Imagine two students in a classroom in Any High School, USA. One struggles to concentrate on what the teacher is saying, but finds himself daydreaming instead. Mind ablaze with different ideas, some only tangentially related to the subject at hand, he texts a note about how boring the teacher is to his best friend. She, however, is so busy taking notes, engaged in what she considers a brilliant lecture, that she doesn’t even notice the text.
What accounts for the discrepancies in the ways different students experience the same lessons, teachers, and subjects?
Some much of the variation comes down to learning style. All of us learn in different ways, not just in the sense of visual, auditory, and tactile processing, but based on deeper factors. Personality types can shed a lot of light on your specific learning style.
Any student enrolled in our Roots2Words: Personalities and Perspective Words program knows we’ve been delving deeply into the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. In the MBTI, each personality type is described by a 4-letter code that indicates a preference for the following:
- Where you focus your energy (Extraverted or Introverted)
- How you process information (Intuition or Sensing)
- How you make decisions (Thinking or Feeling)
- How you outwardly act on those decisions (Judging or Perceiving)
Each of these preferences influences a student’s learning style and has different implications for what to pay attention to in the classroom, the best ways to study and take notes, how to interact with teachers, the most effective ways to get through big projects, and how to take tests. Sounds valuable, doesn’t it?
Though no one fits neatly into any one box, having a general understanding of your Myers-Briggs personality type and learning style can help you utilize your strengths and compensate for your weaknesses in order to reach your full potential. We’ll continue to explore the concept of Academic Personality Profiles over the next month by describing the four major MBTI dichotomies or preferences. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you’re interested in learning more!
Mike Bergin