The following is an updated reflection of my teaching profile. I wrote the original reflection for Instructional Strategies in Adult Education.
I am an ENFP according to the Keirsey Temperament Sorter. ENFP’s typically relate to people well and enjoy being around others. I enjoy the social aspect of teaching and this affects my commitment to what I am trying to help students do. Because of my temperament, I see a world with possibilities and this affects my teaching style. I see the potential in my students for success and a better life. I become passionate about wanting what I see my students wanting. My enthusiasm for their success helps to inspire and motivate them. This is seen more in my type than in others.
I think my teaching style reflects these characteristics. A characteristic of my teaching style is that I am empathetic toward the needs and desires of the students (a very NF characteristic according to the Keirsey Temperament Sorter). Because adults bring their life experiences to the classroom, want knowledge that is relevant and applicable to their lives and are willing to work on their own learning, my teaching style tries to accommodate this. I think my empathetic character has developed because some of the characteristics that relate to my teaching style relate to the fact that I also exhibit the characteristics of typical adult learners.
ENFP’s have good people skills. I think part of the value of my student’s learning experience when they come to my class is that I am genuinely warm toward them and interested in them. Because I am intuitive (this came out in my learning profile as well) I am able to understand a person after a short period of time and try to relate to my students in a way that makes them feel they are valued and have something important to contribute.
These characteristics are not directly related to the actual learning process but I think they are important to mention because so much of being able to learn is based on motivation, feeling good about what one is learning, and feeling that the teacher is contributing in a positive way to the process. I think establishing a comfortable relationship is critical and part of my teaching strategy.
Because, as an ENFP, I am also independent, I do not like to be constrained by bureaucratic policies when it comes to how I teach. I like to have the freedom to pass onto my students’ control of their own learning. I, as an adult learner, don’t like to be controlled by rules and regulations that impede my learning so my empathetic nature is such that I feel students will be suppressed in the same way.
I scored high in the facilitator and delegator category of the Grasha-Reichmann inventory. I think of myself as more of a facilitator (very NF) or delegator regardless of what I am teaching or who I am teaching even if the environment seems to require more of an expert or formal authority. In the GED classroom where students are required to attain a certain amount of knowledge and students are usually in a hurry because they are anxious to move onto other educational or employment pursuits and need their GED quickly to move onto those things, I find myself in the position of being the formal authority or expert. I possess the knowledge of the material they need to know and can gauge their competence. Some of this information may not be useful to them in their personal lives but I can ensure they will be prepared to take the GED tests if they follow the prescription I provide to learn all they need to know. I don’t think this is the best way to learn and retain new knowledge. In this context, I try to facilitate or delegate the learning by allowing students to learn the material in a way that works best for them. This way of doing things provides the students with a clear outline of what the goal will need to be in order to pass the GED tests and it puts the onus on them for ultimately learning the material in a way that works best for their learning style.
I think this teaching style works for me when I am a student. If there is content to be mastered, I like to take the material and learn it in a way that suits me. I like to know what the outcome is supposed to be and then like to get there on my own.
I try to guide and direct students, offer them options, and encourage them to use their own initiative and independence to make decisions regarding what they can do in the class that will be useful for them. Often, they have never acted this independently regarding their own learning. It takes some time for them to be able to create goals for themselves and have a willingness to be open to trying new things. Because this is time consuming and involves things like building self esteem and creating an independent work ethic, it often takes many weeks or even months to see concrete results. When they can see themselves as independent, then I can truly facilitate their learning. The outcomes in this kind of class are often not quantifiable because even though the student has not passed an academic measure, they have grown in areas such as self esteem, independence and other characteristics that are not readily measurable.
The fact that I am most comfortable in my role as a facilitator or delegator I think is also evidenced in my learning style. I am an active, sensing, visual, global learner according to the Felder inventory. I like to be involved in learning something by applying what I have learned. I don’t do well with theoretical knowledge that has no application for me. I feel very conscious about this when I am teaching. I want the learning to be useful to my students. If they feel the knowledge is useful, I feel like the effort I have made has been worthwhile as their teacher. Since they are dealing with serious issues outside of the class, I don’t want to waste their time. I don’t like having my time wasted either when I’m learning.
The Keirsey Temperament Sorter truly identified my behavior as a teacher. I agree with the NF analysis; that I am committed to my students and concerned about their welfare. This causes me to become emotionally involved at times and I take their failures and successes personally. I’m getting better at not doing that. I try to individualize instruction as best as I can within the parameters of the GED requirements. Since many students are not successful in completing the GED tests, I feel they have at least learned something they can use. This is also a characteristic of the NF type in that learning should be useful. I get the most joy in teaching when there are a variety of activities going on simultaneously. That is always an indication to me that students are being productive. The most fun for me is the search for creative ways to reach someone. I am very satisfied when I have gotten to know my students well enough to know what they need to learn and what will work for them in terms of how they will be able to learn.
I think my learning style contributes to how I teach because I can use the way I learn to be creative and empathetic toward the needs to my students. I think my learning and teaching styles are parallel in that they are flexible and I am able to accommodate many students in the different environments that I teach.
