Tag: personality types

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Enneagram In Education: Type Two

This is part of a series using enneagram in education. For more information on why enneagram in education, refer to this post.

Enneagram type 2, the helper, or the giver. 

A few words to describe this type: 

People Pleaser. 
Emotional Connection. 
Relationships. 
Feelings. 
Attention. 
Empathetic. 
Aware of Others. 

Let’s pull this into a classroom setting. If you’re an enneagram type two, you are in the heart of the group work. Constantly trying to work with peers and help them achieve the same academic greatness that you strive for. You often act differently in individual classes based on your teacher’s personality type or preference, because your goal is to aim to please. Role models in your desired profession are your driving force to continue in your education. 

How to get the most out of your education as a type two. 

  • Make personal connections with peers and teachers.  
  • As well as personal connections with your schoolwork. 
  • Be careful in group work not to take responsibility for all of the assignments, spread it evenly among peers. 
  • If possible, choose smaller, more personal classroom settings. 
  • Realize that your grades are not a personal reflection of what a teacher thinks about you. 
  • Remember to meet your own needs before you can meet others’. 

“[Two’s are] Encouraging and appreciative, able to see the good in others. Service is important, but takes care of self too: they are nurturing, generous, and giving—a truly loving person.”

– The Enneagram Institute 

Type 2’s go to type 4 in growth and type 8 in stress. 

Are you a type 2? What is important for you to have a successful learning environment? 

Cover photo: The Enneagram Institute 

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Enneagram In Education: Type 1

Enneagram type 1, the perfectionist or the reformer. 

A few words to describe this type: 

Striving for more. 
High integrity. 
Idealist. 
Ethical. 
Inspiring. 
Never flexible. 
Responsible. 

Let’s pull this into a classroom setting. If you’re an enneagram type one, you are typically self driven. You’re the kid in the front of the classroom taking avid notes on everything the teacher says. The motivation behind a type one student is to be correct and have all of the right answers. 

How to get the most out of your education as a type one. 

  • Learn in a logical, strategic way. 
  • Know the step by step process to assignments and classroom structure in general. 
  • If possible, in group work settings, don’t choose friends, choose those that you know will work hard and get the job done to the same level of perfection as you. 
  • Keep a planner and update it often. 
  • If your teacher isn’t challenging you enough, challenge yourself. 
  • Keep as organized as possible.

“Dissatisfied with reality, they become high-minded idealists, feeling that it is up to them to improve everything: crusaders, advocates, critics. Into “causes” and explaining to others how things “ought” to be.”

– The Enneagram Institute 

Type 1’s go to type 7 in growth, and type 4 in stress. 

Are you a type 1? What is important for you to have a successful learning environment? 

Cover photo: The Enneagram Institute 

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An Introduction To Using Enneagram In Education

Let’s talk enneagram! I want to do a segment on the enneagram personality type and how it can help us understand how we learn. I did a segment on Myers-Briggs type indicator last year and felt inclined to highlight enneagram as well. 

Why is it important to know personality type when it comes to education? 

“When we study nine personality types of the Enneagram, we can better understand how and why others see the world differently from us. This awareness leads to greater compassion and acceptance of others. We can apply this knowledge to adapt our teaching style (sometimes in very small ways) to make a big difference in how well our students learn. In the classroom, the Enneagram can help teachers and students connect to be effective partners in education.” –Rob Fitzel 

We as humans see the world one way, but can be confused or misunderstanding when others see the world in a different way. Understanding enneagram types of not only ourselves but others can be a great fix for this. Having validation of the best learning environment for yourself can also set you up for success. There are so many different ways to study and take notes, so having this knowledge can give you the chance to find your groove of learning faster. 

Photo credit

What is enneagram?

It is not just an indicator of personality, but dives deep into someone and finds their core beliefs, why they make decisions, and the driving factor behind our actions and feelings. The symbol for enneagram is a web of sorts because each type takes on different aspects of other types during growth and stress. For example, a type one will lean towards a type 4 personality in stress and a type 7 during growth. For the sake of simplicity, I will not be diving too deep into this topic. If it is something you wish to delve deeper into, I will have additional websites linked below with further information. 

How do you find your type?

There are multiple tests you can take to determine this, but I have not found one specific test that I lean towards using, so I will leave finding a test up to you. Perhaps the best way you can find your personality type is research, research, research! Learning about every single type and finding which ones you can identify with most. 

I’m excited to dive in deep to this learning context with you! Come back next week to learn about type 1’s, what their personality entails, and how they learn best. 

What is your enneagram personality type? 

Other resources for learning more about enneagram and finding your personality type: 

https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/type-descriptions

https://enneagramworldwide.com/tour-the-nine-types/

Instagram accounts to follow:

https://instagram.com/enneagramashton?igshid=1e9rhqb1pkpfy

https://instagram.com/enneagramexplained?igshid=k6s80x81thcv

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The Conclusion Of My MBTI Research: My Learning Summarized

This is part of a series of using Myers Briggs personality types in the classroom. For more information, click here. For information on how to figure out your student’s MBTI type, click here. 

In the last few months, I have analyzed all 16 Meyers Briggs personality types. Last week I wrote my 16th post in the series, the final personality type explained. Seeing my research come to an end was sad for me because I’ve dedicated so much time and interest in the subject. A few takeaways I ended  with were this: 

Figuring out student’s personality types can be hard and time-consuming, but also incredibly awarding if you’re willing to put in the work. 

You don’t necessarily need to know their MBTI personality type to know them better. Start with identifying introverts and extroverts and using that information to guide your teaching. Move on to identifying sensing versus intuitive students and then use that as well. 

Students can be aware of MBTI types as well to help them interact with other teachers and peers. 

When comparing personality types, they can be very similar and vastly different at the same time. 

There are not necessarily pros and cons to a personality type, just differences in how we think and who we are. 

Jane Kise has done extensive research on MBTI in the classroom. If I cannot convince you how beneficial is it, maybe she can with her TedTalk. Notice that she doesn’t find conclusive evidence by the majority of students acting and reacting in certain ways, but because every single student of the same personality type has the same actions. 

In the future, look for a post with links to each of the personality types to learn more about how to use your knowledge of MBTI in the classroom. Until then, share with me! How has your knowledge of MBTI helped you in your classroom? 

featured image: thedailybeast.com


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Teaching The Boundary Pushers- ISTP Personality Type

This is part of a series of using Myers Briggs personality types in the classroom. For more information, click here. For information on how to figure out your student’s MBTI type, click here. 

Do you have a wandering student that struggles with keeping boundaries? They are confident and realistic in their thinking and learning. This personality type could be ISTP. Although, according to statistics, there is a small chance to have a student with this type in your classroom, ISTPs only make up 5% of the population, making it a lesser common personality type. 

Introverted
Sensing 
Thinking 
Perceiving

Being introverted, they keep to themselves. The way they process information is in a personal way, using all of their senses. They need hands-on manipulatives to sit and work with while they quickly take in the information. Often working in groups or even with a partner can feel stifling to them because they don’t want to be limited by other’s thinking. They never want to discuss topics with peers, they want to answer questions as quickly and efficiently as possible. 

The sensing side of them thrives on using all of their senses to learn. Worksheets and procedural learning are difficult for them to use to understand concepts. In fact, ISTP students are commonly known for having a difficult time excelling in school and are the least likely to continue education beyond high school. 

School systems are built around extroverted, intuitive personality types, which are students who engage with others, work in collaborating groups, and learn in a procedural way instead of learning using hands-on techniques. While learning in a personal setting with hands-on manipulatives is becoming more and more common, it is still not ideal for this personality type to learn in typical schools. A study was conducted asking ISTP types what type of school they preferred. Trade school came in first place with public or private schools receiving very few votes. 

So how can we help these students be more successful? First, be aware of their needs. Give them the independent study time they need, as much as you can feasibly do with the collaboration-driven schools that we are in now. Also at the same time, teach them ways to cope with learning in groups and speaking with peers on learning topics. Provide them with learning that uses all of their senses, and find a balance with their resistance to structure and boundaries. And obviously the most important, just know who they are and be in tune with what they need. That’s the best thing you can do for any of your students. 

How do you keep respectful boundaries with your students who resist them?  

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Teaching the “Entreperneur” Student: An MBTI Personality Type

This is part of a series of using Myers Briggs personality types in the classroom. For more information, click here. For information on how to figure out your student’s MBTI type, click here. 

Picture a student that is highly motivated by competition, one that is highly practical, yet disorganized. Perhaps spicy would be a word you could describe this student as. A student that you see someday owning and running their own very successful business. In fact, an ESTP’s nickname is “The Entrepeuneur”. 

Extroverted
Sensing 
Thinking 
Perceiving 

ESTP students have a hard time with theoretical ideas because they are the “get to work now” type. When they find excitement in a subject, they excel. ESTPs are known for jumping in with two feet with an idea and doing the thinking later because they want results and they wanted them yesterday. 

Group work and collaboration are where they flourish, especially with their extroverted tendencies. Bouncing ideas off of peers and working with others gives them energy and fuels their fire to take off and create something great. They are known for their original ideas and especially for making them happen. 

Their quick personalities also give them a love for games in the classroom or anything else that requires quick answers with a competitive environment. They are not ones to sit down with information and take it all in, they need the reader’s digest version of everything so that they can bounce around and move onto the next idea. 

Highly structured environments are hard for them with their perceiving type. They want the room to move and create at their own free will, not under the direction of a teacher. When given the right materials and space, ESTPs can blow everyone out of the water with what they can come up with. 

The sensing type in them thrives on manipulatives in the classroom. They want hands-on experience in everything, allowing them to take in and internalize a concept by doing, not seeing. If they are having a hard time grasping a concept, put it into action for them or let them put it into action themselves, that’s how they want to learn. 

Do you have an ESTP student in your class? How do you see their spicy, driven personality enhance the culture of your classroom? 

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Teaching To The Dedicated, Procedure Following Kids

This is part of a series of using Myers Briggs personality types in the classroom. For more information, click here. For information on how to figure out your student’s MBTI type, click here. 

ISTJ students are often described as logical, practical, and structured. Do you have one of these students in your classroom? Possibly one that thrives on consistency and struggles when rules and procedures are not followed. 

Introverted 

Sensing 

Thinking 

Judging 

These introverted students are capable of working in smaller groups, but large groups can stress them out, especially when making comments or asking questions. It’s rare to find these students speaking up or asking things in classroom discussions. In an interview I conducted with ISTJ personality types, one student expressed how she wished there could be an anonymous way to ask the teacher something without speaking up in a group to avoid shame and embarrassment. Another shared, “I’m learning even if I’m not raising my hand and sharing my answers out loud.”

They are sensing students, meaning conceptual learning can be difficult for them. They need their senses engaged to understand concepts. They do not want lists of procedures to accomplish long division, sensing types need number cubes and drawn out examples to understand what exactly division is, then they can understand everything fully. 

Interest in a topic is vital for these students and if they love what they are learning they will put in their full effort. ISTJs often do well in a university school setting because the topics and classes are chosen based on what they want, giving them a deeper interest in their studies, pushing them to work harder and do better. 

Clear objectives and expectations are big for this personality type. If you ever feel like you’re writing your objectives on the board just because you were told to by an administrator or learning coach, know that your effort is not wasted with an ISTJ student in your classroom. They often need to look at what is expected and strive to follow this, because their core values are to reach expectations, and it hurts them when they don’t or can’t accomplish this. 

Do you have any ISTJ students in your classroom? What ways do you use their interests to drive their learning?