The Insightful Introverted Intuitive

Because Introverted Intuitive pupils focus on the distant future versus what’s happening now or in the past, they may cast a whole new light on topics you delve into with your class. One of my all-time favorite personality type reference books—and one that I’d highly suggest you pick up if you have enjoyed this series—describes the Introverted Intuitive from the inside looking out in the following ways:

• “I am more interested in pioneering a new road than exploring anything along the beaten path.”

• “Sometimes it is hard to start a task. I need to wait for an understanding of the implications, nuances, and broad scope of it because only then will I know what I need to do and how to do it.”

• “Sometimes I just know something. Even though I don’t always understand how I know it, I’m certain that I’m right.”

• “I often feel like the child in the story The Emperor’s New Clothes. Sometimes I need to hold myself back and not say it out loud (Haas and Hunziker 2006).”

More than anything, what I hope you’ve seen as a result of this series is how important the contributions of every personality type is to our success as a global society. There is no type that is better or worse than all the others—they all just perceive the world in which we live differently. “Given choices, students most often develop in accordance with their natural patterns…a person simply needs to be given opportunity to follow their type’s pathway in their unique way (Payne and VanSant 2009).”

Instruction Content

• Introverted Intuitive children are “at their best when inspiration turns insights into ideas and plans for improving human knowledge (Lawrence 1997).”

• Like all judging personality types, INJs “want to have a plan for work and a plan for play, a plan for being planned and a plan for being spontaneous (Lawrence 1997).” As such, “having a detailed schedule that follows priorities helps Judging students do their best learning (Lawrence 1997).”

• Introverted Intuitives are most excited about serious learning, so if you have learning games planned, be sure to highlight the seriousness of the fun.

• INJs are “attracted to learning environments that encourage exploration, brainstorming, and building on diverse ideas (Dunning 2008).”

Process and Techniques

• Flipped classrooms are a favorite of Introverted Intuitive kids, since they have time to digest and understand material through quiet reflection prior to discussing it in class.

• “When learning with others, [INJs] tend to enjoy hearing and using abstractions such as metaphors and analogies (Dunning 2008).”

• INJs often feel constrained by procedural learning, so if you can layer in opportunities to predict, test, and prove concepts based on hunches or patterns, you’ll end up with much more engaged learners.

Work Product            

Intuitive kids love working with graphic organizers, so that they can “see” how ideas fit into a framework and create mental models to illustrate concepts and relationships. Think beyond Venn diagrams and showcase new ways to organize conceptual relationships.

“Help them notice any important detail they have overlooked. Remind them to include supporting evidence for their conclusions when appropriate (Payne and VanSant 2009).”

Instead of presenting a rubric to an Introverted Intuiting class, “brainstorm what criteria or standards you believe are important in a quality product…and what might be innovative points or features a student could add that would go beyond the explicit requirements of the stated objectives (Payne and VanSant 2009).”

Types of Lessons That Introverted Intuitives Find Appealing:

Call It a Hunch

Give your class the chance to practice making inferences. After reading Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges. Learners can confirm whether or not their conclusions are right, participate in a class discussion, and finish by completing an excellent worksheet that is designed for independent work.

"Theory" Choices: What Happened To the Dinosaurs?

Here are two articles for learners to read and discuss. The articles present two different theories about the extinction of the dinosaurs. In order to decide which of their ideas is the best theory, pupils are asked to use similar criteria to that of scientists.

Peter's Second String

Use an investigative approach to math in order to hook your Introverted Intuitives. They will love the math challenge, as well as the hands-on approach to solving the problems. 

Graphic Organizers

The class explores higher education by utilizing graphic organizers. They investigate the information age, identify the need for graphic organizers, and analyze how they can use them in their everyday lives.

Current Events Scavenger Hunt-Linking the Classroom and the World

Learners develop a sense of some of the issues in the developing world. They look to the Millennium Development Goals in order to discover how to help people in need. Additionally, they look a map that shows the countries of the world that are suffering hardship. 

References:   

Dunning, Donna. 2008. “Introduction to Type and Learning.”

Haas, Leona, and Hunziker, Mark. 2006. “Building Blocks of Personality Type.”

Lawrence, Gordon. 1997. “Looking at Type and Learning Styles.”

Payne, Diane and VanSant, Sondra. 2009. “Great Minds Don’t Think Alike.”

Silver, Harvey F., Strong, Richard W., and Perini, Matthew J. 2000. “So Each May Learn.”