Setting Your Child Up for Success in 2022

Most of our children will either return to, or start, school this week. For children returning to school there is the joy of catching up with old friends and the familiarity of classrooms, teachers, and canteens. However, things are somewhat different for children who are starting a new school, or kinders starting school for the first time.

Your child’s reaction to starting school will largely depend on the preparation you and the school have done, as well as their unique personality type. A useful way of understanding personality type was developed by Isabel Briggs Myers and her mother, Katharine Briggs, and is known as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). The MBTI, which is based on the work of Dr Carl Jung, looks at four basic personality preferences:

• Favourite world: Do you prefer to focus on the outer world or on your own inner world? This is called Extraversion (E) or Introversion (I).
• Information: Do you prefer to focus on the basic information you take in or do you prefer to interpret and add meaning? This is called Sensing (S) or Intuition (N).
• Decisions: When making decisions, do you prefer to first look at logic and consistency or first look at the people and special circumstances? This is called Thinking (T) or Feeling (F).
• Structure: In dealing with the outside world, do you prefer to get things decided or do you prefer to stay open to new information and options? This is called Judging (J) or Perceiving (P).

The MBTI identifies 16 personality types based on combinations of these four preferences. Have a look at the document attached below, which provides brief descriptions of each MBTI type as it applies to children. Consider your child’s potential personality type, then think about the support you can provide to help them settle into the 2022 school year.

For more information about the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, please visit the following website: https://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/

Another great resource for parents is the book, “The Developing Child: Using Jungian Type to Understand Children” by Elizabeth Murphy (2013).

click here to read more about the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) types

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