colors

“For the body is not one member, but many.” 1 Corinthians 12:14

Our God, as revealed in nature, is a God of incredible powers of creativity and variety. And yet there is unity. I loved the Olympics for it calls forth people from every country of the globe and then shows us how much alike we are. And yet no two are exactly the same. We are as unique as snowflakes.

Even more so, the mystery of personality is a maze of fascinating twists and turns. Many have tried to give us a grid to help us understand ourselves and those around us. I would hesitate to ascribe to any of them in terms of absolute truth, but I find them intriguing and helpful in grasping just some of the complexity and diversity of the human psyche that invests us all. One of these is a system of four colors developed by Carolyn Kalil under the publishing name of True Colors. I would like to resort to this model as it lies at my fingertips and does a well enough job as any in portraying something of just how fearfully and wonderfully made we are.

I take this little side journey because there are bound to be times when you or your children will find themselves bonding in strong and familiar ways with certain teachers and not with others. If you ask every student to identify their favorite teacher, some names would crop up more than others, but there would never be 100% agreement. My point is simple. Students are not all created alike and neither are teachers. Because all students are not alike, we do not want all our teachers to be alike either.

Ms. Kalil categorizes personalities in four colors as being green, blue, orange, and gold. Gold people are typically first-born, dependable, responsible, loyal people who value order, tradition, and security. They love structure and are very driven by a sense of duty. If you need someone to organize your company or keep your books, you want one of these folk. Many of these people go on to become teachers and, as such, they value achievement, punctuality, exactness, hard work, and the tried and true method of the classroom lecture. They aggravate the rest of us with their insistence on correctness and detail.

Orange personalities, on the other hand, are spontaneous, daring, creative, entertaining, and skillful people for whom “adventure” is their middle name. These folk make great drama teachers, firemen, salespersons, and independent business owners. They will annoy us at times by their desire to test the limits, be the class clown, or with their impatience over routine tasks. But they make great leaders with their flair for creativity, finesse, and charisma. Orange teachers value physical activity, the unusual, cleverness, energy, creativity, and hands-on learning.

Blue personalities are relational people. They are sensitive to others and love authenticity and honesty. They love freely and want to be loved in return. They are compassionate, encouraging, vivacious, and affirming. We enjoy having these people in our lives because they make us feel good. They despise and flee from confrontation and conflict. The Blue teacher is a born nurturer, desires harmony and good feelings, success for everyone, likes cooperative learning and people-oriented concepts and activities. Many elementary teachers have a strong “Blue” streak because of their desire to be nurturers. But they can be annoying on a committee because they value good feelings above actual work or progress.

The Green personality is most complex and, perhaps, the most easily misunderstood. They love to analyze, take things apart, think in abstract terms, and use precise language. They often exude a calm and cool exterior as they seek after and solve complex problems. They make great scientists, inventors, and chess players. But they can be irritating in their questioning of assumptions, insistence upon perfection, or their detached presence. “Green” teachers value freedom of thought, ingenuity, independent mental activity, independent projects, and inquiry-discovery methods of instruction. Every board or company needs one of these folk to ask the hard questions nobody else thinks of or dares to bring up.

We conducted a sample self-test one year among our teachers and discovered that most were either gold or blue in regard to their predominant personality trait. If your child has a Gold personality, they will typically love being in class with a Gold teacher. If they are predominantly Blue, they will naturally gravitate to a Blue teacher. Not all students are gold or blue, however. We need the full spectrum of teachers to, at least one time in their lives, spark and give value to those personality traits waiting to come to life in your child.

That is why we value all of our teachers and the differences they bring in ministering to such a diverse body of students that you regularly contribute to us. If you have trouble “connecting” or even agreeing with the way a particular teacher does things, please remember that there are others out there who are probably loving it. Part of the school experience is to learn how different we all are and to develop both the patience needed to deal with other personality types and the appreciation of how they contribute to the life and diversity of the hive. All have value, all have strengths, all have weaknesses, and all are needed.

- Mr. Moe (a self confessed ‘green’ who has learned a lot by being married to a flaming ‘blue’ for 42 years)