Students bring a lot more than books and pencils into the classroom. They carry personal baggage as well. Students’ background, home life, and all of the constructive and disruptive forces in their lives affect their ability to learn. True Colors is a way to understand what makes each student tick, and how to help her or him to succeed. True Colors is based on Myers-Briggs and the Keirsey Temperament Theory and is congruent with other teaching/learning modalities used by the teaching profession. By using four colors: Gold, Blue, Green and Orange, with cards that depict the activities of the personality type, a word sort and online personality assessments, students of all ages and adults can determine who they are without having to remember complicated identity indicators.
In the True Colors spectrum, Gold indicates the more structured, disciplined, organized personality type. Many teachers and administrators are predominately Gold and the schools are organized around a “Gold standard”. Students of the Gold group usually do well in school and follow the rules appropriately. Gold students are comfortable within a highly structured environment.
The color Blue indicates the type of person who often thinks of relationships first and values relationships above all else. This group is primarily people-oriented. Blue students usually adapt well in the “normal” school environment, as long as they have the opportunity to relate to other people. For the Blue personality, relationship is the foundation through which academics filter into their personal space. In the general population 35% are Gold and 15% are Blue.
Green represents the more fact-oriented person – the student or adult who is usually asking “Why?” Greens question rules, regulations, and although they normally love to learn new information (they are often interested in science and math), they are not usually people or structure-oriented. Greens value teachers, structure and institutions as information repositories and thrives when encouraged in their perpetual pursuit of discovery.
The Orange people love action and have a very difficult time sitting still for long periods of time. They don’t like rules and much prefer initiating spontaneous activities in the moment without a lot of planning. Orange people can be quick to learn and are often very intelligent, but they are usually not very well adapted to the standard school environment. They prefer hands on discovery and learn through action and movement. They may have excellent mechanical skills and are often great at sports, drama, music, art, and other active, creative, competitive pursuits.When each individual, whether they be a student, faculty, administrator, parent, business person, professional, politician, etc., understands their True Colors and has a grasp of the colors (personalities) of others, a more harmonious, productive and effective environment can be created. Teachers are able to present information that can be received by each personality type. Students better understand their teachers, their friends and family. They learn about their strengths and how to communicate with others. And by recognizing and embracing differences, they learn to work together effectively.
