subjective,
relating to individual feelings and preferences. If they don't like your
hairstyle you might have had it till you get a haircut! Whether they're learning
or not they may not realize till later. Also, a few brief lessons close to the
end of term may make more impression than the term as a whole. Other teachers:
may not actually witness your teaching but they will most likely hear things
from the kids - and from you! This is probably an area that could be developed
considerably, where we support each other by sitting in on classes, helping,
giving advice etc. "After
talking in English about D.H. Lawrence's views on power, I wrote a title for an
essay on 'Wuthering Heights' on the board. Power is one of the most basic issues at Ko Hsuan. There are many reasons for this. One is that here you are dealing with kids who are relatively unconditioned. They are in their power. The chances are that you and I have been denied our power in childhood through extensive religious and social conditioning, hence, being here can often be quite scary. In terms of esoterica, this is largely third chakra stuff, with issues of being 'oneself coming to the fore. The kids can teach you a lot about power, about being oneself. This is far-removed from the current world's perception of power which includes bullying, dominance and what is a basic misuse of power. Pure power is creative and it is authentic. When it is not creative and not authentic it tends to become aggressive and hard, a way of pretending to be in control. Also, as you give your power away, you are likely to tend towards blame and accusation. ("It has to be someone else's fault!") The people you are most likely to blame are the other adults - because the kids are not going to buy it! The best way out is to be honest. Ask yourself: Are you scared? Lonely? Angry? The kids will respond to you if you're real, as will the other adults. (See the 'Teaching Is Sharing' section.) Here there is power in being oneself. Expectation and Ambition Adults often project their own unfulfilled ambitions onto kids. This is no good and it's no fun! Forget it! 'Nobody fails, nobody passes - it is just that a few
people are speedy and a few people are a little bit lazy - because the idea of
failure creates a deep wound of inferiority and the idea of being successful
also creates a different kind of disease, that of superiority. Nobody is
inferior and nobody is superior. One is just oneself) incomparable...' It's quite normal for us to feel good about a kid who does
exceptionally well in class but our congratulations etc. can hurt those who
don't do so well. This is a very difficult thing for a teacher to recognize, but
it's definitely worthwhile showing equal respect to everybody in the class.
Somewhere Osho mentions - not teaching to the mean or lower levels but to pitch
the level of classes fairly high. During a lesson we can practice this by
ensuring we make eye contact with every pupil, not just the ones who are high
achievers. It can help in an exam class if you give them plenty of support and
encouragement but profess a lack of attachment to final grades - make sure it's
sincere though! If you leave your ambitions outside of the class and don't
expect anything from the kids they may surprise you. Also, if you don't expect
anything from yourself, you may surprise yourself! Find the essence of your subject Every subject has its essence - that is, underneath/beyond any
facts, knowledge or skill being taught in a subject, there is a single unifying
principle. (Sorry that's in New Age jargon, I couldn't find another way to say
it!) As an example, I found that English was basically about communication',.
Looking deeper, and exploring the language with the kids, it became clear that
it was about sharing. (This will be true about other languages too.) Once this
was established for me I found that the lessons developed a drive and an
excitement of their own, making them very easy to teach. This has to be due in
part to the fact that the lessons actually started to mean something personally
to the kids - and to me. Other subjects will have their own essences. As an
example, I found that Science promotes a Sense of Wonder in us, also of
objectivity: 'meditation looking outwards'. But you may teach the above subjects
and find different principles behind them. fun. Some teachers like to think of themselves as entertainers rather
than pedagogues (very serious). (English Key Stage 4 Note: 'Entertain' comes
from the French, 'entre' -between - and 'tenir' -to hold: 'to hold between.'
Amazing!) And let's face it, kids love to be entertained. This seems to be the
more extrovert aspect of teaching. 'entertainer' enjoys being on stage and
performing! enjoy the attention! If this is you, enjoy. "Trying to help Abha tap into her
creative source, her mother, Premdasi, told her to close her eyes.' In Osho's 'Five Dimensions of Education', meditation is part of
the fifth dimension. We have a class, '5D', set apart specifically for that but
meditation can be a part of teaching as well. It adds a lot of juice to the
subject - and kids are actually very natural with it. "The job of the
teacher is not just to teach little things o geography and history, and alt
kinds of nonsense. His basic function is to bring the students to a better
consciousness, to a higher consciousness. " Osho An issue that has come up
in the past is a reaction against meditation due, in part, to adults' tendencies
to turn it into a dogma, into something that one 'must' or 'should' do. One
generation of kids here had a collective nausea around kundalini - partly
because they detected a 'religious' aura around other peoples' attitude to it.
When kids sense a playfulness and a lightness around meditation they are
naturally drawn to it. One thing that helps is to remove the label 'meditation',
because that carries connotations of 'doing'. There are many ways to bring it
into the classroom: "When the child is surrounded by
the mysterious all around, everything just a mystery with no answer, with no
question, he is exactly at the point the sage ultimately reaches." 'Be respectful, be understanding.' Contrary to popular belief, teaching is a two-way process. Your function here is more that of a guide than a teacher in the traditional sense. For sure, you may have considerable knowledge and experience which you can share with the kids but that's about it! In other areas they are likely to outshine you. This may seem rather obvious to a sannyasin but it's worth bearing in mind both in and out of class here. Try and be aware of what you are learning from the kids. You are, for instance, likely to be confronted with issues from your own childhood, giving you the chance to finally resolve them. A lot of your own conditioning will be constantly challenged, forcing you to question some very deep-rooted beliefs. It won't always be easy. Some lessons are learnt with great difficulty. It is a two-way process though! Your feelings and opinions are as valid as anyone else's. A game - enjoy it! 'Don't think that you are a teacher so
you are in a very serious job. Look at life with more playful eyes...it is
really hilarious!' RELAX! Have fun you think it's should they? important. with your
lessons. Don't take it seriously because very important and the kids must learn!
Why It's usually an adult conceit that learning in class is If you see it all as
a game then the chances are that the kids will enjoy the lessons with you and
will want to learn! However, be aware that games have rules too - otherwise they
don't work. Make sure the kids know the rules you all need to enjoy the lessons,
e.g. People should let each other speak and be heard. In a class you learn about each other. his requires considerable
sincerity and honesty. A Game-Enjoy it! RELAX! It's always good to have a lesson prepared beforehand. (See the
Syllabus section about this.) However, it's also good to be able to drop any
preparation and be spontaneous. There are no clear rules, except maybe:
Sometimes preparation works, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes unprepared
spontanteify works, sometimes it doesn't. Have both available! (Psssst. I'll let
you into a secret: sometimes nothing works, Go and have a cup of tea.) Pacing,
is fairly instinctive. You can sense when the kids are getting bored because you
probably are too! So it's important that you spend longer than you thought
necessary on some areas and skip quickly over others. Timing a lesson beforehand
can be quite tricky so be prepared for variations on your plan. Back -u p is an
invaluable tool for any lesson. This can take any form. What it is is a kind of
'reserve lesson' that you have stored at the back of your mind for when
everything goes wrong, or you finish earlier than expected! This gives you a lot
of flexibility and can take many forms. Here are some suggestions: o Videos are
popular back-up but shouldn't be relied on all the time. o Have some different
worksheets or ideas in reserve. o Games - good for many subjects, including
English. - Books kept near at hand for reading aloud. Clearly, the longer you
teach at Ko Hsuan the more back-up material you'll have, so it actually gets
easier as you go on! Expectation
and Ambition 'Nobody fails, nobody passes - it is just that a few people are speedy and a few people are a little bit lazy - because the idea of failure creates a deep wound of inferiority and the idea of being successful also creates a different kind of disease, that of superiority. Nobody is inferior and nobody is superior. One is just oneself) incomparable...' Osho It's quite normal for us to feel good about a kid who does
exceptionally well in class but our congratulations etc. can hurt those who
don't do so well. This is a very difficult thing for a teacher to recognise, but
it's definitely worthwhile showing equal respect to everybody in the class.
Somewhere Osho mentions not teaching to the mean or lower levels but to pitch
the level of classes fairly high.
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