The ENFP Education Experience

The ENFPs Learning Style

ENFPs are social people who usually like to learn by interacting with other people. Their dominant function is extraverted intuition, which is a learning function that explores the external world to discover patterns. This means that although they can learn on their own and sitting at a desk, they enjoy going out into the world and exploring it for themselves much more. This makes them hands on learners, who like to talk and share with others to fully understand and appreciate the new information they’re learning to assimilate.

This trait can cause a problem for them in traditional learning environments. Besides the fact that they don’t really enjoy sitting and listening to learn, and will probably become restless and discontented very quickly, ENFPs are also endlessly curious. This type usually prefers to learn a little about a lot of things, moving from one subject to another as their curiosity drives them. And traditional learning structures, where students are expected to learn exactly what the teacher wants them to learn and to a pre-specified depth, don’t fit well with this preference. This often results in ENFPs becoming bored in traditional classrooms, and when this type are bored they’re likely to find other things to do that can frustrate their teachers.

The ENFPs Learning Challenges

ENFPs are restless. They would much rather be out in the world, interacting with it, than inside and learning about it. This need to explore usually gives ENFPs very exciting and spontaneous lives, but it also creates a problem in the classroom. Classrooms are usually built on a model where the students sit quietly while their teacher imparts knowledge to them. This model runs counter to an ENFP’s tendencies, which can disrupt or even stunt their learning. And ENFPs who are forbidden from learning in their natural way, may struggle to understand the material in a way that could be eliminated if their natural tendencies were taken into account.

ENFPs may have more problems with their schooling than those caused by their restlessness. Most ENFPs will see little value in schooling for its own sake, this type has little patience for historical or traditional institutions or norms, which often makes them question why they should submit to them for their education. To an ENFP, the only way to learn about the world is to experience it, and to them this is far more relevant and beneficial than learning from a dusty old textbook. So when they’re in a classroom, an ENFP is more likely to be dreaming, asking questions that interrogate the whole learning process, or talking to the person next to them. And their teachers usually won’t appreciate any of these preferred activities.

ENFPs in High School

ENFPs usually enjoy high school but at the same time they can’t wait for it to be over. To this type, high school is a chance to socialize and get to know lots of different types of people. An ENFP is likely to have friends in every group in school, from the popular kids to the math club, and to thoroughly enjoy everything each person brings to their life. Because of their natural warmth and zest for life, ENFPs draw people to them, so they hardly ever have trouble finding likeminded friends, or just friends who want to be bask in the ENFP’s happy, positive outlook.

ENFPs don’t usually have too much trouble with the academic side of high school, but they don’t focus on it either. They’re much more likely to be thinking about what they’re going to do after school, and to see their schoolwork as something they have to do to stay out of trouble. ENFPs don’t usually find this particularly onerous of course, this type can be happy in almost any situation, and they’ll often find individual classes or assignments interesting even if they get a little bored with the routine of it all.

Higher Education and the ENFP

ENFPs often struggle with the idea of going into higher education. This isn’t because they don’t have the marks for it of course, ENFPs can do almost anything they put their minds too. However, their natural independence often leads them away from higher education. ENFPs usually see the end of high school as their ticket to freedom. It means they’re no longer bound by the rules and schedules set by their school and by their parents. So as soon as they finish school, this type often bolts out into the world, eager to make their own decisions and to get started living. But this can be a major mistake for this type, one made out of immaturity, and it can lead to some seriously bad decisions that have long term consequences.

When an ENFP does decide to go into higher education, they often find it extremely rewarding. The rules and schedules of high school don’t usually apply, and in this setting ENFPs will find encouragement to think in their intuitive, speculative way as well as praise for the results. Higher education teachers are usually intuitive dominants ¹, which means they’ll automatically give the ENFP what they need to feel engaged and to learn, and the interactive learning style in these institutions is usually really rewarding for the very social ENFP.

Final Thoughts

ENFPs are usually more interested in the social side of academics than the studying side, though of course there are exceptions. But generally, this type prefers to learn throughout the natural course of their lives rather than by sitting at a desk and learning what someone else thinks is important. This can negatively affect their academic life, but it can also massively enrich every other aspect.

References

1. Branson Charis. “ENFP Survey: 5 Things ENFPs Wish They Had Known As Teens“. Oct 8, 2015. (Retrieved Mar 2018).
2. “Sensing or Intuition“. (Retrieved Mar 2018).
3. “ENFP – The Discoverer“.

Footnotes

1. Intuitive dominants are those who use an intuitive function, either introverted or extraverted intuition, as their learning function and as one of their greatest strengths. People who use these functions as a strength have a unique way of interacting with and seeing the world that is often misunderstood, but can produce amazing results.