Ryan:
My name is Ryan Neile and I work as an animal behaviourist. An animal behaviourist works closely with animals,attempting to resolve behaviour problems.
As a 10 or 11 year old, I remember being very shy.I would always be very quiet. I used to actually pretend that I was a dog.I would crawl around on all fours and I would go to sleep under the coffee tableand I used to really worry my mum because I think she thought that maybe Iwouldn't stop being a dog. I wasn't learning in the same way as my friends.I wasn't able to remember things, I had problems learning in classrooms and Inoticed that I was slightly different to everybody else. I think that that had abig knock on effect in terms of my confidence and my self -esteem.
As a teenager, I'm feeling pretty useless. I haven't decided really what I wanted todo with my life, failing miserably at school. It was round about then that I wasreluctantly sent on a behaviour course with dogs. I didn't really want to go andwhen I went, I had this most amazing experience. Suddenly,it was like my brain was lit up like a Christmas tree because suddenly I was ableto really learn and take on this information. And I recognise that a lot of thequalities that I had about being patient and listening were real strength in thisparticular area.
The best bits about my job is that I get to spend lots of timewith animals and animals in so many ways are just as interesting as people.They have their own complex personalities, they have a sense of humour and they'rejust great to be around and over the years I've learnt so much from them.
Did you know that when dogs yawn, they might not always be tired when they do this?Sometimes they will do it when they are feeling stressed or worried about something."Hey, what are you doing? What are you doing?"
I really wish that when I was younger, I wasn't compared to everybody else.So because everyone else was doing really, really well at school, that I was insome way not as clever as them. The reality was, I was just as clever as all ofmy friends, I just learned in a very different way to them.
Video summary
Animal Behaviourist Ryan Neile talks about his life in order to inspire confidence in our own strengths and abilities.
As a child, he found it hard to learn the mainstream way and assumed he wasn't clever.
As a result, he often felt very unhappy.
However, being sent on a dog training course as a teenager changed his perception of intelligence.
Whilst learning to work with animals, Ryan started to recognise that his natural talents, which included patience, listening and gentleness, were fast achieving results with troubled dogs.
This is how he learned to recognise that he was clever, just in a different way from his friends.
Understanding this was his ticket to confidence and career fulfilment.
His message is, "Don’t compare yourself with everybody else. You are just as clever as them in different ways."
Teacher Notes
As a class, children could discuss what animals they like.
Why do people love animals and what do they get out of the relationship with their pets?
Ryan talks about key events and moments in his life.
Children could create a timeline of Ryan’s life and look at the key moments. How do they think these made Ryan feel? How did it affect his life?
There are opportunities for the children to reflect - have they ever had to do something they didn't want to, but were really pleased once they had done it?
A discussion could be: "How do they value different talents at school? What talents do they have? Are there any talents that their school does not recognise because they have no opportunity to show it or share it? Can they think of any appropriate avenues where they could showcase this talent?"
Another discussion could be: "Failure is not the end but just the beginning, and that failure is an event and not a person. At some point everyone thinks they are a failure. Instead of giving up, great achievers keep trying. Hold on to self-belief."
This clip will be relevant for teaching Modern Studies. This topic is suitable for KS1 and KS2 in England and Wales and 2nd level in Scotland.
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