I often come across examples of types, IM elements, or relationships in the news that are interesting yet aren't enough to merit a whole thread. So, I will post them here.
link (big pdf)
Here, a Russian math teacher named Zvonkin describes his experience in teaching children. He seems like an IEE or maybe some other Ne valuing extrovert. "If I taught kids anything at all, it was the idea that they should experience their world with openness and interest."
Not surprising, he says about his wife: "Usually Alla drew pictures for our sessions. I cannot draw at all, while she once attended art school." (Si)
He also describes the boys' personalities:
"They toss out a flurry of wild guesses. Each shouts a different guess,
only Gene’s being the right one. I try to listen to him and to ask why but at
this moment he retreats. His problem in general is that he is timid. When
all the boys holler, he is the one who shouts the correct answer more often
than others do; but the moment I calm the others and address him directly,
he is embarrassed and falls silent. My problem with Andy is of a different
sort. He is a very goal-oriented boy yet apparently lacks motivation at our
lessons. Next time, I camouflaged the same puzzle as a war scene: instead
of matches and buttons, we had soldiers with guns, then the soldiers went
away leaving their guns behind, and the spy had to learn the number of
soldiers, and it was he who first got the idea to count guns. He also loves
games where one can win. But I don’t always have enough imagination to
package my puzzles appropriately, especially since it’s not that important
for the other boys. As for Dima, he does not fancy solving other people’s
puzzles but prefers to invent his own. Eventually I learn how to handle him:
I say something like, “Now think of a puzzle where. . . ” and then give my
own formulation. Also, his solutions are often oddly fanciful (as the next
example vividly illustrates) and it is difficult to hold him within the limits
of common sense."
Andy: Se leading?
Dima: IEI?
Gene: LII?
He tries very hard to tailor the instruction to the individual child.
Another funny quote about Dima:
"“This one is an uncle but it looks like a lady,” he would
say, pointing to a picture of a bearded old man, and place it in the women’s
pile. He would say that a tire was a piece of clothes because you could put
it around your waist. When contradicted, he would explain that it was a
car’s clothes."
Typical example of Te vulnerable / Fe creative
"Thus I have come to realize that kids must have fun in both intellectual
and aesthetic ways. If one is missing, there is no joy. A Christmas tree
without ornaments is as unappealing as are mere ornaments without a tree.
The joy is in their union. I hope that one day, when my pupils are engaged in
more abstract and “intellectual” mathematics, they will enjoy it more than
their peers, because abstract notions and images will subconsciously blend
with a “Christmas tree feeling;” the memories of brightly colored puzzles
from their childhood."
Hmm...maybe Alpha extrovert is better for Zvonkin. One kind of fun is Fe/Si, the other is Ti/Ne.