Understanding the Types of Temperament and Learning

Keirsey stated that there are four types of temperament. Understanding the different types of temperament is important to determine how we should deal with students in our classroom. The different types can be characterized by the following:

Sensible, Adaptable, Active (SP)

33% people have this temperament. They have a combination of sensate qualities and perceiver qualities, and are usually very tuned in to the here and now.

They like doing and playing today, and not being too worried about tomorrow. They are spontaneous and easygoing. They like to get involved in new and interesting activities.

School can be boring for the SP, if it means sitting still and doing a lot of written work. But school can be fun for them if that’s where the “action” is.

Sensible, Decision-making (SJ)

30% people have this temperament. They have a combination of sensate qualities and judging qualities. They are usually the dependable and responsible ones.

The SJ is very service-oriented and are good “team players.” They like situations that have been spelled-out and are well organized. SJ’s like institutions like school, teams, church and family.

They don’t mind step-by-step work, and they like and do well in school (partly because most teachers are SJ’s themselves).

Enthusiastic, Insightful (NF)

22% people are NFs. They have intuition combined with feeling qualities and are generally very good with people and language.

The NF is usually very enthusiastic and warm. They are very oriented toward cooperative things, and stay away from competitive things. They usually have very strong feelings about things and people – they either really like them or really don’t.

NFs are very personal and thrive in supportive, creative, and harmonious situations.

Logical, Ingenious (NT)

15% people have this temperament. They have a combination of intuition and a thinking style, resulting in someone who always needs to know “why.” NT’s are less interested in how things have been done, and more interested in how they can improve and in changing them.

They are very imaginative, and are very comfortable in the “world of ideas.”

They like to be good at things, and always want to be learning. They can appear unemotional, and can be accused of having an “attitude”, which is usually not the case.

Do you recognise the different temperaments of your students in these four types? How can you enhance the learning process to work through their type of temperament?

From Professional Learning Board’s online continuing education course for teachers: Accommodating All Learners