Pupil
Services: True Colors Testing
Glen
Dawursk, Jr.
April 8,
2007
The
job description for the assistant principal for most schools today is to be the
primary disciplinarian for the school.
Unfortunately for most administrators, discipline does not rank as the
most favorite of responsibilities. It is
draining, at times emotional, and most often tedious as the same students seem
to file through the office on a reoccurring basis. For most administrators, it is simply a rough,
uncomfortable stepping stone on the path toward being a “real principal.” This was
my opinion and role for most of the past year.
As the assistant principal or Dean of Students of a grade 6 through 12, 300+
Milwaukee Public charter school, I have found that my dealing with students has
included all of those feelings. It is
not easy to be the administrator of absolute truth and the enforcer of rules
and consequences – but never-the-less, I have found a certain amount of
contentment in my position. Why? Simply stated, my desire changed. At first, I was frustrated with students
shuffling through my office over and over again. I felt like a police officer
ticketing students for their multiple offenses. However after several weeks, I
realized that my role was to provide “assistance” and enhance a student’s
education in the same capacity that other pupil services provide assistance and
enhancement to a student. As the
disciplinarian, my service is not simply to offer “consequence” for rules
broken, but rather to encourage and mentor children toward positive behavioral
modification.
As
any teacher or parent knows, the most effective means to modify behavior or to
make a dramatic impact upon a child is to make a connection with them first. This connection might be through a common
interest which develops into a mentorship relationship; but most often, it is
through an understanding and honest appreciation of the student’s personality
and a willingness to speak to them within their personality traits. We have seen the effectiveness of testing
students for their learning modality and then teaching within that modality. In the same way, knowing the personality and
temperament traits of a student can also help a teacher or administrator deal
more effectively with a student. A
method I have used effectively over the past few years in my classroom is a
personality/temperament testing called “True Colors.” According to a recent research study on a
variation of True Colors, it was found to show “considerable merit in precisely
assessing and defining psychological types and temperament theory.” (Whichard) It has also been linked to other personality
testings (MBTI and DISC) and has been shown to be as effective with a minimal
amount of testing.
True
Colors is a personality/temperament test that I modified for my classroom and
recently started using with the students whom I now discipline. I first learned about this assessment tool at
a teacher’s conference about 10 years ago and I have been intrigued with it
ever since. Centuries ago Hippocrates
identified that people were at stages within four different personalities. When we consider that our students are at
different stages within different personalities, it is no wonder that there are
regular “roadblocks” when educating and disciplining our students. “These four different types are different in
fundamental ways. They want different things. They have different motives,
needs, and drives. They analyze, conceptualize, understand, and learn
differently. These differences create natural barriers to interpersonal
communication, making understanding between people of different types
difficult.” (Keirsey)
If we could better understand each others’ unique personality, we could
better mentor our students toward positive behavioral changes. In addition, there is significant research
which also shows a connection that these personality patterns are also keys to
an individual’s self-esteem.
The
True Colors testing was initially developed by Don Lowry. His purpose was to simplify the
personality/temperament theory work of Dr. David Keirsey,
author of Please Understand Me and
the family team of Katherine and Isabel Briggs-Myers, originators of the MBTI - Myers-Briggs Type Indicator testing. Historically we find that the Briggs-Myers
test was based upon the 1921 work of Carl Jung in his book Psychological Type. Jung was
one of the first modern psychologist to explain the
personalities Hippocrates had identified.
In his book, Jung explained and compared the significant characteristics
of these individual personalities.
Because of this connection, True Colors and Briggs-Myers are often
referred to as Jungian Type Theory.
True
Colors has been modified and tweaked for many different professions. I have created my own variation of the
testing based upon subsequent workshops I attended. Unfortunately, I do not have the names of
workshop leaders or presenters with whom I can credit my adaptations. I have presented this assessment variation
at a number of youth conferences and workshops.
The
basic concept of True Colors is the identification of common personality traits
and behaviors and the application of how to use them in a particular
setting. Generally I give a copy of four
different personality descriptions first.
These descriptions are a simplified description for the ones Hippocrates
may have described centuries earlier. While
Myers-Briggs identified and characterized 16 different personalities, Lowry
divided the personalities into just four personalities which he labeled as colors:
Gold,
Gold:
I am
conventional. I am the pillar of
strength and have high respect for authority.
I like to
establish and maintain policies, procedures, and schedules. I have a strong sense of right and
wrong. I am naturally parental and
dutiful. I do things that require
organization, dependability, management, and detail. I need to be useful and to belong. I am the
sensible, stable backbone of any group. I believe that work comes before play.
I value home, family, status, security, and tradition. I seek relationships that help me ensure a
predictable life. I am caring,
concerned, and loyal. I show concern
through the practical things I do.
I am
courageous. I act on a moment's notice.
I see life as a roll of the dice, a game of chance. I need stimulation, freedom, and
excitement. I am a natural leader,
troubleshooter, and performer. I like to do things that require variety,
results, and participation. I often
enjoy using tools. I am competitive and
bounce back quickly from defeat. I value action, resourcefulness, and courage. I am generous, charming, and impulsive. I show affection through physical contact.
Blue:
I am
compassionate. I am always encouraging
and supporting. I am a peacemaker,
sensitive to the needs of others. I am a natural romantic. I like to do things
that require caring, counseling, nurturing, and harmonizing. I have a strong desire to contribute and to
help others lead more significant lives.
I am poetic and often enjoy the arts. I value integrity and unity in
relationships. I am enthusiastic,
idealistic, communicative, and sympathetic.
I express my feelings easily.
Green:
I am conceptual. I have an investigative mind, intrigued by
questions like, "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" I am an independent thinker, a natural
nonconformist, and live life by my own standards. I like to do things that
require vision, problem solving, strategy, ingenuity, design, and change. Once
I have perfected an idea, I refer to move on to a new challenge. I value
knowledge, intelligence, insight, and justice. I enjoy relationships with
shared interests. I prefer to let my
head rule my heart. I am cool, calm, and
collected. I do not express my emotions
easily.
Once
a person has chosen whose personality they feel they most represent, then I test them with a simple word category test. They simply evaluate the list of words in
each row, and then put them in the order of “Most like me to Least”
using numbers 4 for most, 3 for next closest, 2 for next and 1 for the list
least. They continue through each row
numbering them accordingly. When they
have finished all the rows, they simply add the columns at the bottom. I then tell them what category goes with
which color or personality. I have
included a copy of the actual worksheet I adapted for my use. I also have attached a copy of my power point
presentation.
If
I test a person individually, then I stop here; however, if I am testing a
classroom or other large group, I separate the groups into their primary
color. Next, I give each group a large
piece of cardboard, pencils, a box of markers and some pieces of masking
tape. Their assignment is: “As a group,
design an amusement park in 15-20 minutes, tape it on the wall and be ready to
explain it to the group.” It becomes
apparent how differently the groups think, process information, and design it
on paper. Generally the Gold’s are very detail
orientated including parking lots. The
Greens usually only use a pencil and use mostly text. The
In
a number of workshops I attended during the past 5 years, I have taken the
following notes about each of the personalities:
·
This personality accounts for 12-14% of the population; 70% are woman.
This personality is often referred to as the “Hallmarks” as these people are
most likely to send a card to someone.
They write cards and also appreciate getting cards. They are flexible,
love people, focus well and like to serve.
They give the most “strokes” and also need to receive the most
strokes. Their goal is to be with
people. They are very introspective and
ask questions like “Who am I – Who am I really.” This group buys into the True
Colors testing results the most. Blues
are the “catapults” – they see potential and motivate others. They can often be
misunderstood for being nosey because they always want to know how a person is
doing. They ask about a person’s family
and they really want to know – it is not just chit-chat to them. They learn best by pleasing others. This personality lends itself to never having
a lot of money because blues are always spending it on others. Blues usually need to go shopping with other
blues. They want to connect.
GREEN:
·
This personality accounts for12-14% of the
population. They love knowledge,
research, solving problems, data, philosophy, solutions and blue prints. To this personality, there never is enough
time or data; they always want more information. Members of this personality usually include:
scientists, mid level to top management execs, and CEO’s; 80% of all professors
are greens. A green professor loves when
students argue or disagree with him.
They love debate. They are,
however, bored easily. Greens are good
planners but not the best implementers; instead, greens like to develop the
solutions or blue prints and allow others to complete the work; they set the
vision. Greens often question
everything; always asking: “why?” They
desire the best answers and are not easily satisfied with a solution. They find it hard to put closure on
things. They will continue to prove it
is the best one. This personality can
multi-task well, but a green will be the personality most likely to lose the
car keys or where they parked the car at the mall. Greens are highly introverted and only take
calculated risks. They do not share
their feelings or emotions easily with others.
·
This personality accounts for 38% of the population. This group turns the lights on at work, makes
the coffee, makes sure budget is intact – basically
they get things done. Golds are the worker bees. Without golds,
everything stops! They learn best by
instruction and are the ones most likely to raise their hand even in
college. Most church workers and
community workers are golds. 80% of all elementary school teachers are
also gold. However, this personality is
a rotten risk taker; they like security.
Golds often make lists and enjoy
highlighters. They entrust schools,
prefer laws (most police & judges are gold) and like structure within a
family. They are the most family
orientated of the four groups. Golds also make more money “totally” than any other
group. Golds
are the group most likely to organize their sock drawer. They like things to be neat and in order.
·
This personality accounts for 36% of the population.
While
entertaining, True Colors testing clearly shows a child’s unique personality
and temperament. It also shows us how to
approach, communicate, educate and even discipline a child more effectively
within their natural framework. A
student who is gold will respond better to guidelines than an orange. A blue will respond better to an emotional
plea while a green will expect rational and reasoning. The True Colors testing is currently being
done in the
Sources Consulted
Keirsey,
David. Please
True
Colors Assessment, Taken
True
Colors, Inc., The Theory Behind True Colors.
Taken on
Whichard,
Judith A. Reliability and Validity of True Colors. (June 2006), Taken