Re: Should We Move?

Naomi Gold (ngold@chass.utoronto.ca)
Thu, 15 Jan 1998 23:06:17 -0500 (EST)

Hello Teresa. I have a bit of familiarity with the Myers-Briggs test. I
took it at the career counselling center at the university where I did my
M.A. I was rather cynical about "personality tests," but a woman who
worked in university administration, whom I regarded as exceptionally sane
and balanced and purposeful, told me that she had taken the test and found
it to be very helpful for understanding her working style and, more
importantly for her, her style of interacting in groups. I myself found
it to be very helpful - and freeing. It was freeing in the sense that it
articulated in my "type," INTJ, preferences and characteristics which I
had up to that point regarded as near personality defects. For example,
and most significalty, the characteristic of introversion, which indicates
not an anti-social tendency, or even a preference for solitude, but a
style of aborbing and processing information. It also helped to explain
why I would feel tired and drained from certain kinds of intense social
activities. It helped to validate things about me which I had regarded as
something like defects. After all, we really seem to live in a society
which values and rewards and is most comfortable with extroversion. The
MBTI identifies and validates different styles of learning, which is why
it might be interesting to some people on this list. On the other hand,
there are those who might feel that any kind of standardized test is
fundamentally flawed somehow. Anyway, I found it helpful.

There are many books about the MBTI, which you may find in the self-help
section of a bookstore. Bigger bookstores might also be able to do some
kind of subject search which could identify books on the subject. There
is also information on the internet which you can find by doing, for
example, an altavista search for "Myers-Briggs."

Hope this helps.

*********************************************************************

On Thu, 15 Jan 1998, KleinCon wrote:

> In a message dated 98-01-15 18:37:55 EST, Teresa wrote:
>
> << I'm wondering if anyone here is familiar with MBTI
> temperament types/learning styles. I'm an ENTP, for which the learning
> style is "let them teach themselves" and my husband's is ISTP "hand-on,
> experiential learning." I'm guessing my son is ENTP, possibly ESTP,
> both of which do poorly in regular schools. From what I've read, about
> half of the population is either SP or NT, and would do best in
> alternative schools. The SJs (40-45%) like rote memorization, etc. and
> would fare OK in public schools. >>
>
> Hi Teresa,
>
> I am certified in the MBTi and a teacher, parent, and adminstrator at various
> times in my life in several alternative schools, including The Highland
> School, a democratic school, much like SVS. In my teaching I often found SP
> and NT kids for whom traditional schooling was abysmal. They often got
> labeled, either formally (LD, HDD, etc.) or informally (trouble-maker, mouthy,
> etc.). While I have never taught at SVS, I have visited there and
> corresponded with folks who taught and attended. I know well the trauma of
> moving and finding new jobs. If you and your husband can swing it, I say "Go
> for it!"
>
> Alan Klein
>