Interview profile methodology and practices

Interview Profile

For most of American education, teachers have followed a similar education model of lecture or instruction at the front of the room and the students lined up in rows to listen and watch. The reason behind this standardization is the belief that all children learn in the same way. A similar generality is that there is only one measure of intelligence, or what has become know as the IQ or intelligence quotient. This approach to learning, as well as the concepts of standardized personality or motivation has changed in the recognition that people vary in a variety of ways.

For example, educators and researchers such as Howard Gardner have determined that such generalities about IQ are not true. People learn in different ways and there are multiple intelligences. Each intelligence has its own strengths and constraints and, at any one time, a child may be at very different stages, for example, such as in number development and spatial/visual maturation, (Gardner 1993: xxiii). Gardner proposes eight different intelligences to account for a wider range of human potential in children and adults. He says that American schools and culture put most of their attention on linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligence. One of the main features of the theory of multiple intelligences is how it provides eight different potential pathways to learning. If a teacher is having difficulty reaching a student in the more traditional linguistic or logical ways of instruction, there are other ways to approach learning. These are:

Words (linguistic intelligence) numbers or logic (logical-mathematical intelligence) pictures (spatial intelligence)

Music (musical intelligence) self-reflection (intrapersonal intelligence) physical experience (bodily-kinesthetic intelligence) social experience (interpersonal intelligence), and/or an experience in the natural world. (naturalist intelligence) interviewed a woman in my class who was 24 years old about her learning style. She says that she has always had problems with the lecture approach to learning, because she does not retain information through audible means. She learns best by reading. In fact, she brings her laptop to class and writes as the professor talks; then she learns by reading back the lectures. Because she is distracted by sounds, this woman likes to either study in a quiet library setting or in her dorm room, if no one else is around. My learning style is the opposite. I have trouble retaining what I read and do best when I am in a classroom setting and listen to the lecturer; that is why I stray away from most online courses that have a lot of reading rather than lectures.

The woman I interviewed took the Myers-Briggs personality indicator as part of her psychology class last semester. She sees herself as a somewhat shy and withdrawn individual, who likes spending time with her few close friends and not at parties or activities where there are a lot of people. She does not like the commotion and loud noises. The Myers-Briggs is an instrument for measuring a person's preferences that relies on four primary scales with opposite poles. These four scales are:

1) extraversion/introversion, (2) sensate/intuitive, (3) thinking/feeling, and 4) judging/perceiving. The various combinations of these preferences result in 16 different personality types, which are normally delineated by four letters -- for example, ENPJ (Extroversion, Intuition with Perceiver and Judging) -- to correspond to one's tendencies on the four scales.

When she took this test, the results were I, N, T and J. She agreed with the fact that she was more introverted than extraverted and more intuitive or abstract than concrete. She also sees herself as a thinker with her mental frame of mind stronger than her emotional. The J. For someone who is less carefree and organized also fits. She believes that much of this personality is innate; her mother says she was always a quiet and introspective child. When other kids were running around, she would be quietly spending time on an art project. However, she also believes that her personality is due to the way that she was raised; her father is an engineer and her mother is a teacher. Emphasis in their household was normally placed on discussions, and they spent a great deal of time reading together as a family. They rarely played or watched sports; outside activities were normally concerts and theater, for example.

How does she feel about her personality and the way that others see her? Is she pleased with who she is? Would she change her personality if possible? All these questions have to do with self-monitoring. Some individuals are sensitive to how others perceive them, while others do not care. People who are high self-monitors continually view other individuals and what they do and how they respond to the actions and behavior of others. These people are therefore very self-conscious and want to look good; they will thus normally adapt to different social situations. To the contrary, low self-monitors are typically uncaring to how others see them and therefore follow their own inclinations.

Snyder (1974) identified the personality trait of self-monitoring or the tendency to monitor one's behavior to the given situation. Individuals who are high in self-monitoring are especially responsive to situational and interpersonal cues. Those, on the other hand, who are low in self-monitoring usually reflect their attitudes, dispositions, and values. Snyder, for example, found a relationship between self-monitoring and friendship. In one study, high and low self-monitors could choose between playing tennis with a pro-tennis player who was not well liked or playing with someone who was liked but not good at sports. High self-monitors chose friends who were specialists in tennis, and low self-monitors consistently chose friends who they liked and shared similar attitudes. Snyder concluded that high self-monitors choose friends that maximize the fit between friends and the activity. Low self-monitors maximize the fit between friends and their own personal attributes.

It is not surprising that the woman I interviewed has a high self-esteem and is not concerned about how others view her. She acts in the way that she feels is best for different situations. Further, she would rather be with individuals who are her close friends than those who are experts in a field; she sets high criteria for her friends and knows they will not let her down. When she was growing up, her parents reinforced the view that she should not care about what others think, but should rather be personally satisfied with who she is as an individual. She has to face herself in the mirror every day and be able to live with who she is. Self pride is much more important than the thoughts of others.