There have been long debates over the use of the Enneagram being taught to children; at what age should a person use this typology system that can be beneficial—at 4-years-old, 10-years-old or late teens to adulthood? As a person who has worked with children of all ages in my professional career—some young as 4-years-old, some with behavioral and mental challenges and with deaf children. One thing I learned- the type of a person is clearly visible and there are clues in finding them.
Now, many just by reading the first paragraph might have already formed a viewpoint based on my last statement. I want you to think of this: Have you changed all that much from when you were four or eight years of age?
As an Enneagram Six, I can remember the time at age 4-years-old, when my fears and anxieties affected me in positive and negative ways. If only I’ve had the tools the children on this video do today. Yes, clearly someone with a given type might be healthier than 10 or 16 years of age, but the core is still present.
I remember working with this child who I believed showed characteristics of an Enneagram Eight. His mother would come to me in tears, not understanding, “why is my child always pushing, hitting, attacking children, and not getting along with others; and wanting to control me and other children?” She didn’t understand why her child needed to direct others, and was always trying to lead the shy children of the groups and saw himself as their protector for the most part. At the time, it wasn’t my place to say. “Read the Enneagram and all will be right with the world.” Okay, it’s not that simple, but there were children in that classroom that had clear signs of needing to be loved, having fear, anger or sadness or wanted to play alone. I also suspect they’ll possibly grow up to be adults with the same issues and traits, whose to say—the debates continues.
Ingrid Stabb, co-author of The Career Within You (HarperCollins 2010) and Elvira G Deyamport, teacher of gifted children at an elementary school in Hattiesburg Mississippi along with Will Deyamport, Chief Social Strategist of StrengthsFactor; who spearheaded this project and conducted an educational experiment over the web, to show how their classroom experience could be enriched by using social media along with the Enneagram. The fourth grade class invited Stabb to speak to the children and teach them about enneatypes.
Prior to the class the students typed themselves by taking a short quiz from The Career Within You that is available for free online.The teacher also helped the children prepare for their discussion with Stabb by talking through the 9 Enneatypes, and using the visual guide on the website.
Stabb focused on the student's career types and broke down the types based on what she calls, in The Career Within You, their core motivations:
- To make improvements.
- To meet the needs of others.
- To achieve a successful image.
- To express individuality.
- To acquire knowledge.
- To reduce risk.
- To explore possibilities.
- To establish self-reliance.
- To maintain harmony.
The gifted fourth grade class easily grasped these concepts and Stabb asked the students to go around the room talking about a time they were good at one of these skills. The Six student explained that he reduced risk one time when a scary centipede fell in his mother's hair and he and his dad removed it from the house in a paper bag. The One student gave an example of how he made improvements to his science project. One of the Sevens said she explored possibilities by building a tent in her bedroom.
The day of the event, the students in Mississippi called Stabb at her home in California on Skype. An excerpt video of this Skype session is shown students interacting with Stabb on a laptop while she is projected on a larger screen on the classroom. Stabb said, "I was impressed how well I could see the students over Skype while we interacted. Also I was pleasantly surprised how well the students had prepared, that they each already knew their own enneatypes, and were ready to discuss them in terms of their career aspirations." Two girls in the class typed themselves as Sevens, one aspiring to be a doctor, the other to be an entertainer. Among the boys in the class, the One hoped to become a teacher, the Three aspired to be a successful football player, the Six planned to become a psychiatrist, and the Seven wanted to become a scientist.
For more stories from the children, see the video on the left.
The Enneagram is finally moving into the social media world, where all types of people can learn the tools of this system in a whole host of ways. Technology such as Skype, mobile app devices and blogs are a showing new ways to share information on the Enneagram—and that’s a good thing.
In a series of articles we will tap into using the Enneagram that will help parents discover their child’s type coming soon.
Ingrid Stabb:
*Ingrid Stabb has been fascinated by personality typing ever since the third grade when she designed her first assessment test, What Animal Are You? By the fifth grade, she graduated to creating popular “slam books”—those lined-paper notebooks with one question per page, such as “What is your favorite color?” and “Who do you have a crush on?” Kids passed them between desks when the teacher’s back was turned. Years later, Stabb went to college at Columbia University in New York City and eventually pursued an MBA at Yale University. She became a leader in the field of personalization with her innovations applied to product management, loyalty marketing, and career management at global Fortune 500 companies and international startups.
Since 1999 Stabb has worked with hundreds of individuals on their career development and has organized multiple career workshops and events. Combining her love of personality typing with career management savvy, Stabb coauthored The Career Within You with her hero, Elizabeth Wagele.
Elvira G. Deyamport:
*Elvira G. Deyamport, Ed.S. teaches gifted at an elementary school in Hattiesburg, MS. Previously, she's taught second grade and elementary Spanish. Elvira has a specialist degree in Reading Instruction, a master's in Gifted Education, and a dual bachelor's in Elementary Education and Spanish. Her teaching philosophy revolves around using technology that exposes her students to a variety of people, places, and thought systems, provides her students with meaningful and authentic learning experiences, and develops their expertise within the subject area.
Adrienne Williams:
Adrienne Williams is in the process of writing a book(s) dealing with the Enneagram and children and how parents can help their child become the best of their selves by understanding who they really are and building on that knowledge. Adrienne has a website called “Enneagram Life” and is doing a project called “In The Life of an Enneagram Six,” where she showcases clear pathways to core values, motivation, and environment and how Sixes see the world.
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