Neuro Linguistic Programming (NPL) has been used widely in education and has been steadily gaining popularity within schools.

However research into NLP and its impact in education is still relatively limited and previous studies rightly point out the need for further evidence of impact and critical review.  Publications about NLP in education include; Neuro-linguistic programming and learning: teacher case studies on the impact of NLP in education (https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED508368.pdf), which includes a series of case studies by individual teachers.

ONE College aims to undertake a qualitative study of individual students and the impact of NLP strategies used to support them during exam preparation, specifically for the new BTEC qualifications.  The research will be targeted at year 13 Health & Social Care students, predominantly 16-18 year olds and hopefully will establish some of the benefits of NLP in education.

Sharon Mangoma (Research Champion; sharon.mangoma@suffolkone.ac.uk)

Project update - February 2019

The first part of this research has been completed.  At this stage two groups of students have been assessed using the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) (Pintrich, R. R., & DeGroot, E. V., 1990).

This is a 44-item instrument that uses a 7-point Likert scale to measure the types of learning strategies and academic motivation used by college students.  Of the two groups in the study, one group has 19 students and the other has 21 students.  Data from this assessment alone has flagged up/ indicated a marked difference in the number of students who have scored low on both Motivational Beliefs and Self-Regulated Learning Strategies in each group.  The next stage will be conducting a Mock Test to establish a baseline.

Sharon Mangoma

Project update - May 2019

In the second part of the research, a mock test was completed and only 12 of the 40 students achieved a pass. After completing this initial test the students have been introduced to aspects of NLP as follows:

• Rapport
• Reframing
• Anchoring
• NLP Presuppositions
• Meta Model Questioning

In the second midway mock test the number has increased slightly to 14 achieving a Pass and 2 achieving a Merit.  The final assessment will be an external assessment on 13 May 2019.  Before this assessment the learners will be asked to complete the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire again to establish any changes in their Motivational Beliefs and Self-Regulated Learning Strategies.

Research poster