The Study
The purpose of this study was to identify the personality typologies of 173 urban African American high school juniors and seniors and explore ways that their learning preferences could be used to develop effective interventions in schools. Students participating in the study conducted by Patricia A. Peeke, associate professor in the College of Nursing, and Robbie J. Steward, associate professor of school and community counseling/counseling psychology in the College of Education at Michigan State University, completed both the Myers-Briggs Personality Inventory and the Black Racial Identity Attitude Scale. Results were analyzed and recommendations for school counselors and teachers set forth.

The Findings
Even though there was 97% shared agreement on the sense of racial identity, every one of the 16 possible personality/learning typologies was represented in this group of urban adolescents. However, over 56% of the sample indicated that their predominant personality and learning style preference included both a "sensing" and "thinking" component (i.e., learning through facts, logic and personal experience). A preference for the "intuitive" characteristic (i.e., learning through intuition and imagination rather than facts) was endorsed by less than 19% of the students. Diversity in personality and learning styles among urban African American adolescents makes teaching and counseling them complex, but strategies can be designed to provide opportunities for and support of individual learning preferences.

What It Means to You
Attending to differences within one classroom can become quite complicated for classroom teachers, but those who understand their students' personalities and learning preferences and are aware of alternative teaching/learning strategies can structure their classrooms to accommodate the differences and help all students succeed. Techniques to use with sensing/thinking students include: drill, demonstration, practice, programmed texts, workbooks, making real-life models, dramatizing important events and assigning tasks that have immediate practical use. Intuitive students respond well to: creative problem-solving activities, open-ended discussions of personal and social values, opportunities to be expressive through one or more of the arts, learning through discovery, debates and self-directed activities.

More Information
Consult Peeke, P., Steward, R.J. , "Urban adolescents' personality and learning styles: What we need to know in order to develop effective interventions in the schools," Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 1998, Vol. 26, No. 2, pp.120-136.

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