Visualisation is nothing new, infact humans have been using this technique for thousands of years. Sports performers, business leaders, people attending job interviews have all used visualisation in some shape or form. Many of us perform it every single day. How can we harness this technique with young people as they progress through education? Could this be a secret weapon for educators across the world? Can it make the non engaged more curious?......
Visualisation: Noun: the formation of a mental image of something.
Forbes Magazine Article on Visualisation.
Visualisation in my opinion, is not a sole technique that can be used on its own as a method of being successful. It is a very powerful tool if used regularly and correctly. I believe two other aspects are also needed to be deployed to increase the chances of a successful outcome. The two additional elements are establishing your life purpose and goal setting.
Take this hypothetical example; a 16 year old student arrives at college to complete a sport course. The learner has passed GSCE English but not maths and has attended college to study sport as they have had previous enjoyment when playing team sports. This is a tale I have seen numerous times in my own experience, it highlights on some occasions that learners like this example are lacking direction. There isn't a clear idea on a future job, a goal or purpose for this young person.
When interviewing potential new students imagine your interview documents asked the below three questions:
What is your life purpose?
What have you visualised future success looks like to you?
What goals have you set to support your vision and purpose?
Some of these questions a middle aged person might struggle to answer (i know i have previously). Sometimes we get so caught up on the teaching of knowledge, pressure of learners passing exams and content we forget to teach people about how to learn about themselves. This is going to be key moving forward, due to the ease of access to new information and learning of new skills. People in the future will be able to transition careers much easier than in the past, with skills such as communication, critical thinking, collaboration and creativity (4Cs) being at the forefront of employers essential criteria for hiring new employees.
This leads to the problem that we are not teaching people to learn about themselves and we are potentially asking them to think about the future or future jobs we don't know exist yet either, so what do we do? The 4Cs mentioned above really are key in this case as they allow a transition across multiple industries and jobs. If new industries are born as a result of technological developments, people who deploy the 4Cs will have a better chance of progressing and growing into new jobs in the future. If these people also have the ability to think deeply about purpose, vision and goals the transition becomes even more likely to be a success.
When you look deeply at the 4Cs, I think they stem from one C that isn't mentioned and that's confidence. To communicate effectively takes confidence, so does the ability to collaborate, be creative and to think critically. Confidence can be boosted through using visualisation, by setting goals and having purpose in the performing of certain tasks.
Have you ever deployed visualisation techniques with learners?
Have you ever begun a lesson with a 5 minute visualisation meditation?
I think the answer for most of us would be no, this is not the norm. But what is? I would love to hear back on any activities you have performed that might include visualisation.
Let's look at another example. In this scenario, I have a group of 10 IT students who have identified that they see their purposes as to make the internet more accessible for all, to teach young people how to code or to make the internet a safer place for all, amongst others. Each person's purpose and vision will be different but the key here is they have identified a purpose. Each is tasked to visualise their futures, one wants to be the best web designer in the country, one wants to own their own company. Knowing this information you instruct the learners to set goals related to the short, medium and long term through a personal development plan. We now have a group of learners who have identified a purpose, a vision and have goals. Once we have this it can be so powerful for the individual and the group as a whole. Behaviour management for example within this scenario now becomes a “is this action helping you in your purpose, vision or goals?” As teachers we can tap into this and more importantly fuel the fire for the learners. Things will change of course potentially through the duration of the course they take, but the other arching themes remain the same. It's bigger picture thinking.
Due to the demand placed on many teachers, sadly the pressure to get learners to pass has become more about the tick in the box than the journey. The tick gives us the finite score but the journey breds infinite learning opportunities now and in the future. I couldn't tell you about the grades I was awarded when I was presenting a presentation on coaching skills at college many years ago, but what I can tell you about is how I felt that first time presenting and the skills I developed as a result of performing it. The journey is everything!
The key is to look at the whole picture, the bigger picture. Everyone has had a dream about what they might want to become, but many are scared or simply do not know the methods to take responsibility for what they want. I could probably write numerous more pages about this but for now this is enough. This post has been up, down and all over the place but i hope you have found it useful. If you take nothing but the 3 questions mentioned earlier, this has been a success and time well spent.
Thanks for reading.
