Unfortunately, it is sometimes hard to reconcile these differences. We may feel bad about the way we do things or conclude that others are strange, wrong, or just don’t care about us. Instead of seeing the differences in human behaviour as a gift of natural diversity, we often judge people and desire to make them more like us, or try to make ourselves more like them. Either way, we are trying to force people to be something they are not, often at great personal cost. The question then remains as to how to address this problem and look at these differences in a positive light.

Explaining the differences
For centuries, people have tried to understand and describe the differences that make up human personality. From this substantial research, several basic patterns of human behaviour have become apparent.

In 1921, Carl Jung (1875–1961), a groundbreaking Swiss psychologist working in the 20th century identified and discussed different components of personality in his work Psychological Types. Using his ideas and information as their base, the innovative team Katharine Cook Briggs and daughter Isabel Briggs Myers developed Jung’s concepts, going on to identify sixteen distinct personality types. Their now world famous Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) remains one of the most significant psychological tests still in use today.

Contemporary psychologist David Keirsey’s work “Temperament Theory” uses the findings of Myers and Briggs in a different way, focusing on the four basic human temperaments and applying a more generic approach to personality type. This strategy is now being used with dynamic results in Michael White’s work, Aus Identities

Michael developed this Australian profiling tool in 2005. Simple to use and quick to implement, the program was used initially for school youth. Through understanding and acceptance, children are given a powerful means of gaining the confidence and self-esteem needed to succeed using their own unique talents. Today, teenagers and adults are also well placed to use the advanced version of this tool to achieve similar results.

Understanding our differences makes life easier and more enjoyable
Aus Identities enables you to learn why:

- people approach life so differently
- communication is so easy with some and so difficult with others
- some people are active and others need more quiet time
- work that appeals to another leaves you cold
- we all deal with stress differently
- and more

Aus Identities is a profiling tool suitable for children, teenagers and adults from all walks of life, helping people to celebrate their own unique gifts and talents, as well as appreciating the differences of those around them.

What happens though when the behaviours that we observe in our young people are not really out of character for who they are, when the strategies that they use to deal with life and learning are not so much damaging as they are different? What we need, now more than ever, is a deeper understanding of how our young people see life, a sort of window into their world, and to use this knowledge to take a step towards the establishment of a more congruent and harmonious learning experience, for both Student and Teacher.

Aus Identities was originally developed to assist school based students gain a greater sense of their own identity, while also helping Teachers and Parents to understand about different teaching and learning styles. While there are a number of excellent resources already available to support the history and development of the different personality types, we needed to capture the imagination of our youth and at the same time involve the adults, in a colourful and inviting way. It is our firm belief that Aus Identities offers all of this, and more, on what is seen as just the first step to a greater understanding of ourselves and the way that we interact with others.

Aus Identities is a system that is based upon the four Temperaments, which were originally introduced to the public arena by American Psychologist David Keirsey. These four Temperaments are then linked to various Australian animals, the Eagle, the Dolphin, the Kangaroo and the Wombat. The benefits of understanding the viewpoint and different learning styles of our young people is immense, not least because we can communicate better and often anticipate their needs ahead of time.

The choice for these animals is two-fold; to increase appreciation of the Australian native wildlife, and to set this system apart from other similar systems that might already be in use. Games have also been designed to assist with the clarification of type and to enhance the understanding of the primary differences between the four types. The target age groups are from 8-14 years and from 14 years to adult.

More information on the types is readily available from our web-site and because Aus Identities has been designed to work in harmony with existing resources and compliment other material, we are able to recommend various publications to support the integration and validation of this simple yet sophisticated system.

The knowledge of animal totems and power animals will enhance the understanding of the innermost aspects of human nature. Besides empowering and protecting humans, animals inspire them and help them heal. Although most people have several power animals that remain with them throughout their lifetime, other animals come and go over the years.

Some of the reasons for their appearance are: they have something to teach them; they resonate with some quality they possess; they allow them to come to terms with their fears; they are testing their ability to wisely handle one power or another; “Spirit Beings” are projecting the imagery of a particular animal into their consciousness in order to guide them; the animal is assisting them with the development of a particular power or magical ability.

Animals have souls, they are spiritual beings who are also learning and growing over evolutionary timelines.
They have much they can teach humanity, as well as, wisdom they can share if they are given the opportunity. There are already many animal friends acting in the capacity of household pets such as, a cat or a dog; but, also people might also feel attracted to one or more animals that live out in the wild or on another continent entirely. They may have pictures of horses on their walls, or porcelain figurines of dolphins on their coffee table.

They may hunt with tigers in their dreams or howl at the full moon with the wolves in their minds. If they do then it is most likely that the tiger or wolf would be a totem or power animal for them. The animals may also send them a telepathic messages (for example, they might see a skunk in their mind’s eye when they need to define and/or assert their personal boundaries) or they may visit them in their spirit form in their personal nightly Dreamtime when it is impossible for them to visit them in the outer world.

All the animals are unique. All their interactions with people are important and worthy of their attentive respect. The appearance of a turtle laying her eggs, an alligator gazing intently at someone as it slips into a pond at dusk, pigeons conversing soothingly with each other when someone is emotionally distressed, a pair of mockingbirds pointing out the parasitic tendencies of others, are all blessed occurrences in daily life.

To be the most effective, the power animal must chose the person rather than the other way around. A bumblebee buzzing around, a dragonfly flying close to a car windshield, a beaver placing its paw up against the glass in greeting as someone stares through the enclosure at the zoo, and mourning doves cooing at dawn are not just random events of nature, they are “Encounters of an Animal Totem Kind”. The animals bring powerful important life messages with them when they appear in someone’s life. Messages well worth listening to.

The Aboriginal Australians believe that they are connected to all the species and that the Ancestral Spirits charged them with the duty to be caretakers of the land and of all the species. The Aboriginal Australians call this responsibility to safeguard the land and all species, “Taking Care”. The life of an individual Aboriginal, a person of the Dreamtime, is lived then according to the guidelines laid down for the ancestors by the creators.

During the Dreamtime the Ancestral Spirits purposefully created every billabong, rock, star, planet, animal, insect, and all other living creatures (including humans and all of the flora). As they travelled across the land, they gave it form by creating the rivers, the mountains, the sand hills, the trees, the humans, the animals, the birds, the insects, and the marine life. They also made the sky, the sun, the moon, the planets, and the stars.

Then they also laid down the laws the Aboriginals must obey and the Dreaming Tracks which connect all creatures of the Sacred World and define the belonging territory of the tribe within the landscape. Afterwards, the Ancestral Spirits changed into aspects of the landscape, empowering it with their numinous presence.

By adhering to the traditions and beliefs practiced by the tribe for generations, an individual aboriginal fulfills the laws and spiritual expectations of the Ancestral Spirits. At the end of Dreamtime, after the Ancestral Spirits gave form to the land and established community relationships, they changed from human and other forms into animals, stars, hills, and other things, enlivening the landscape with their powers.

That people differ in exciting, fundamental ways, is a given. We hold different beliefs and values and are moved by different things. We perceive facts differently and generally behave in ways that are not always compatible with those around us.

Unfortunately it can often be quite difficult to change our ways or reconcile these differences. We may even feel bad about the ways that we do things, or conclude that others are simply strange or wrong, or just being belligerent. Instead of seeing the differences in human behaviour as a natural gift of diversity, we often judge people or try to make them more like us, or even try to make ourselves more like them. Either way we are all guilty at times of trying to force people to be something they are not, often at great personal cost!

Contemporary psychologist Dr. David Keirsey uses the findings of Briggs and Myers in a different way, focusing instead on the four basic human temperaments and applys a more generic approach to personality theory. These strategies, and more, have provided the founding principles behind the work of the team at Aus Identities, who have developed their own unique approach to explaining differences in behavior, by linking human personality to the characteristics of some well know Australian animals.

Simple to use and quick to implement, the program was initially used for youth and school based students. Through understanding and acceptance, people are given a powerful means of gaining the confidence and self esteem necessary to succeed in school life and beyond. Today, adults and the business world are also able to take advantage of the advanced versions of this powerful and effective tool to achieve similar results in their own personal or professional lives.

Understanding our differences makes life easier.

I have just finished another of our famous two-day workshops for teachers, and sent another bunch of educational professionals away with a new set of skills. It was great meeting these teachers and principals, as it almost always is, as I have specialist skills when it comes to understanding people and their needs, and I love to share my knowledge. The learning always goes both ways though, and whenever I am working with this demographic I make sure to take the opportunity to ask questions about the health of the educational system, you know, the one that is supposed to have the needs of our young people as paramount.

A common theme I encounter is that these days teachers spend so much time meeting special criteria, such as dealing with NAPLAN and the like, that the job of a teacher is more oriented to keeping some anonymous group of public servants or politicians happy rather than the kids. There are tests, and pre-tests, then reports and forms, and all requests for additional resources need to be in triplicate of course. Our teachers are in danger of becoming administrators for whom the job of teaching is seemingly destined to become second place.

Then of course there is the behaviour of the students themselves, which can sometimes leave a lot to be desired, but is often made more difficult to deal with because of the attitude of the parents that show up from time to time, usually when some perceived injustice has been perpetrated against their son or daughter. These days it is necessary for teachers to have some serious negotiation skills in their bag of tricks, for dealing with both the kids and the parents. Couple that with the counselling, conflict resolution, communication and other skills demanded of them and teachers have rather more to do than a first glance might reveal.

That’s why I teach what I do. You see, everyone always brings their personality with them, wherever they go, and whatever they do, so why not teach people to understand some of the differences between people, especially the people most likely to work with other people! The catch-cry around education these days is Differentiation – How everyone is different and needs to treated as such. Unfortunately, along with that impressive sounding phrase comes little in the way of guidance or a model to follow, which is exactly where I am finding my niche. When I give teachers my model they are almost universal in their cry of thanks for what is a relatively simple, yet fully functioning system that assists them do what they are being asked to do, namely differentiate between the students and their varying approaches to learning.

They can now know, with a certain amount of conviction, that parents who are Dolphins will be at least as interested in their child’s self-esteem as they are with their academic performance, and that Eagles will want grades, good one’s too. Wombats will want reassurance that their child is a conscientious student that is doing what is expected of them, while Kangaroos just want their kids to have fun and enjoy life. They can also know that when these personalities show up in the classroom that their individual needs will differ greatly from one and other. They will have different ways of learning, and of behaving when learning is not occurring, that can all be predicted with a fairly high degree of accuracy, and that success in classroom is as much down to the personality type of the teacher as it is ability. Negotiation takes place in a very different way too for each of the types, so a little bit of knowledge here goes a long way.

If school is supposed to be a preparation for life (a place we are going to meet lots of other people for sure), then why not have life skills such as Aus Identities included in the curriculum of every school across Australia.
It makes the appreciation of others so much easier, and it makes working together so much more understandable, and by knowing how a person likes to learn before you even meet them, it can save a lot of unwanted and unnecessary behavioural issues.

Aus Identities is based in part upon other similar systems around the world that have proven track records for increasing academic performance and minimising unwanted behaviour. With 40% of newly graduated teachers quitting their jobs within the first 4 years, there has never been a greater need for programs like Aus Identities. Somebody once said: “Nothing can stand in the way of an idea whose time has come”, and I believe our time is now!