ABOUT THE PROGRAM

How the program was developed

Many years ago I became a school psychologist out of a desire to help students learn better.  That desire was frustrated by a system which forces the school psychologist to administer standardized tests to struggling students so that they will get a label and thus be eligible for assistance through Special Education—or, in the majority of cases to tell parents that their child is not eligible for such assistance because they didn’t meet the state eligibility criteria.  That system slowly but surely burned me out, but I never gave up the idea that there had to a better way, that there were techniques and learning resources out there, if one could find them, that could actually help students.  Over the years, I continually read books and attended trainings to expand my knowledge base in the hope that one day I would actually be able to apply that knowledge.  My search for answers led me through several strands of ideas, which I have blended into the MindPower Coaching Program.

From my academic background in Psychology, Educational Psychology, and Instructional Design I gained a foundational understanding of how learning occurs.  I developed an appreciation that there is no “one way to learn”—rather, how one learns best is dependent on several factors, such as the individual’s own learning style, the nature of the material to be learned, and how the knowledge, once learned, is to be applied.

I have been greatly influenced by the work of Dr. Mel Levine, who has written several books to demystify learning disorders (such as A Mind at a Time and The Myth of Laziness).  Dr. Levine’s description of the neuro-psychological functions by which the brain processes information and how dysfunctions in specific areas can adversely impact learning is the most comprehensive analysis that I have encountered.

I gained a unique perspective on how the mind works from my study of the discipline of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP).  NLP is a model of the internal mental representations and processes that underlie how we think, perceive, feel, behave, and learn—it provides us with distinctions about the structure of how we do what we do so that we can have conscious access to that structure.  Having conscious access to it, one can change that internal structure, and then one’s thinking, perceiving, feeling, behaving, and learning consequently change and thus open up new possibilities for action.  For me, this is a much more optimistic approach for viewing learning difficulties than assuming a learner has some kind of “disability”, thus implying that there is some kind of unchangeable internal defect that one has to live with.

From my training as a personal performance coach, I gained a strong belief that people are basically capable and resourceful, and just need some direction to reach their potential and achieve their goals.  I feel that this is particularly true in the area of learning.

Basic Assumptions of the program

1) The power of the mind is virtually unlimited—everything we know and do is a function of how we use our brains, and it has been estimated that we only utilize 10-15% of our available mental capacity.  Examples of “mindpower” are 1) people can get well if they think they are getting medicine that will cure them (the placebo effect well documented in medical research) and 2) the mind can bring ideas from the realm of thought into physical reality (70 years ago computers were just an idea, now they are everywhere).

2) People aren’t broken, they work OK:  There is a pervasive mindset in psychology and education that if a person has any kind of problem, they must therefore have some disorder or disability.  A small number of people actually do have a disorder or disability (autism or severe mental disability are some examples), but we do a disservice to the many by treating everyone with a problem as if they were broken in some way and giving them a label describing how they’re broken.

3) Most problems are not due to some inner defect, but to a lack of know-how.  Most people are capable of doing and achieving much more than they realize, but their internal resources (i.e. knowledge, skills, strategies, etc.) are not organized properly to enable them to achieve their goals.  Here’s an example:  most people are physically capable of flying an airplane, but their brains aren’t organized properly to allow them to do that successfully.  A person could learn how to fly a plane (i.e., invest the time and energy to acquire the necessary knowledge and procedures and practice them to mastery).  Even without knowledge of flying a person is still capable of executing the necessary actions. In an emergency a flying instructor could give precise step-by-step instructions on how to fly the plane over the radio, in effect “loaning” one the necessary resources (there was a film in the ‘70s where a flight attendant landed a 747 this way).  Looking at problems as a lack of know-how rather than a defect opens up the possibility of people changing to become more resourceful.

Purpose of the program

Most people don’t have time, energy, or desire to become experts on learning, and the brain doesn’t come with an owner’s manual on how to use it most effectively.  The purpose of this program is to “talk you through” whatever learning challenge you or your learner are facing, like the flying instructor in the airplane example above.  If you are a parent looking for advice to help your child succeed in school, a student looking for ways to learn more with less effort, or an adult who wants to achieve a specific learning goal, help is available from your learning coach.