[INFJ] INFJs as teachers

[INFJ*]

I never pictured myself as a teacher. I never wanted to at all, but I'm a teacher now by a total coincidence and I'm loving it. Most students who took courses with me come back to ask for me whenever they want to continue to advanced levels. All my students are adults and the sessions are one-on-one sessions. So it works great for my introverted side. ( I teach a language) some of the feedbacks I got:

"You're the best teacher I have here." my boss

Some of my students:

"How long have you been doing this? Seems like you've been doing it forever" E.

"You're a natural teacher" A.

"You're a real teacher. It's like you were born to do this" D.

"A substitute? No, I don't want another teacher, I want you. " M.

"I enjoy every moment in your class" K.

"I learn so much from you." C.

"When I come back I will ask for you" J.

"When I came back, I asked for you they told me you're not available then I canceled the course." T.


I'm shocked myself.

 

[penelope]

I worked at a daycare center for over a year, and while it was easily the most stressful job I'd ever had (and imagine I'd ever have in my lifetime), it was extremely rewarding. I get such fulfillment over working with children and watching them learn new things and see their eyes light up over the experience.

I also taught at an art camp over the summer, and I found that I was an excellent teacher and ran the classroom really well (J-type, haha) due to my organization. I interact really well with students/children.

I originally went to college to become an art teacher, but I changed my major to painting, though I still think I'd make an excellent art teacher. It's a profession I always imagined I'd end up in.

 

[Eileen]

I'm an INFJ teacher. The introversion is tough. I'm exhausted from the job--and if you're not good at cutting off bullshit, it can be very demoralizing in addition to being just normally taxing.

When I get to teach, I find it very energizing. But teaching's not all there is to the job. Tonight I am kind of fantasizing about getting out and doing a masters in counseling.

 

[saieditor]

I had a INFJ university lecturer for four years and he was excellent. INFJ's as educators touch all the bases and make sure you get a good foundation and a good education. They are great at assessment and give very pointed feedback to you on what it is you need to look to and what it is you need to develop, and how you might do that.

So I think that can be adapted to any teaching situation.

 

[gloomy-optimist]

I think I read somewhere that INFJs are the best NF type when it comes to seeing a situation objectively (that might be because of our tertiary Ti function or something, who knows).
If that's the case, then they might be good teachers because they have the NF caring-about-people thing going on for them, and at the same time still be able to see from a different view point, such as that of the student.

 

[Kestrel]

INFJ's are hands-down the best 1 on 1 or small group teachers there are. Of this, I have no doubt. We're patient and can tell when someone doesn't understand something completely just by looking at their face or body language. This is obviously more difficult with larger classes.

Also, I've also always had problems with speaking in front of large groups of people. In order to work, I always feel like I need some kind of feedback from the audience - whether it's words or body language. When I gave presentations in college, I found it easier not to look at anyone. Seeing even one bored, lifeless face was distracting and unnerving for me.

 

[the state i am in]

i always assumed i would become a professor in cultural studies or comparative literature. i think it is still likely, but being away from the "it's all academic" pedants and grammar police regulating each academic discourse so guarded and conservative and protecting their position and the bureaucratic institutional frustrations and obvious inconsistencies in our educational system has made me second-guess. plus i am greedy and hungry for recognition bigger than academic conferences and end of year teacher awards. listen to me, everyone! if i were an enfj i'd be shouting from a pulpit...

 

[tenINsFJ]

Weird this topic came up. I was just thinking[fantasizing] about teaching a few days ago. I think it would be an awesome profession for the infj. I feel like I'd be so much more inclined to teach the students and relate to them and connect to them unlike most teachers today. Oh well. Maybe someday.

 

[hokie912]

I work as an in-school therapist with elementary and middle school students, and while I love that, I've come to decide that I wouldn't be fulfilled teaching that age group. I prefer the one-on-one or small group interactions with my kids rather than an entire classroom setting. I see teachers who are wonderful, but it's something like...the way you need to teach elementary school students is almost incompatible with the way I think about and learn things. I mentally jump around and learn concepts that I would have trouble communicating in a stepwise fashion. Which in itself would probably make me a bad teacher. I could more easily see myself teaching high school or college courses.

I think I remember reading that intuitives are more likely to teach advanced courses, while sensors predominate in early childhood education.

 

[Immaculate Cloud]

Yea I read that too - about sensors predominating in early childhood education and intuitives in advanced courses. I can understand why... After all, when you are a kid, there are lots of drill exercises like learning verb tenses, multiplication tables, etc, often done in a rote manner. Intuitives on the other hand try to teach things globally. At least, I do.

And I get disappointed when I get blank stares from those pupils who want to think strictly in terms of 'step 1, step 2, step 3' and cannot take a bird's eye's view and then zoom in. On the other hand, I find it extremely rewarding when teaching the advanced classes when there are INTJ and INTP because those are the ones to whom you can just give the over-arching principle and they've already mapped out the method or their own method in their mind and you can actually see their faces light up once they get it in an 'aha' moment. And they get to be confident in their own thinking. To such pupils, no problem is too complicated because their thinking is not encapsulated but freed. They easily see connections between various topics.

The challenge for me is to get the sensors to think a bit like the intuitives and the intuitives to learn to check their work like the sensors. And for me to adapt my teaching method and make it fit all types.

 

[BlueScreen]

The biggest problem isn't introversion. The biggest problem for any feeling-type will be to overcome their black-and-white view on things and be able to look at things a little more detatched.

Actually, being not detached can make a great teacher. It all depends if school is about giving marks, or educating people. Because if it is the latter, a connection to and understanding of the student is paramount.

 

[the state i am in]

i could see myself some day coaching a team sport that was extremely tactical like soccer more than actually school teacher teaching. in soccer you have to teach. you help each person understand the big picture. it's interesting, plus kids pull out some crazy creative moves that make your jaw drop.

 

[Dali]

I'm clearly not INFJ; I once considered going into English Lit (which I'm good at) then eventually teaching it at a secondary or tertiary level.

I changed my mind after realising I'd probably be in jail for homicide by a week's end.

 

[Riva]

i also want to become a teacher. i wanna beat the crap out of my students for small small things just like the way i was beaten up by my teachers.
note - i am from sri lanka. and the teachers are allowed to hit you.
i know its off topic. but i couldn't help myself.

back to the topic, i think INFJs would make good teachers. my gut speaking.

 

[nightning]

The biggest problem I see with INFJ teachers is the stress level/ constant energy drain of teaching kids day in and day out.

Every kid in the class become a project for the INFJ to work on. With a large class size, there's simply no way you can put that much attention onto every one. Yet the INFJ might feel the need for "perfection". They see it as their personal responsibility to make sure each kid will reach their full potential.

Clearly it's an impossible goal. INFJs are only human... but it doesn't stop them from trying. Hence the burn-out.

 

[eclare]

I enjoy teaching at the more advanced level, but I've found it to be nerve-wracking at times. I don't teach anymore and I've never taught full time, but before I went to law school I taught LSAT prep classes. I would always get soooooo nervous before class and try to do everything I could to prepare, even though there really was only so much I could do. I just never felt ready. Once the class started, though, it was always fun and energizing.

Ironically I had a much harder time with one-on-one tutoring. I enjoyed the actual sessions and felt more comfortable than in the classroom, but I felt so responsible for my students' success that if they didn't do well it would just bring me down for days. I still feel guilty thinking about some of my students who didn't do well, even though they clearly were not meant to practice law. I just wanted them to succeed and felt so badly when they beat themselves up.

 

[missgenevieve]

I teach cosmetology. I am in the freshman room. We have structured theory in the morning and hands on in the afternoons. Theory includes interpersonal communication, ethics, client psychology, anatomy, chemisty, beauty (hair, nails, & skin) and how to pass state board with client safety. I share my personal expiriences in the salon, and as new students, they are excited about their new careers. I've been a stylist for 10 years, great for introverts because listening and playing counselor is part of the job. I give a demo in the afternoons (showcasing my artist skills, giving pointers, and modeling client consultation skills in scripted but relaxed questioning). Then the students work on manikins or each other while i sit quietly and grade tests/papers or make lesson plans. Because it's a creative field, i work with a lot of quirky fun types...with a couple of entp comedians in every class. I also work only 3 days teaching and 2 days in the salon, so i can take care of my clients.

 

[missgenevieve]

I love it, but i definately cherish my days off.

 

[CuriousFeeling]

I think one of my struggles as an instructor is when I get off on an Ni-Ti loop when teaching a concept, and I end up teaching students way too much information than what they need, or end up sounding monotone; when in actuality, I'm carefully thinking out what I am going to say in a lecture. I also get quite passionate about science, and it kind of shows in the amount of content I want to teach my students, and unfortunately not all students will share that passion. I suppose it's almost like I become a preacher of science.

But I absolutely love it when I teach students a topic, and then the gears start turning, and they ask very relevant and deep questions about the topic, or relate it to their everyday lives. This is when I know I've got my students interested. It's just called getting them to be quiet so then we can continue the lesson. Rather than shouting over students to tell them to be quiet, I just give them the Ni death-ray stare, and it works!

 

[Crescent Fresh]

The biggest problem I see with INFJ teachers is the stress level/ constant energy drain of teaching kids day in and day out.

Every kid in the class become a project for the INFJ to work on. With a large class size, there's simply no way you can put that much attention onto every one. Yet the INFJ might feel the need for "perfection". They see it as their personal responsibility to make sure each kid will reach their full potential.

Clearly it's an impossible goal. INFJs are only human... but it doesn't stop them from trying. Hence the burn-out.

Yes. Yes. Yes!!!

I have to say teaching is such a precious gift as I happened to be good at connecting to many of them. The problem is I always felt bad about not able to help as many students as to reach their full potential as it requires extra and additional time to bond with them. I'm a firm believer that most students didn't or couldn't realize their own inner-quality without a supervisor help them along the way.

The problem to this is I felt immensely a great deal amount of responsibility that I ended up ignoring my own needs. Very often, I have to sacrificing my sleeping hours just to do the "extra" work for offering them various opportunities. For example, our school assigned each teacher to pick one kids for speech contest, I would end up picking five in the end. It's actually quite frustrating to constantly hear from my coworkers labelled me as a workaholic or just purely being ambitious; whereas my true intention is I want to offer as much opportunities to kids who I felt there's a indefinite amount of potential within them.

Anyhow, I ended my first career as a teacher (taught for four years) and I'm now in the middle of a changing a different career. I do love teaching and still miss it fondly, though I just couldn't afford to keep feeling burning out by being too harsh on myself by offering as much or equal opportunities to all students.