Individual Learners

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 to 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. Individual Learners 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 five traits that can have an impact upon learning: aggressiveness, anxiety, achievement, motivation, self-confidence and shyness. The book provides an accessible account of the recent research into the links between personality and education and its implications for educational practice. It will be invaluable to anyone with an interest in education, whether students, teachers or lecturers.

W. Ray Crozier is Senior Lecturer in Psychology of Education, University of Wales, Cardiff. His previous publications include the edited collection Shyness and Embarrassment: Perspectives from Social Psychology (1990) and Manufactured Pleasures (1994).

Part I Describing and explaining individual differences; Chapter 1 The reality of personality; Chapter 2 The origins of personality; Part II Five personality; Chapter 3 Aggressiveness; Chapter 4 Anxiety; Chapter 5 Motivation; Chapter 6 Self-confidence; Chapter 7 Shyness;