Personality Type
and
Your Child's Learning Style
MBTI and Learning
The Myers-Briggs Personality Inventory (MBTI) is a personality test
designed to pinpoint one’s preferences in four areas - how you get
re-energized (extrovert/introvert), how you see the world
(sensing/intuitive), how you make decisions (feeling/thinking), and
how you relate to your outer world (judging/perceiving).
Sounds simple, but what a load of info you can discover about
yourself, your learning styles, and relationships with others.
You’ll find yourself amazed at the gifts God has given you and your
family members!
You’ll also discover ways to effectively teach your child and tap
into his/her learning potential.
Taking the Myers-Briggs Personality Inventory literally changed my
life. It opened up a whole realm of understanding I had previously
missed and helped me more objectively understand my strengths and
weaknesses. The first time I read the results of my test scores, I
felt like someone had cut open my brain and stuck it to a piece of
paper –it was uncanny!
I have used the MBTI with my students (second-fourth grades)The
children, especially the older ones, became very involved in
discussions about their preferences. They also found a greater
patience with fellow classmates who were of different types.
Let’s look at a brief explanation of the preferences and then see
how to best teach based on your child’s type.
| Introvert or Extravert? First,
there’s the introvert/extravert preference. Within the framework of
the MBTI, these preferences are related to how you get re-energized.
Some folks might say, “Well, you talk a lot – you must be an
extrovert.” That’s not what the MBTI is checking. There are many
introverts who can talk a blue streak, too! |
| Sensing or Intuitive? The second
set of letters in the MBTI relate to how one sees the world. Sensing
people tend to be practical, like facts and details, and focus on
what’s going on right now. Intuitive folks have a creative bend and
focus on “what could be” more than what is. |
| Thinker or Feeler? The thinking
and feeling arena are based on how you make decisions. It doesn’t
test whether you can think well or feel emotional. It’s just how you
decide things. |
| Judging or Perceiving? And finally, there’s the
judging/perceiving preference. Again, these words have a little
different meaning in MBTI language. Judgers (not a negative term in
MBTI ) prefer to work first, play second. They like to know what is
expected ahead of time and can become frazzled when changes occur
out of the blue. Perceivers tend to “go with the flow” – preferring
to let things happen. Lists and deadlines are discouraging and
limiting to the Perceiver. |
Your Type... Your Child's
Type
Have you decided your preferences? Are you an E or I? An N or S? F or T? J
or P? What we’ll discuss from this point on will make more sense if you go
ahead and write down your 4 letters.
The best book I can recommend about the Myers-Briggs is Nurture by Nature
by Paul D. Tieger and Barbara Barron-Tieger. This extraordinary resource
will describe your child’s learning preferences in a manner which will leave
you in awe of God’s gifts and better equipped to home school based on your
child’s specific needs. It’s a must read.
Personality preferences naturally lead into learning preferences.
Let’s find out how each preference learns
best here.
