The enneagram sees the personalities of the human race as something of a circular spectrum. Each personality views the world through slightly different coloured lenses. Each ‘lens’ has a unique and valuable perspective, and shapes the ways in which we interact with the world. The lenses shape the learning styles of students but, more than that, they shape the whole ‘being’ styles of students.
Broadly speaking there are nine basic personality types in the Enneagram typology. So if the students in a class are randomly selected by personality type, the teacher will share a personality type with 1 in 9 of them: 3 students in a class of 27. This means that the other 24 have different personality types, and some may be very different indeed. This can lead to misunderstanding and frustration from both sides.
The Enneagram is a sort of toolbox which explains how the different drivers of personality work, and how the coping strategies (personalities) which we develop in response to those play out in practice. It can therefore increase overall levels of emotional intelligence because it enables us to better understand how and why others see the world differently from us. This leads to empathy, compassion, greater acceptance of others….. and ultimately to better teamwork in the learning experience.
The Type One Student: The Serious Hard Worker
The Type Two Student: The People Pleasing Mentor
The Type Three Student: The Star of the Class
The Type Four Student: The Misunderstood Creative
The Type Five Student: The Intellectual Outsider
The Type Six Student: The Questioning Friend
The Type Seven Student: The Joyful Enthusiast
The Type Eight Student: The Protective Challenger
Compassionate Learning 
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