What traits do I bring to the PLN table?

 

Professional Learning Networks, more commonly referred to as PLNs, are online forums of different varieties that consist of various people, groups, and systems. Throughout the evolution of our educational and career journies, we are constantly participating in PLNs, whether we realize it or not. Again, whether we realize it or not, as educators, we are life-long learners and part of that is understanding how the growth of ourselves as educators and others can be supported. Assistant Professor Torrey Trust from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, lists four ways of supporting educator growth: affective, social, cognitive, and identity. 

Reflecting on my growth journey, two areas that speak to me are cognitive growth and identity growth. According to Prof. Trust, cognitive growth refers to the identification of new resources, tools, and strategies for educational learning both for oneself and to use for the education of others. This goes in hand with identity growth, which Prof. Trust describes as a practice of understanding how one can be a co-learner with those they are teaching. It is a reflection of teachers engaging in learning along with their students, ultimately practicing their life-long learning skills. These two ways of PLN supportive growth reflect what I aim to do in most of what I practice. I aim to be a life-long learner whether it is in my career and educational endeavors or it is through a new hobby or subject matter I am passionate about. Cognitive growth allows me to open my mind to new ways of thinking, learning, and practicing, while identity growth helps me put those skills into actual action. 

With all this to consider, I completed the Choice Board Activity that asked me to choose and take three personality tests and reflect on the traits the tests claim I bring to my PLN spaces. 

The first of the personality tests I took originated from 16 Personalities. The results of this test determined I am an INFJ-A, also referred to as the "Advocate". 

As stated by the 16 Personalities' parent company, NERIS Analytical Limited, "Advocates are quiet visionaries, often serving as inspiring and tireless idealists". INFJ-A's tend to be introverted, intuitive, empathic, decisive, and assertive. Overall, I agree with the results of this test. I see myself as a silent leader. I have the ability to assert needed dominance and decisiveness over situations, however, I would rather stay in the background and listen, inspire, and help push the ideas of my teammates. What I like about this test is how it highlights this personality trait's strengths instead of making one trait seem stronger than another. 

For example, when speaking about Extroverts versus Introverts, the results provided me with my preferred method of energy release. They state how introverts prefer fewer social interactions, however, are meaningful in their responses and respond highly to calmer environments. This type of analysis really allows people to open themselves up to finding strategies and work environments that speak to them.

The second personality test I took originated from My Personality Test. The test results of this one were similar to the last, labeling me in a specific personality type called ISTP: The Problem Solvers. 

However, instead of showcasing how I was more or less of each trait compared to its opposite, the results divided my results into percentages out of 100 to show what traits shine through out of four perceived traits. My four perceived traits were labeled as introverted, sensing, thinking, and perceiving with thinking being the majority of my driving skills at 46%. Overall, I agree with the results, they were more or less similar to the last test. However, I do not like how they were exhibited. This idea of breaking personality into percentages like this is not helpful in terms of allowing a respondent to fully grasp where they stand skill-wise. If there is nothing to compare the numbers to, then are more or less useless. What made the results easier to comprehend was the extensive written explanation later in the results. This went on to describe what it means to be categorized as an ISTP. It even goes on to describe negative traits associated with this personality. What I found ironic with this was that, although my 'thinking' category was labeled as my highest percentage trait, my described negative trait is that ISTP's have risk-taking tendencies that make them prone to poorly thought-out decisions. The irony is extremely present. 

The final personality test I took originated from Psychologist World's Five Factor Test. This test looked at five particular factors to determine one's personality type: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. Similar to the other tests, the results were given in terms of where I lie in the percentage of each trait. My highest was a 94% score in the category of 'openness to experience' with the other traits falling between 50 and 75%. 

I more or less agree with the results and how they choose to describe me, however, I don't necessarily agree with the formulation of the test. I am far from being a psychologist or any kind of expert on the brain and how our choices shape our personality, yet it seems strange to me that someone's personality can be determined in the category of things like 'agreeableness' and 'neuroticism'. Out of all the tests, I hold less weight in these results.