Individual Learners: Personality Differences in Education

No two learners are the same. They take different approaches to learning tasks and they respond to formal education in different ways. Yet the current emphasis in education is on what is common in learners, from a common curriculum to a common teaching method. Individual Learners reviews and discusses recent research that shows that differences in personality contribute significantly to children's and adults' experiences of success and failure in education. It considers fundamental issues in the study of personality, and provides an up-to-date review and evaluation of the continuing nature-nurture debate. It then examines traits that can have an impact upon learning: aggressiveness, anxiety, achievement, motivation, self-confidence and shyness. It includes an account of the recent research into the links between personality and education and its implications for educational practice.