"What I want in my life is compassion, a flow between myself and others based on mutual giving from the heart." (Marshall Rosenberg) In its simplicity and clarity, Compassionate (Nonviolent) Communication has the means to touch our heart and develop our consciousness. It is like an invitation to dance with our fear and pain, and to stride from confusion to compassion. It is flow!
This plenary aims at exploring the principles and skills that facilitate the flow of information necessary to exchange resources and resolve differences compassionately. It provides a clear and simple tool for acknowledging and overcoming negative thinking patterns, and reinforcing our innate power of sharing and giving from the heart.

• Transform potential conflicts into peaceful dialogues,
• Break patterns of thinking that lead to anger and depression,
• Speak your mind without creating hostility,
• Communicate compassionately using the healing power of empathy,
• Hear whatever is said to you as a "please" or "thank you",
• Make life more wonderful for yourself and others.
  

Using games, role-played dialogues, stories, puppet play, guided imagination and movement this workshop is a fascinating journey into the field of Emotional Intelligence.

Lucilla Lopriore

Plenary: Speaking words of wisdom: school and classroom discourse

Language education is fostered by the development of positive relationships inside and outside the classroom walls. The discourse built between learners and teachers, teachers and teachers, mirrors and shapes students' and teachers' beliefs and perceptions. How can we develop meaningful and peaceful interactions at school? The role and function of communication at school and in the classroom will be discussed and examples will be provided.

The opening of minds is an educational ideal that goes far beyond the useful but narrow constraints of assessment and certification. It is as important for teachers and administrators as it is for learners. Why is it important? What are the key facts about it? What can prevent it happening? How can we put it into practice? And how can we each apply it in other aspects of our lives? Opening minds requires us to be responsive to the structure of the brain and personal value systems.

Workshop: The Teacher's Personal Organiser

Increasing complexity and change will characterise the 21st century. The demands of students, parents, colleagues, managers, administrators, and politicians upon teachers and our time and skills are likely to increase sharply. How will we cope? How can we manage ourselves and others in ways that lead to more quality in our professional and personal lives, not less? This workshop will explore some of the patterns and structures that underpin human thinking, values and behaviours. 

Patterns organise and give meaning to our lives in the same way that syntax gives meaning to language, and a particular sequenced pattern of mind-body co-ordination allows us to successfully drive a car or learn a new skill. 

Through understanding some of the key patterns that run human behaviours we will gain insight into knowing what others really want, how they think, and how they will respond. We can learn to take greater control over ourselves, and develop our sensitivity to the needs of those we manage, live with, and work with in a fast-moving and complex world. We can begin to understand and work successfully with the patterns that operate to cause diversity and difference.

As we begin to better understand these underlying frameworks, we can learn how to save ourselves time and energy through applying these patterns and structures as organising principles.

Some key areas:

• The structure of the brain and hemisphericity
• The structures of learning and memorising
• Working with learning styles: influencing for success
• Solution thinking
• Creative thinking strategies and the power of metaphor
• Mapping your life
• Managing oneself; managing others
• Non-verbal communication strategies
• Beyond Maslow: the Gravesian Values Model
  
  

Judging from the contents pages of methodology books, issues such as discipline and behaviour do not seem to exist in the foreign language class at all. However, when we talk to teachers we get a very different picture. Many colleagues complain that their students' behaviour in class is making their jobs increasingly difficult. We spoke to teachers throughout the world about student discipline and behaviour and analyse their findings in this talk applying Kieran Egan's theories on education. We also propose a model to enable us to approach these issues as challenges as opposed to problems and explore a number of the options available. Finally, we take a look at suggestions on how to initiate change.

Workshop: NLP in the primary classroom

Have you heard about NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) and would like to find out more about it? Have you read about NLP or been to an NLP session or workshop and wondered how you could apply it to your teaching? Are you a primary school teacher and would like to find out how NLP techniques can help you become more resourceful as a person and how NLP-derived ideas can enrich your teaching? If you find yourself nodding your head as you you read, then this workshop is for you. You can expect exciting insights into your own inner world, plus a lot of fun new ideas to enrich your teaching.

Joint Plenary with J.Arnold:  Language Learning in the inner space

In this session we will explore the importance of mental imagery (visual, auditory, kinaesthetic...) for us as language teachers. After looking at some aspects of imagery from the perspective of neurobiology, cognitive psychology and learning styles, we will present ways that mental imagery activities can to help our learners not only "to have" English but also "to be" in English. 
We agree with Peter Majoy when he says that "visualization will become one of the most powerful, effective, and necessary tools for teachers in the years to come. Harnessing inner space will revolutionize teaching and learning".

Workshop:Creative Writing

In this workshop we will look at ways of creating a "writing climate" in your classroom so that writing in English begins to feel "real" to the students. Many of the exercises we will experience in this workshop would be marvellous gifts to bring to your colleagues who teach Italian as a foreign language. We will do a range of activities from elementary to very advanced. I think you will find this workshop fun for yourself as a writer.