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The “Ideal” Student

by Jane Bluestein, Ph.D.

Traditional classrooms tend to favor students with the following characteristics or strengths:

Dominance profile: Left-brain dominant, full sensory access: dominant right hand, eye, ear and leg. Note: Students who are right-brain dominant, full sensory limited (all functions right-dominant) may be at the greatest disadvantage.

Strong in linguistic and logical-mathematical intelligences

Academically on grade level (not too far ahead or behind)

Learning Preferences:

Prefers working in a quiet environment
Best time of day: Early morning, afternoon
Social: Prefers working quietly alone or in a group (limited need for interaction)
Can handle highly-structured environment (seated in chairs, sitting up straight, not rocking or fidgeting)
Limited intake needs while working (food, drink, gum, snack)
Low mobility needs

Modality Strengths: High auditory, high visual; low kinesthetic

High verbal skills; ability to respond immediately when called on (low need for time to process quietly, internally, before responding)

Attending behaviors: Eye contact, little talking or movement (note-taking OK particularly in linear, traditional form)

Temperament traits:

High in adaptability, persistence, regularity
Low in distractibility, intensity, sensory awareness (sensitivity to sound, light, smell or touch)
Low to moderate in activity/energy levels

Personality Traits: Concrete thinking, logical, rational, organized, prompt, able to follow rules and procedures.

Studies show other factors (gender, culture, socio-economic status, appearance, popularity, membership in highly-valued groups or teams, for example) to be relevant in certain instances

Excerpted and adapted from Creating Emotionally Safe Schools, by Jane Bluestein, Ph.D. © 2001, Health Communications, Inc, Deerfield Beach, FL.

What people are saying about Creating Emotionally Safe Schools.

Buy Creating Emotionally Safe Schools.

This handout is also available in French.

Related handouts:

Ways to Reach More Students

ADHD Look-Alike Conditions

Multiple Intelligences

Working With Different Sensory/Modality
Strengths and Limitations

Water and the Body

Survey: Is Your School (or Classroom) an Emotionally Safe Place?

Supporting Kids in Crisis: Non-supportive patterns to avoid!

Alternatives to Non-Supportive Responses

Industrial Age Classrooms vs. Information Age Classrooms

Examples of Some New Ways of Thinking

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