The SJ Dominance of Education

[Quinlan]

So over in the NT'S Opinion on school thread, it seemed almost unanimous that school is more geared towards SJs.

Do you agree with this?

Now it's obvious that SJs are drawn to these kinds of societal institutions, school seems to be made by and for SJs. Why do we allow this dominance?

Do you feel that the other temperaments could be better served by education? Focusing on their strengths? Is the potential of the other temperaments being fulfilled or is the time spent at these kinds of school being wasted and actually holding them back?

How could school have better suited your learning style? Did school prepare you for later life as well as you would have liked?

How do you think it could be improved to make the most of each type's potential?

 

[/DG/]

I don't particularly enjoy school at all. =/

 

[riel]

I like attending classes for the first time but in the long run, it gets pretty demanding and I feel pressured to do my best. I would have liked a school that emphasizes an individual-paced learning style, if there's such a thing as that.

 

[Jeremy]

Lower levels of education, up to and including high school, definitely have a focus on learning material as opposed to concepts. I feel like, for any temperament, this is an important skill to have - you need to be able to get the material in your head in order for you to apply it, that's a given.

The problem is, that aspect - learning problem solving skills - is sorely lacking in today's schools. We learn a lot of material, yeah, but there is little focus on actually applying that knowledge to learn more than just the material. I think that's what drew me to the English and Psychology majors in college - both of them are really all about taking a given set of material or data and abstracting meaning from both. I feel like, especially in the core areas of learning, more attention needs to be given to this aspect of learning, but BOTH are required, for sure. You can't always be presented with learning techniques that cater to your strengths, or you'll never learn (or do) anything remotely challenging to you - you'll always stick to your comfort zone.

 

[Laurie]

Yes, I agree.

 

[heart]

I daydreamed through much of school until my senior year. I would do the bare minimum in school and go home at night and read and read and read things that I really wanted to read like History, Estoeric subjects and gothic literature. When I was sick, I would watch the junior college telecourses on daytime PBS on History and literature and wish our classes were that interesting. I am grateful I learned how to read and write of course, but I hated school.

 

[Eagle]

I'm homeschooled. I always knew I was better.
Though, some homeschoolers...

 

[ptgatsby]

So over in the NT'S Opinion on school thread, it seemed almost unanimous that school is more geared towards SJs.

Do you agree with this?

NT think the entire world is geared for SJs. School and the like is geared for TJs. Ns do suffer a bit more because they are more likely to be bored, but I'd much rather be a NTJ in school than a STP in school.

What can you do to fix it? Same things that should be done to fix education in general. Bill Gates says it better than I can. The Gates foundation has a wealth of evidence-based suggestions... chances are, very few will ever come to pass.

 

[Stanton Moore]

My experience with higher education was much more NF or NT than SJ. Half of my professors had long hair.

 

[heart]

My experience with higher education was much more NF or NT than SJ. Half of my professors had long hair.

I thought this thread was about public school not college? There was a world of difference between the two.

 

[Stanton Moore]

I thought this thread was about public school not college? There was a world of difference between the two.

Oops!:hi:

In that case...carry on.

 

[Sniffles]

I absolutely hated school. I'd always lament over all the things I could've been learning if I wasn't in that accursed prison!

Like heart, I kept my sanity by spending much of my free time in private study on various topics - especially history and later philosophy.

 

[Quinlan]

I thought this thread was about public school not college? There was a world of difference between the two.

No this can include 'college' as well, if there is a difference, why does it exist and which temperaments is higher education geared to?

I hated a lot of highschool but I relished the freedom and independence of learning at university, interestingly the teachers college here is much more like highschool, very structured, very detailed, very restrictive. So the dominance is a perpetuating system where we are feeding SJs back into schools as teachers.

 

[riel]

I think it's about education in general and the SJ's dominance in the field of education, because it offers structure.

 

[heart]

No this can include 'college' as well, if there is a difference, why does it exist and which temperaments is higher education geared to?

College was easier because I could pick what I wanted to take and when, I could major in an area of interest to me, I knew when the work was due and I could work on it when I wanted to, no one forced me to do needless busy work.

 

[Haphazard]

I dunno. Perhaps because I'm a TJ type, but I didn't think school was so horrible except for required classes -- by the time I got to high school, I took almost exclusively accelerated courses and ended up with some teachers who actually knew something about the subject and weren't afraid to let it show.

Then again, I'm pretty sure that one of the biggest problems in public schools is throwing all the kids together for required classes. Different kids need different things and I've never met a teacher who can manage all level and needs of students in a state-required class at once.

 

[pure_mercury]

I hated school, too. Too regimented, teachers too ignorant, students disinterested. I talked the whole time, and did my learning on my own.

 

[Athenian200]

Now it's obvious that SJs are drawn to these kinds of societal institutions, school seems to be made by and for SJs. Why do we allow this dominance?

Because they're the majority of the population, and the majority of non-SJs can manage in that structure. I just used my J, buckled down, and followed all the rules mindlessly, always trying to answer what the teacher wanted rather than the correct answer. Teachers liked me, said they wished there were more like me. Disengaged my critical thinking until I got home.

Once you learn to blank your mind and zone out except for focusing on the few details you need to notice, it's fairly easy to endure. If you don't want anything extra like friends, challenging classes, or extracurricular activities, that is. The way things are set up is quite dulling, though.

It's not fair to Ps, but they've got no real incentive to change it if it works for most of the people going though it.

 

[Quinlan]

It's not fair, but they've got no real incentive to change it if it works for most of the people going though it.

I suppose that depends on how you define "works" are we fulfilling potential or just churning out obedient workers?

Anyone know what the combined temperament population stats are?

 

[Laurie]

College was totally different. I mean, once I got to high school and all the math and sciences it was different, I still hated the stupid homework.

Mechanical engineering was filled with NT profs. Yummeh.