do you have the personality for teaching?

Do You Have the Personality for Teaching?

Presented at the 2011 Illinois Music Educators Association All-State Conference in Peoria, Illinois

By Dr. David Snyder

Professor of Music Education at Illinois State University

[email protected]

The Purpose of Today’s Presentation…

• Data from a 5 year study of undergraduate students at Illinois State University will be presented.

• Personality types as determined by the Myers-Briggs Personality Type test will be discussed as they relate to music education majors.

• Specifically, we will look at personality type as it relates to major preference and attrition within the music education degree program.

Related Studies…

• Several researchers have looked at personality as it relates to teaching …

• Fred Pigge has done several longitudinal studies on general teacher attrition using Myers-Briggs and other measures.

• Cutietta (1997), Coffman (2007) looked at personality traits and instrument selection among junior high and adult musicians respectively.

• Kreuger (1974), Schmidt (1989),Bergee (1992) all looked at personality as it relates to music teacher behaviors and success.

The Method…

• Participants (N= 235) were all music ed students enrolled in Introduction to Music Education from Fall 2006 until Fall 2010.

• All students enrolled were asked to complete an on-line Myers-Briggs test as part of the class.

• After taking the test, students were asked to read a description of their personality type and send their results to me and state as to whether they agreed with the results or not.

Analysis of Results…

• Personality types were tallied and grouped by similar classifications.

• The vast majority of the students participating agreed with the personality assessment given (less than 5% disagreed with their assessment in any way)

• Chi-square goodness of fit test was run to compare differences in observed and expected representations of each personality type and attrition rates between each type indicator.

• Take the Myers-Briggs test at:www.humanmetrics.com/cgiwin/JTypes2.asp

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgiwin/JTypes2.asp

Personality as defined by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

•The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is a personality test based on Carl Jung’s theory of psychological types, designed to assist a person in identifying their personality preferences. •It was developed by Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers during World War II.


•The MBTI differs from standardized tests measuring traits that can be improved with practice, instead identifying preferred “types”. While types and traits are both inborn, traits can be improved, whereas types, naturally differentiate over time.


•Don’t think of personality in this case in terms such as “outgoing”, “reserved”, “happy” “warm”, “fun-loving” , “serious” and the like…


•Instead, think of the type indicator in Myers-Briggs as being the operational preference for individuals when interacting with the world and making decisions.


There are 4 Dichotomies searched for in the MBTI:

Extroversion /Introversion Sensing/ iNtuition Thinking /Feeling Judging /Perceiving

A dichotomy is a division of two mutually exclusive groups, or “type” preferences

The Preferences in Detail

In the Extroverted type the energy flow is outward, and the preferred focus is on other people and things, whereas in the Introverted type the energy flow is inward, and the preferred focus is on one's own thoughts and ideas.

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Extrovert

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Introvert


Sensing type prefers to receive data primarily from the five senses, and iNtuition type prefers to receive data from the unconscious, or seeing relationships via insights.

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Intuition



Thinking types uses logical "true or false, if-then" connections. Feeling types use "more or less, better-worse" evaluations.




Judging types tend to prefer a step-by-step approach to life, relying on external rules and procedures, and preferring quick closure. Perceiving types can be seen as having a “bouncing around" approach to life, relying on subjective judgments, and a desire to leave all options open.





The J/P terminology may be misleading for some—the term "Judging" does not imply "judgmental," and "Perceiving" does not imply "perceptive".


Keep in mind that each dimension reveals a person's inborn preference with how he or she is most comfortable operating, and does not say that any person will always use his preferred dimension.


Participants are given one of 16 four-letter acronyms, such as ESTJ or INFP, indicating what they prefer in each of these dichotomies resulting in their “type”.

Types as represented in the US population (taken from New World Encyclopedia .org)

MY “TYPE”: ISTJ•Value tradition, security, and peaceful living •Will work long and hard to fulfill duties •Can be depended on to follow through on tasks •Stable, practical and down-to-earth •Family-minded •Dislike doing things which don't make sense to them •Dislike abstract theory, unless they see the practical application •Natural leaders •Prefer to work alone, but work well in teams when necessary •Extremely observant, they take in facts via their senses and store them internally •Profound respect for facts and concrete information •Make decisions objectively, applying logic and rational thinking •Dislike change, unless they are shown it's benefit in a concrete way •Have strong opinions about the way things should be done •Appreciate structured, orderly environments •Have very high standards for their own behavior and the behavior of others •Not naturally in-tune with other people's feelings

Types as represented at ISU

Comparison of Music Ed Majors to National Percentages

US population Music Ed (2006-09)•ISFJ 13.8%* 3.8%•ESFJ 12.3 % 17.9%•ISTJ 11.6% 5.1%•ENFJ 2.4% 30.2%•INFJ 1.5%** 14%*The most common personality type in the US** The rarest personality type in the US

FJ’s•Myers and Briggs held that types with a preference for judgment show the world their preferred judging function (thinking or feeling). •FJ types are seen as empathetic and helpful and caring.•This seems to be a natural fit for someone wanting to be a teacher.•155 of the 235 surveyed were FJ’s

ENFJ(30.2% of ISU/2.4% of US)•Genuinely and warmly interested in people •Value people's feelings •Value structure and organization •Value harmony, and good at creating it •Exceptionally good people skills •Dislike impersonal logic and analysis •Strong organizational capabilities •Loyal and honest •Creative and imaginative •Enjoy variety and new challenges •Get personal satisfaction from helping others •Extremely sensitive to criticism and discord •Need approval from others to feel good about themselves

ENFJ career choices•Facilitator •Consultant •Psychologist •Social Worker/Counselor •Teacher •Clergy •Human Resources •Manager •Events Coordinator •Sales Representative •Politicians/Diplomats

ESFJ(17.9% of ISU/12.3% of US)•Organized •Loyal •Can be depended on to follow things through to completion •Enjoy creating order, structure and schedules •Enjoy interacting with people •Warm-hearted and sympathetic •Tend to put others' needs above their own •Very good at giving practical care •Very cooperative, good team members •Practical and down-to-earth •Value peaceful living and security •Enjoy variety, but work well with routine tasks •Need approval from others •Receive satisfaction from giving to others •Live in the here and now - dislike theorizing about the future

ESFJ career choices•Home Economics •Nursing •Teaching •Administrators •Child Care •Family Practice Physician •Clergy or other religious work •Office Managers •Counselors / Social Work •Bookkeeping / Accounting •Administrative Assistants

INFJ(14% of ISU/1.5% of US)•Intuitively understand people and situations •Idealistic •Highly principled •Complex and deep •Natural leaders •Sensitive and compassionate towards people •Service-oriented •Future-oriented •Value deep, authentic relationships •Reserved about expressing their true selves •Dislike dealing with details unless they enhance or promote their vision •Constantly seeking meaning and purpose in everything •Creative and visionary •Intense and tightly-wound •Can work logically and rationally - use their intuition to understand the goal and work backwards towards it

INFJ career choices•Clergy / Religious Work •Teachers •Medical Doctors / Dentists •Alternative Health Care Practitioners, i.e. Chiropractor, Reflexologist •Psychologists •Psychiatrists •Counselors and Social Workers •Musicians and Artists •Photographers •Child Care / Early Childhood Development

ISTJ(Me) career choices

•Business Executives, Administrators•Accountants and Financial Officers •Police and Detectives •Judges •Lawyers •Medical Doctors / Dentists •Computer Programmers, Systems Analysts, and Computer Specialists •Military Leaders

Results compared to other studies…

• Uhl (1981) looked at attrition and student personality type amongst all college majors and found 85% of music education majors to be Feeling (F) types.

• 75% of the music education majors in this study were also found to be Feeling(F) types.


• Roberts, et. al. (2007) in his study of Agricultural Science student teachers found ESFJ and ENFP to be the two most common types

• Of the 235 subjects I studied, ESFJ was the second most common type but there were only 4 ENFP’s identified


• Phillips (1997) found the most common personality type in his study of 145 Music Majors from historically African-American Universities to be ESTJ (33 respondents).

• Of the 235 subjects I studied, only 5 students were determined to be ESTJ’s.


• Lanning (1990) used the Myers-Briggs test to look at music majors at select Oklahoma universities and found ENFP to be most common personality type among male (17%) and female (14%) music education students.

• Of the 235 subjects I studied, only 4 students were identified to be ENFP’s (1.7%)


• Steele (2008) found ENFP and ENFJ types to be the most prevalent among both music education and music therapy majors in her sample of 11 universities throughout the US.

• Wubbenhorst (1992) also found ENFP and ENFJ to be the dominant types for music education majors.

• ENFJ was the most prevalent type in this study(30.2%), but again of the 235 subjects I studied, only 4 students were identified to be ENFP’s (1.7%)

So Why the Differences? …

• Obviously, different schools and different programs attract different types of students

• But shouldn’t there be some equality of representation between different schools for the most common personality types among music education majors? Where are the ENFP’s?

• The studies cited previously did not make a distinction by concentration area (instrumental, vocal, general, etc.). The percentage of the population represented in each study, could have effected the results.

So Why the difference? …

• Finally, Illinois State has a long and focused history of preparing educators and the type of student who selects to go to ISU may have teaching as there primary objective as opposed to students attending other institutions and majoring in music education.

Attrition rates based on personality type (2006-2009)

I’s vs E’s (2006-2009)• 43 subjects were classified as introverts (I’s) and the preferred focus is on one's own thoughts and ideas.• The remaining 106 were extroverts (E) where the preferred focus is on other people and things.•A study by Kemp (1982) also found music teachers to be more Extroverted.

J’s vs P’s (2006-2009)• Only 13 subjects tested as “P” (Perceiving) type which rely on subjective judgments, and a desire to leave all options open.• The remaining 136 tested as “J” types which have a preference for a step-by-step approach to life, relying on external rules and procedures, and preferring quick closure.

Attrition rates based individual dichotomies (2006-2009)

Conclusions:•The music education population in this study had a large representation of Extrovert personality types, FJ personality types and very few Perceiving types.•The most common personality type in the sample studied was the ENFJ (over 30%) and this was consistent from year to year.•The top three personality types (ENFJ, ESFJ, INFJ) represent approx. 60% of the overall sample studied and all three types name “teaching” as a well-suited career choice.

Conclusions:•There may be a correlation between Introversion and increased attrition from the music ed program.•Though there were significantly fewer P’s entering into the music ed program, the Perceiving type does not seem to be a predictor for increased attrition from the music ed program.•The T type indicator within the ISU music ed population was much less prevalent than the F type (37/112). However, this does not match the findings of the 1997 study of historically African American Colleges.•The P type indicator within the ISU music ed population was much less prevalent than the J type (13/136). However, this does not match findings from the 1990 study of Oklahoma universities (top two were ENFP and INFP).

Interested in learning more?

•Take the Myers-Briggs test at:www.humanmetrics.com/cgiwin/JTypes2.asp

•Read your personality description and career choices at: www.personalitypage.com



http://www.personalitypage.com/

do you have the personality for teaching?

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