Temperaments Questions

Since posting the spring workshop series, I’ve been getting some really wonderful questions that I thought I’d compile into a post to help others understand the benefit of temperament awareness. If you read through these questions and still have questions, please do reach out and I will continue to update the post.

Will this workshop help me determine my temperament?
It will do more than that! This workshop will reinforce the concept of every human holding all four temperaments within themselves in varying degrees across events and experiences. This workshop will help you to identify which of the temperaments your behaviour exhibits more prominently and will help you begin to balance their influence on your reactions and interactions.

I already know my Enneagram and Myers-Briggs personality types. Do I really need to know my temperament too?
The main difference between personality types and temperaments is that personality types tend to focus on what specific characteristics you have and then group you into a specific category based on your reactive and reflective behaviour. Temperaments differ in that, like I said before, we hold all four temperaments within us at all times. They are universal across all human beings, and thus instead of categorizing us in to different groups, what temperaments knowledge gives us is an ability to see ourselves in others and meet them with empathy and understanding. Temperaments allow us to work on the impulse of our individualization of each universal characteristic and find balance within ourselves, which in turn helps us to see the other and respond with awareness. It isn’t about knowing our characteristics and leaning into them, it is recognizing the challenge and transforming it into a gift.

Will this help me determine the temperaments of my children?
If your child/ren have already gone through the nine year transformation (also referred to as the nine-year change), then you will be able to see a dominant temperament emerging, yes. And knowledge of temperaments will help you to consciously choose how to react in any given situation based on YOUR temperament. Temperament work isn’t so that we can change the other. It is so we can find awareness and balance within ourselves, and in turn share that gift when supporting those around us.

How does this help my parenting and homeschooling?
As I said in my last post, temperament work has been pivotal in all my relationships. It has deeply helped my parenting and homeschooling because I can now recognize the characteristics within myself that enhance or hinder a situation, as well as how those same characteristics will affect my children and husband based on their own dominant temperament in that specific situation. It has created a much gentler and responsive home atmosphere that translated into lessons that are smoother and learning that is free and calm.

Is there a book to read for this workshop?
Not this time! This workshop is very active and hands on, and I cover each temperament quite deeply. If you would like to read more about temperaments, Helmut Eller’s book The Four Temperaments is available as a download on waldorflibrary.org.