Students and Keirsey Temperament Sorter Types*

Sensing-Judging Guardian Students

• SJs thrive in school because it offers them the routines, customs, and procedures that are meaningful for them.
  
• Generally develop habits that enable them to keep on top of their assignments, often including an organizational system that helps them track homework and tests.
• SJs love teachers who give clear, precise, and concrete directions. They want to know exactly what the title should be like, how long the paper should be. . .
• SJs are enthusiastic about clearly outlined assignments that are broken into concrete steps because they helps them process and retain new knowledge.
• SJs prefer lessons in which each point clearly follows the one preceding it. They are not particularly interested in the overall picture.

Sensing-Perceiving Artisan Students

• Often teach us to think in terms of “if not now, when?”
• SPs favor teachers who learn to capitalize on their energy.
• Don’t like to dwell on the past or worry about the future.
• Like mobility and can become bored or fidgety if they are inactive for very long.
• Prefer assignments that enable them to do something physical.
• SPs enjoy activities that emphasize their personal performance and highlight their ability and flair.
• Enjoy telling others about exciting actions or events they’ve observed or experienced.
• Are often more efficient when they work on many things at once.
• SPs want to know how something will benefit them right now.
• Typically are highly adaptable to changing circumstances; usually think well on their feet.
• Are not as concerned that they do everything the best way but focus more on getting the job done.
• SPs, particularly Extraverted SPs, can be one of a teacher’s most powerful assets; the SPs can dramatically influence an entire class by easily stirring up enthusiasm, interest for or against a teacher or subject or project or other activity.

Intuitive-Feeling Idealist Students

• NFs, if encouraged to develop and express their unique gifts are likely to flourish in the classroom.
• Are often more effective communicators.
• Enjoy learning about ideas and values.
• Like writing essays because they can personalize.
• Often see so many sides to a question that they often find true/false and multiple-choice questions more difficult.
• Encourage cooperation and harmony.
• NFs generally prefer to compete against themselves rather than against others.
• Have a strong desire to please their instructors and perform best for teachers who recognize their personal worth.

Intuitive-Thinking Rational Students

• Live in the world of ideas and are constantly seeking knowledge.
• Their ultimate goal is to understand why the world works the way it does so they can change and control it.
• These students are seeking the overview, the big picture of how the world operates.
• Make up a small portion of the total population.
• Are natural systems thinkers who enjoy unraveling complex information and inter-relationships.
• May become impatient with the detailed explanations provided by others.
• Like questioning, independent study, and complex projects.
• Generally enjoy logically presented lectures about abstract and intellectual subjects.
• NTs will work very hard for teachers whom they perceive as competent.
• Commonly view praise with suspicion, so teachers should be very specific in their praise.
• Rarely do they accept information at face value, and they will question something until it has proven its worth before accepting it.
• NT students are often enjoyable because they tend to be insightful, quick learners and critical thinkers.

*Summarized from Effective Teaching Effective Learning, Making the Personality Connection in Your Classroom, Alice M. Fairhurst and Lisa L. Fairhurst, Davies-Black Publishing, Palo Alto, California, 1995.