Enter Carl Jung and the 16 Personalities

By Mikaela Ostrander

Carl Jung, a Swiss psychiatrist and founder of analytical psychology, believed that human behavior and personality could be understood through deeply rooted psychological functions. He introduced the idea of individual personality types based on how we perceive the world and make decisions.

This led to the development of what we now recognize as the 16 personality types, which reflect vastly different ways of processing information, solving problems, engaging with others, and responding to structure.

Important Note: This is not about MBTI™ typing for kids — it’s about using Jungian psychology to understand the diverse internal worlds children inhabit and how those differences show up in the classroom.

Each of the 16 types thrives in different environments. Some students need structure. Others need freedom. Some need movement and hands-on engagement. Others crave time to reflect and think deeply. When we only cater to one or two of these types — we lose the rest.

The Hidden Cost of Ignoring Personality in Education

Here’s the truth: our current school system naturally supports just 2 out of the 16 personality types. These are often the detail-oriented, task-focused, rule-following students who perform well in traditional classroom settings — sitting still, following directions, memorizing facts.

But what about the:

• Curious explorers who need movement and discovery?

• Deep thinkers who get lost in their own imaginations?

• Big-picture learners who question rules and seek meaning before memorization?

These students often get labeled as:

• Disruptive

• Defiant

• Disinterested

• Lazy

But they’re not any of those things. They’re misunderstood.

What Happens When We Don’t Meet Their Needs?

Research — and experience — shows that when we meet just 30% of a child’s core psychological needs, behavior issues dramatically decrease.

Imagine what could happen if we went even further.

When kids feel seen, understood, and supported as they are, everything changes:

• Confidence grows

• Resistance fades

• Engagement increases

• Learning becomes personal

But in order to get there, we need to admit something hard: the current system isn’t working for most kids.

The Call for Change

It’s time to evolve. To stop designing education like a conveyor belt and start designing it like a human-centered experience.

That means:

• Understanding personality as a key factor in learning

• Reimagining classrooms to be more flexible and multi-modal

• Valuing art, music, tech, nature, and choice as valid pathways to learning

• Moving beyond test scores [but I also understand this is NOT going away, and can compromise. - Why?

  • Here’s the powerful truth: when we implement these strategies, academic growth does follow. I’ve seen students who were constantly removed from class for behavioral issues become actively engaged and motivated to learn. Their test scores didn’t just improve — they soared.

  • In fact, this transformation was clearly reflected in our special education testing data from 2023–2024, the year we began using these approaches, compared to the 2024–2025 school year. The difference was undeniable.

This is not just a feel-good idea. It’s a necessity. The world needs creative, emotionally intelligent, resilient, and adaptable humans — and that requires an education system that reflects how humans actually work.

Where We Go from Here

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In future posts, we’ll dive deeper into the 16 personality types — how they show up in children, how to support them in school, and how to shift our mindset from control to connection.

Because kids don’t need to be “fixed.”The system does.

Let’s reimagine education — one child, one personality, and one empowered teacher at a time.

– Mikaela