The enneagram personality theory and the patterns of teacher behaviour

Abstract

After work, Noel used to organize activities for a group of youngsters. He was much enthusiastic about his project and encouraged other youths to join him. However, I have recently learned that the group was no longer being organized. When I met him, he told me "I was much enthusiastic about my endeavour, However, there have come times when I was under stress, for a number of reasons. And I was being too aggressive with the youths. I decided to stop the project before I bet someone up. I was acting impulsively! " Faced with stressors, teachers ace likely to adopt either the indecisive or; like Noel, the aggressive pattern of behaviour. The objective of this dissertation is to determine what mode of teacher behaviour would be employed by each personality type of the Enneagram Personality Theory. The Enneagram is a very old typology that describes nine different characters. It shares with many other typologies the crude reduction of human behaviour to a limited number of character types. The three patterns of teacher behaviour are explained in Chapter 2, whereas the Enneagram Personality Typology is introduced in Chapter 3, Chapter 4 delineates each penonality type and explains the mode of teacher behaviour likely to be employed. The concluding chapter puts forward recommendations so that the teacher can achieve his/her role of achieving a positive, humane and constructive approach to management and control in the classroom.