Connecting Personality and Learning

How a child learns is very closely related to his or her personality. In addition, how a person teaches is also personality related. One’s likes and dislikes can affect how he or she processes information. Knowing that all people learn differently has caused educators to begin paying closer attention to both learning styles of the students and the teaching styles of the teachers. Administrators and supervisors encourage and praise various types of teaching styles used in a single classroom setting. The more types of teaching styles that are used means the more students that are being reached. Educators also try … Continue reading

Nurture by Nature – Paul D. Tieger and Barbara Barron-Tieger

I don’t know about your children, but I know that what works for one of mine doesn’t necessarily work the others. And I rarely recognize my own children when I read parenting books. Nurture by Nature: Understand Your Child’s Personality Type—And Become a Better Parent is one parenting book where I not only caught glimmers of my own children, but found some helpful advice on raising their particular personality type. Personality Type was first devised by psychologist Carl Jung. The mother-daughter team of Katharine Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers expanded on his ideas. According to Myers-Briggs, there are sixteen basic … Continue reading

Perceiving Students and the Classroom

This will end the descriptions of learning and personality types in the classroom. As you well know, all people are defined by four personality characteristics. The last personality type described by Myers and Briggs is perceiving. The perceiving personality is opposite to judging. This personality also describes a way of life style and work. A perceiving (p) person is unconcerned with deadlines and time frames. He prefers spur of the moment tasks. Perceiving persons often put off their work until they can investigate it more. Finalizing a project or making a final decision often makes them feel confined to one … Continue reading

Judging Students and the Classroom

So far I have discussed six personality types placed into three categories. Today will begin the last of the classroom learning style list. The final two personalities, judging and perceiving, describe a person’s life style and work preferences. A judging person prefers to live in a very organized world. He or she needs control of his or her life. This group likes structure, organization, and order. They make decisions and then move on to other issues. Judging persons enjoy completing tasks and getting the job done. They are quick to jump in and begin work on a project. In the … Continue reading

Feeling Students and the Classroom

I am thoroughly enjoying discussing the various learning personalities in the classroom. I am also enjoying hearing your comments to the different learning styles. I recently discussed the characteristics of thinking students and their behaviors in the classroom. Those who do not fit into the thinking category most likely belong in the category with feeling students. Feeling people often think about decisions based on how others may be affected. They do not examine facts such as thinking people. They are more likely to act based on instincts and feelings rather than logic. This group often finds it hard to say … Continue reading

Education Week in Review: June 9 – June 15

Education issues are booming in the news! My Google alerts have been full this week. I have tried to share as many stories of interest with you as possible. I hope that all has had a wonderful week and keep up the great reading and commenting! Saturday, June 9 Perks of Public Education: W = Worth It Moments Teachers, like everyone else, have slumps in their career. However, the great thing about teaching is that there are also wonderful pick me ups. I call these pick me ups worth it moments. These are the moments that make all of the … Continue reading

Thinking Students and the Classroom

Recently, I have been discussing how a child’s personality can affect his or her learning in the classroom. An instrument designed by Meyer and Briggs identifies the different personalities of people. The instrument labels an individual by using four characteristics. The first two characteristics label a person as either being an introvert or an extrovert. The second two labels put people into the categories of being a sensing person or an intuitive person. The third set of personality types are thinking or feeling. In this article, I will describe the actions and thoughts of a thinking person. I will also … Continue reading

Intuitive Students and the Classroom

Opposite to the personality of sensing people are intuitive people. While sensing students enjoy learning facts, intuitive students enjoy taking facts and manipulating them to see how they relate with one another. Intuitive students had rather think about things than do them. They want to understand how things work and find the theories behind ideas. Their focus lies mainly in the future. In a sense, intuitive students will work backwards. They solve the problem then go back to decide which facts are significant and which are not. They want to quickly get to the solving part without investigating all of … Continue reading

Sensing Students and the Classroom

So far we have discussed the personality types of extroverts and introverts. In addition to your child having one of these two personalities, he or she will also have three other personality labels. The next label given by Myers and Briggs is either sensing or intuitive. If you are sensing, you often use your senses to observe the world around you. Sensing people like to process information that is realistic and concrete. They prefer to be able to see and touch what they are learning about. Sensing people carefully observe what is happening around them. They are often practical and … Continue reading

Introverts and the Classroom

In my last article, I discussed the signs of a student that has an extrovert personality. This article will discuss the other group of learners. If a child does not fall into the extravert category, he is typically thought to be an introvert. Introvert students are thinkers. Introverts are driven by personal reflection and assessment. Unlike extroverts, they do not need the social interaction of others. Introverts prefer planning out exactly what is to be said before saying it. They usually think before doing. Introvert students enjoy assignments that they can complete alone such as reading, writing, or listening. They … Continue reading