Teasing an individual cat

When was the last time you met a cat that was accommodating, appreciative and giving? Chances are, it’s never happened. By nature, cats are independent creatures that act as if it’s our privilege to serve them. Unfortunately, some humans are this way as well. As teachers, we are given the task of managing our class, and an essential key to the art of excellent leadership is learning how to manage individual cat students.

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A teacher’s success is not based on the managed cat student’s reaction but instead is based on the class’ reaction to how we have managed the cat. This is important to understand, because the cat may be explosive when managed.

It is easier to proactively manage a cat than to be reactive to the cat’s inappropriate behaviours. The differences between being reactive and proactive are:

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Teasing strategies for an individual cat student

Quick in and out

Make eye contact with other members of the group and then quickly look at the cat and with a lower and slower voice make a comment like,

“This might not apply to you.” “You probably don’t need this.”

Then quickly turn away from cat and go back to making eye contact with the rest of the group.

Attempt to use a negative in front of the desired behaviour. In the above examples, the literal part of the cat’s brain hears,

“This might [not] apply to you.” ”You probably [don’t] need this.”

Screen Shot 2014-08-15 at 11.22.37 amIndirect communication

Make eye contact with other members of the group. Use one hand with the palm up towards the group. Then, with the other hand extended towards the cat, without looking at the cat, turn that hand so it is palm down. Say something so the group understands that the cat is different from the rest of the group.

Reject the cat

Position your body so that you are next to the cat. Look past the cat and make eye contact with a dog. The cat is not accustomed to being ignored. You are preempting the cat – you are rejecting the cat before the cat rejects you.

Gestures of Relationship

While talking past the cat (#3) to a dog, start moving your hand in a gesturing manner between your body and the cat. Make no eye contact with the cat as you do this.

A teacher manages the cat indirectly, hoping to intrigue the cat by teasing it. Why tease the cat? It’s to achieve our ultimate goal—getting the cat to seek us. It is harder to manage a cat that is ignoring us. We can’t change a cat’s nature, but when we are able to manage these independent individuals in an indirect way, the class will feel comforted and secure in our leadership abilities.

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Michael Grinder


Michael Grinder is the United States national director of NLP in Education. After teaching for
17 years on three education levels, he holds the record of having visited over 6,000 classrooms. Michael has pioneered the practice of using non-verbals to manage classrooms and create a safe learning environment based on influence instead of power.