Enneagram for Teachers - Understanding the 9 Teacher Personality Types

Kirsten 0:00

You may have heard of the Enneagram that trending and fun and scarily accurate personality test. This episode is going to go into our teacher world with Enneagram. For teachers, I'm going to be giving you some insights on your Enneagram type with a teacher twist on your strengths, weaknesses and ways to be your best teacher self. I had a jolly good time coming up with these and some of y'all are going to be called out, including myself. So this week is all about Enneagram for teachers.

This is the social studies teacher podcast, a show for busy elementary teachers looking for fun and engaging ways to easily add social studies into their classroom schedule, without feeling overwhelmed or pressed for time. I'm curious to know the southern teach an educator and mom who is passionate about all things social studies, I love sharing ideas and strategies that are low prep and easy to implement. So let's dive in together.

So I was really excited to create this episode, I feel like I had to one of my best sellers on Teachers Pay teacher's is Enneagram for big kids, and it's geared towards grades three through six. So I wanted to make this episode as a spin off on that, in my resource students take a kid friendly test and they graph their results. And then they learn a little bit more about the Enneagram. We're not going to take an Enneagram test. In this episode, I'm just gonna give you some feedback if you know your Enneagram type already. But if you don't, you can go online to take a free personality test and good just google search free Enneagram test and you'll find a free personality test for the Enneagram. Or you can just go to personality path and I'll link that in the show notes. It's free and you don't have to add your email. If you're one of those people who do not like finding your results after you have to put your name and email. So you can definitely check that out. Take the tests find out your Enneagram type before you listen further.

Okay, so I'm going to share with you the nine different types of the Enneagram. These are all adjectives from the Enneagram Institute. So I'm just going to quickly go down the list. The reformer is principled, purposeful, self controlled and perfectionistic. The helper is demonstrative, generous people pleasing and possessive. The achiever is adaptive, excelling, driven and image conscious. The individualist is expressive, dramatic, self absorbed and temperamental. The investigator is perceptive, innovative, secretive and isolated. The loyalist is engaging, responsible, anxious and suspicious. The enthusiast is spontaneous, versatile, distractible, and scattered. The Challenger is self confident, decisive, willful and confrontational. And the peacemaker is receptive, reassuring, agreeable and complacent. So those are some brief descriptions of each one.

So now let's talk about the strengths, weaknesses and ways to be your best teacher self.

First up the reformer, your strengths are planning out your lessons ahead of time and knowing the purpose and objectives of your lessons and activities. And you know how to make that clear for your students. Some weaknesses is that you might overplay it a little bit and could be classified as a perfectionist. But here's some tips on being your best teacher yourself. Remind yourself and your students that nothing is 100% Perfect. Give yourself some breaks and then read the room. If your students are looking bored or aren't getting it slow down for them.

All right, the helper your strengths are that you love to help your students. You love to build strong relationships with them and your co workers. You love to have a positive classroom environment. Some weaknesses is that you might give too much of yourself to others and it might be a little hard for you to set some boundaries. So best ways to be yours. Teach yourself. Give yourself some love and focus on some relationships outside of school.

All right, the achiever. Your Strengths are being skilled at problem solving, believing in yourself and your students and your co workers. Not being afraid to try new things and curriculum that admin might throw at you. And having some really great ideas that teachers love to hear from some weaknesses are that you are afraid to fail. You might rely too much on your teacher identity. And you might be a little overwhelming with students with your high expectations you have for them. So to be your best teacher yourself, be kind to yourself. Make sure you manage that work life balance. Don't go too much on the work too much on the life, balance it as much as you can, and help your students feel loved and celebrated.

Hey, there individualists, you're next. So your strengths are being responsive to student needs. You differentiate accordingly. You're quirky, creative, and you stay true to yourself. Some weaknesses are that you might withdraw and be disconnected with your students. You might dislike your lack of feedback, you might be self critical. And some best ways to be your best teacher self is to be sure to connect with your family, friends, and students. And also make sure you are transparent and honest with your students.

All right. Type five, the investigator, you love to find ways to help your students succeed. And you have a ton of great strategies in the classroom. But your weaknesses you might try to solve every problem on your own. You might need to know the answer to everything or you might have really great ideas that you keep to yourself. So my recommendations to be your best teacher self is to connect with other teachers and students and let go of certain challenges in the classroom such as if students might be acting out, give them a little bit of grace.

All right, type six the loyalist. Your strengths here are serving and reaching out to students and parents, building relationships and a positive classroom environment making sure students are getting what they need. socially, behaviorally, academically, the whole works, but your weaknesses are that you might have a risk of burnout, you might not feel supported by admin, you might end up overreacting to students or teachers or parents. So best ways to be your teacher yourself is to take time to relax, let your admin know you need to feel supported and on the same page, and then work as a team work smarter and not harder.

type number seven, the enthusiast. Your Strengths are having positive energy, you're really great at checking in with your teammates and students. You love to build a fun and positive atmosphere and you love to try new things. But with weaknesses, you might end up being overwhelmed with too many options and you may not have a consistent routine. So the ways to be your best teacher self is to have a consistent routine and make sure to fill up your own cup, not just others.

Okay, type eight is next with the challenger. Your Strengths are setting high expectations for students, you're not afraid to make big decisions for your class and you are really great at smooth transitions and expectations for your students. With weaknesses you might have a harder time shifting plans when things aren't going the way you planned. And you might have a hard time listening to other decisions and justifying other people's decisions. So to be your best teacher yourself. Be sure to listen to other perspectives. And don't be afraid to readjust or give yourself time to recharge.

Alright, type Number Nine The Peacemaker your strengths are building a positive relationship with students and families and teachers. You love to keep the peace you have a positive attitude even when things around you are a dumpster fire like this whole school year. And your weaknesses might be that you change plans for others and giving to students and others before yourself and you may be a little too calm. The best ways to be your teacher self is to take yourself into account when making decisions. And make sure to validate the feelings of parents, students and co workers as well.

Any guesses as to what my Enneagram type is? I am definitely a type six loyalist through and through I've taken the tests multiple times, and I ended up with type six. So there you have it. All right, so your creative action tip is to make sure to take the quiz and find out your own Enneagram type. Take note of the ways to be your best teacher self. Because the first step to being the best teacher you can be even during a tough year as this one is to make sure you recognize your strengths and weaknesses. I hope you enjoyed this fun episode and and have a wonderful rest of your day. Thanks for listening to the social studies teacher podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, hit that subscribe button and leave a review. I would love to hear your thoughts. You can also find me on Instagram at the southern teach. I can't wait for you to join me in the next episode for more teacher tips and strategies

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