The Transfiguration of Teaching

Helping people learn how to be whole

A 1-day experience

Wealthy societies tend to breed and fan discontent in order to keep their economies going: dissatisfied people consume more, hoping that, at some point, the right purchase will bring them that measure of happiness they crave. The long-term goal, in these societies, is usually "success", as defined by other forlorn travelling companions: the pay off will be the approval and admiration of these same lost souls.

But for it all to work, lock-step conformity must be the accepted norm, people must be moulded to feel inherently inadequate and some societies, such as the US, will legislate that schools have the right to impose addictive "mind control" drugs on students with "learning difficulties" - i.e. on students who don’t respond to the only form of teaching on offer. (In the U.S. one out of every 30 pupils is currently administered Ritalin, even against the wishes of the children and their parents; in the UK similar legislation was considered in March 2000.)

One effective alternative to this frightening trend could be schools that give pupils what they need to discover who they really are, that teach in ways that make learning fun and unforgettable, that leave pupils with a justified feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction, and that cater to students with different learning styles. But to achieve this, teachers must redefine their raison d’être, and begin to develop skills that have generally been considered to lie outside - and beyond - the field of teaching.

This workshop will be a journey into a new concept of classroom management, where success is built into the very structure of the curriculum, where teachers develop their perception and intuition to a degree that lets them tune into, and identify, every individual’s perceptual dominances and learning styles, and where they learn how to design activities that appeal to all learners - for different reasons. It will model "seamless" teaching and show how speed and an enchaînement can free students of the confines of linear rationality. It will be about designing miracles, and then getting out of the way to let them happen.