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Enneagram for Educators

Enneagram for Educators

Written by: Enneagram MBA
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Why do some parent emails send you into a spiral while your colleague barely blinks? Why does your co-teacher's "helpful suggestions" feel like criticism? Why do staff meetings leave you drained...or energized? And why is it so hard to set boundaries when students need you?


The answer might be simpler than you think: you're using one of nine adaptive strategies to navigate your work, and understanding that strategy changes everything.


Enneagram for Educators uses the Enneagram to help teachers, administrators, and education leaders recognize their patterns, work more effectively with others, and stop making their jobs harder than they need to be. From classroom teachers to superintendents, from special education coordinators to college deans, if you work in education and you're tired of flying blind through interpersonal dynamics, this podcast is for you.



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Episodes
  • 4. The Quiet Strengths of Enneagram Type 9 in Education

    4. The Quiet Strengths of Enneagram Type 9 in Education
    Sep 28 2026

    What does it take to create a classroom where students feel accepted, supported, and like they truly belong?

    For Enneagram Type Nines, creating that kind of environment may come naturally.

    Known a The Consensus-Builder or The Peacemaker, Type Nines are known for their calm presence, patience, and ability to see multiple perspectives. But there's much more to the Nine than simply wanting everyone to get along.

    In this episode of Enneagram for Educators, we're exploring the unique strengths, challenges, and growth opportunities of Enneagram Type 9 in education.

    From creating inclusive classrooms to navigating difficult conversations and stepping into leadership roles, we discuss how Type Nines can use their natural strengths to make a meaningful impact on students, colleagues, and school communities.

    We also explore why peace and belonging matter so much to Nines, how their desire for harmony can sometimes make it difficult to speak up, and what growth can look like when they begin making their own priorities and perspectives known.

    In this episode, we explore:

    • The core motivations of Enneagram Type 9 and why internal and external peace are so important to them.
    • How Type Nine teachers and educators create welcoming, inclusive classroom environments where students feel accepted and valued.
    • The strengths Nines bring to classroom management, collaboration, and relationships with students and colleagues.
    • Why Type Nines may struggle with assertiveness, expressing their opinions, or navigating conflict in educational leadership roles.
    • The importance of belonging and how Nines help create connection within a classroom or school community.
    • How instinctual biases can influence the way Type Nine patterns show up in different people.
    • Practical ways to support Type Nine teachers, administrators, and school leaders while encouraging their personal and professional growth.

    Whether you're a Type Nine educator, work alongside one, or simply want to better understand the different personalities in your school, this conversation offers a fresh perspective on the strengths of the Peacemaker and the impact they can have in education.

    Because creating peace isn't always about keeping everyone happy. Sometimes, it's about creating an environment where everyone feels they belong, including you~

    🎧 Listen in and discover what Enneagram Type 9 can teach us about connection, collaboration, and the power of a calming presence in education.

    About Enneagram for Educators

    Hosted by Sarah Wallace and Tawny Hall, Enneagram for Educators explores how the Enneagram personality framework can help teachers, school administrators, and education professionals better understand themselves, strengthen workplace relationships, and create more connected learning environments.

    Through conversations about the nine Enneagram types, instinctual biases, communication, leadership, and personal growth, Sarah and Tawny bring practical personality insights into the everyday realities of working in education.

    Explore more Enneagram resources: https://www.enneagrammba.com/
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    37 mins
  • 3. What Do You Notice First? | The 3 Enneagram Instinctual Biases in Education

    3. What Do You Notice First? | The 3 Enneagram Instinctual Biases in Education
    Sep 18 2026
    Learn more about bringing the Enneagram to your next staff development day: https://www.enneagrammba.com/enneagram-team-workshops*****Put three educators in the same meeting, classroom, or school situation, and they may walk away having noticed three completely different things.One may immediately think about time, resources, and whether the plan is realistic.Another notices the people involved, the relationships, and who needs to be included.And someone else is already thinking about the possibilities, the message, and how to get people excited.Why?In this episode of Enneagram for Educators, we introduce the three Instinctual Biases - Preserving, Navigating, and Transmitting - through the Awareness to Action Enneagram framework and explore how they can show up specifically in education.While your Enneagram type can help explain the strategies and patterns you tend to rely on, your Instinctual Bias adds another layer: What does your attention naturally notice and prioritize?We all have access to all three. But we tend to favor one—and that bias can influence what catches our attention in a staff meeting, how we respond to a new initiative, what we prioritize in our classrooms, and even what we think everyone else should be paying attention to.The 3 Instinctual Biases in EducationPreserving: “Do we have what we need?”Preserving attention tends to notice resources, time, energy, capacity, practical needs, and sustainability.In education, this may be the teacher asking whether there's enough planning time to implement the new initiative, making sure the classroom has the supplies students need, or thinking about whether a great idea is actually sustainable.A Preserving school leader may naturally pay attention to staffing, budgets, schedules, resources, and protecting the capacity of the people on their team.And while that can sometimes be interpreted as resistance, “Why are they already pointing out what we don't have?," hey may actually be asking an important question:Do we have what we need to do this well?Navigating: “Who are the people, and how does this work?”Navigating attention tends to notice people, relationships, roles, expectations, influence, and the dynamics within a group or system.In a school, a Navigating educator may quickly notice who needs to be involved in a decision, how different students or colleagues will respond, who has influence, and what approach will work best with a particular person or group.They may intuitively understand that the lesson that works beautifully with one class won't necessarily land the same way with another, or that a conversation with one parent, coworker, or administrator requires a very different approach than a conversation with someone else.For leaders, this attention can be especially valuable when building teams, introducing change, understanding school dynamics, and getting the right people involved.Transmitting: “How do we get this out into the world?”Transmitting attention tends to move toward energy, ideas, expression, impact, excitement, and getting something moving.These may be the educators asking, “How can we make this more engaging?” “How do we get people excited about this?” or, “What could this become?”Think of the inspirational teachers we often see portrayed in movies like Dead Poets Society or Mr. Holland's Opus: teachers whose energy, ideas, and ability to engage others become part of what makes the learning experience memorable.A Transmitting school leader may naturally bring vision, enthusiasm, innovation, and momentum to a team.The watch-out? Sometimes there can be a lot of launch and not quite as much landing.Same situation. Different attention.Imagine a school announces a major new initiative.The Preserving educator may ask:Do we have the time, training, staffing, and resources to do this?The Navigating educator may ask:Who's leading this? Who needs to be involved? What's expected of me?The Transmitting educator may ask:What's the vision? How are we introducing this? How do we get people excited about it?None of those questions is wrong.In fact, your school probably needs someone asking all three.The challenge comes when the question our brain asks first becomes the question we believe everyone should be asking.That's where understanding Instinctual Biases becomes useful.For teachers and education leaders, this framework can help explain why coworkers respond differently to change, why certain priorities feel obvious to one person but not another, and why people can experience the exact same meeting or situation very differently.It can also give school leaders a practical lens for communicating change: Have we addressed the resources and capacity? The people, roles, and relationships? The vision, message, and possibilities?And for your own self-awareness, try noticing this week:What does my brain notice first?Resources, capacity, and practical needs?People, roles, and relationships?Ideas, energy, and ...
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    48 mins
  • 2. The 9 Enneagram Types in Education | A Crash Course for Educators

    2. The 9 Enneagram Types in Education | A Crash Course for Educators
    Sep 18 2026

    Learn more about bringing the Enneagram to your next staff development day: https://www.enneagrammba.com/enneagram-team-workshops

    *****

    What do the nine Enneagram types look like in a classroom, school, or education team?

    In this episode of Enneagram for Educators, you'll get a practical introduction to all nine Enneagram personality types, with examples of how each type might show up specifically in education.

    Whether you're a teacher trying to better understand yourself, a school administrator leading a team, or an educator wondering why one coworker approaches the same situation completely differently than you do, this episode is your Enneagram crash course.

    Together, we'll explore the motivation behind each Enneagram type and translate those patterns into everyday education experiences, from classroom organization and collaboration to professional development, decision-making, conflict, leadership, communication, and working with students and families.

    In this episode, you'll learn about:

    • Enneagram Type 1 - Striving to Feel Perfect: principled, improvement-focused educators who often value structure, standards, rules, and doing things the right way
    • Enneagram Type 2 - Striving to Feel Connected: relationship-focused educators who naturally notice other people's needs and prioritize connection
    • Enneagram Type 3 - Striving to Feel Outstanding: goal-oriented, adaptable educators who are motivated to achieve, contribute, and get things done
    • Enneagram Type 4 - Striving to Feel Unique: authentic, emotionally aware educators who value individuality, meaning, and being truly seen
    • Enneagram Type 5 - Striving to Feel Detached: thoughtful, observant educators who value information, independence, preparation, and space to process
    • Enneagram Type 6 - Striving to Feel Secure: prepared, risk-aware educators who anticipate what could go wrong and help their teams plan for it
    • Enneagram Type 7 - Striving to Feel Excited: optimistic, possibility-focused educators who bring ideas, energy, creativity, and enthusiasm
    • Enneagram Type 8 - Striving to Feel Powerful: direct, decisive educators who aren't afraid to take action, challenge others, or address difficult issues
    • Enneagram Type 9 - Striving to Feel Peaceful: inclusive, steady educators who see multiple perspectives, build consensus, and want people to feel heard

    You'll also hear why two educators of different Enneagram types can care equally about their students and team, and still approach the same problem in completely different ways.

    We'll also touch on common Enneagram mistypes, including why educators may initially identify with Type 2 simply because they chose a helping profession, why Types 1 and 6 can look similar, and why outward behavior doesn't always reveal the motivation underneath it.

    Most importantly, the Enneagram isn't meant to tell you who you are. It's a way to become more aware of the patterns and strategies you tend to rely on, and recognize when another approach might serve you, your students, or your team better.

    If you're new to the Enneagram, start here. And if you already know your Enneagram type, listen for the coworkers, administrators, teachers, parents, and even family members you may begin to understand differently.

    Enneagram for Educators explores how teachers, school leaders, administrators, and education teams can use the Enneagram to build self-awareness, improve communication, navigate conflict, strengthen relationships, and better understand the people they work with and serve.
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    44 mins
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