The Human Dynamics Body of Knowledge

and its Implications for Education:

A Brief Account

by Sandra Seagal, Ph. D. and David Horne, M.A.

Background Information

Human Dynamics offers a new paradigm for understanding both individual and collective human functioning which has immense implications for conducting effective education. It involves identifying fundamental distinctions in the way people function as whole systems – distinctions in how people naturally and inherently process information, learn, communicate, relate, problem-solve, contribute to teams, become stressed, maintain health, and advance along their path of development.

Human Dynamics findings are the result of an ongoing investigation launched in 1979 that has so far involved more than 80,000 people from over 25 cultures. We have investigated the function of three universal principles - the mental, the emotional (or relational), and the physical (or practical) - and how these combine in specific patterns of dynamic interplay to form distinct ways of systemic functioning. We term these different systems of functioning "personality dynamics."

Five Predominant Personality Dynamics
We have found that some people function as "mentally centered" systems of mental, emotional and physical interplay, some are "emotionally centered," and others are "physically centered."

There are three variations on each of these major themes. Mentally centered people may be "mental-mental," "mental-emotional," or "mental-physical." Emotionally centered people may be "emotional-mental," "emotional-emotional," or "emotional-physical." And physically centered people may be "physical-mental," "physical-emotional" or "physical-physical," making nine personality dynamics in all.

However, of these nine possible systems of functioning, we have found that five are by far the most numerous – those that we term "mental-physical," "emotional-mental," "emotional-physical," "physical-mental," and "physical-emotional." It is these five different ways of being "wired," with their distinctly different natural processes, of learning, problem-solving, relating and developing, that are likely to be present in any classroom, or on any management or project team, or represented among family members, or even present at a meeting of heads of state.

It is these five, therefore, that are the focus of every Human Dynamics training program, whether the program is directed towards team development in organizations, parenting, healthcare, teacher training, or cross-cultural understanding and collaboration.

Personality Dynamics are of Equal Value
It's important to note that each personality dynamic is of equal value. No "way of being" is "better" than another. Anyone of any personality dynamic may be more or less intelligent, compassionate, skilled, or gifted. It's how each personality dynamic functions that's entirely distinct.

Indeed, not only is no personality dynamic "better" than another, but each can be said to "need" the others. Each offers gifts and processes that complement the others, bringing an important set of perceptions, ways of thinking and functioning, and natural capacities that contribute to the qualitative functioning of the whole, whether the "whole" is a team, a class, a family, or a society. When the distinctions remain unconscious, they all too often lead to misunderstanding, conflict and failure. People are attempting to relate and work together, to learn and to teach, as it were, in the dark. When the distinctions are recognized and understood, on the other hand, teaching and learning can be successful, and in relationships and team-work the differences become assets rather than liabilities.

No "Box"
It is also important to note that to identify an individual's personality dynamic is not to put that person "in a box." Each of the personality dynamics is recognized as having a distinctive path of development, and we have developed tools and practices to assist adults and children of each personality dynamic to move along their particular path of maturity and growth.

The point for teachers or parents is not to make the personality dynamic distinctions for the sake of categorization or to make judgments, but in order to understand each child's natural processes, so as to be able to connect with each child more readily and supportively, and to be able to help the child to learn and develop optimally through the processes that are natural to him or her.

No Testing
A distinctive feature of the Human Dynamics approach to understanding people is that it isn't necessary to administer a test to identify someone's personality dynamic. In our training program, people identify their own personality dynamic through engaging in a process of self-discovery, not through filling out a form. By being active participants in the process they come to know themselves more fully and deeply, and own their conclusions. They also learn to recognize the personality dynamics of others, not by administering a test, but through training in sensitive observation, listening and participation – skills that they can use anywhere at any time, and which frequently become a kind of second nature. Their capacities for understanding human interactions are permanently enhanced.

Human Dynamics and The Sciences
We believe that the Human Dynamics body of knowledge constitutes a breakthrough in science – the science of the human system – and that it links to the fields of both brain research and genetics. In fact, we have recently been invited to be key-note presenters at a conference on brain research and its implications for educational practice, which will be held in Utah in September. We don't doubt that the mental, emotional and physical principles that we identify are related to the functioning of the three components of the triune brain – the neo-cortex, the limbic system and the hind-brain respectively – and that the personality dynamic distinctions are reflected in distinctions in the interactions of these three brain components.

Our investigations also indicate that the distinctions that we are identifying are genetically based. We have observed the personality dynamic distinctions at the beginning of life; we have seen that they occur regardless of age; race; culture; or gender; and are so foundational to an individual's functioning that they characterize him or her throughout the life-time; and we have observed that in almost every instance a person of a certain personality dynamic has at least one parent of that personality dynamic or, if not, a grandparent. We are actively seeking the collaboration of brain researchers, geneticists, medical researchers and other scientists in further investigation. We don't require such research, however, to demonstrate the reality of the personality dynamic distinctions systems that we identify, or to create effective training programs and educational practices based on this new knowledge.

Foundational Lifelong Structures
One of our important research projects has been a longitudinal study, begun in 1983. At that time we identified the "centering" of three infants of between two and eleven months of age, one being identified as "mentally centered," one as "emotionally centered," and one as "physically centered." Since little external behavior was of course apparent, we made the assessment largely on the basis of distinctions in energy. We videotaped the infants then, and have continued to videotape the children from time to time in the succeeding years, conducting a videotaped interview with each of them most recently in December of 2001, when they were eighteen years of age. It has been increasingly obvious from their presentation of themselves and their descriptions of their respective processes that our initial assessment was correct. Their whole system of functioning has been, is, and will continue to be, we are sure, mentally centered, emotionally centered and physically centered respectively. In fact the specific personality dynamic of each has become increasingly apparent; one is mental-physical, one physical-emotional (these we assumed from the beginning), while the emotionally centered young woman can now be clearly recognized as "classically" emotional-mental.

Our discoveries are of the utmost significance for parents and educators, since they mean that invaluable information can be gleaned from the beginning of life regarding the specific educational and developmental needs of any child, and the specific approaches that will best foster his or her learning, development and well-being throughout the individual's lifetime.

Education: Highlights

1) For over a decade, primarily in schools in the USA and Canada, approximately 282 videotaped recordings have been made of 9 and 10 year old children asked "to design your ideal park or recreation area." These children cross culture, race and gender. They are grouped in 3's according to their personality dynamic. These children had never met before, but had perhaps seen each other on the playground.

They were brought into a room, with professional cameras, and several large tables, including a large variety of materials with which to design their park.. There was sand, clay, rocks, people, trees, sticks, cars, etc.

The children were first introduced to one another, and then shown the variety of materials available to them. They were given approximately 45 minutes for this task. Professional cameras documented the process and results of five different personality dynamic groups engaged in a similar assignment.

This particular research project has yielded some outstanding instructional material for teachers and parents. They clearly demonstrate:

The distinct processes of children's learning – including their specific needs for communication, time, order, space, context, clarity, etc. "They have stood the test of time," and are therefore used in every introductory Human Dynamics seminar in the USA, Canada, Sweden, the Netherlands, Israel, Singapore, Brazil, Ireland, Costa Rica, the Philippines, Malaysia, Shanghai, to begin to demonstrate the specificity and distinction among the 5 predominant personality dynamic groups.

2) In 1987 – 1988, twenty-five teachers traveled to 4 countries (USA, Canada, Sweden and Israel) to study the link between the personality dynamics of children and their specific process of learning. Approximately 500 students were involved. Through observations, interviews and videotaped recordings, this link was explored. The results were the beginning of an educational program for teachers and parents that began in 1989. This Teacher Training Program has been refined and redesigned over the years.  Ongoing work has been and is being conducted in the USA, Sweden, the Netherlands, Canada, Israel and Singapore. We have educational Human Dynamics licensed facilitators in every culture except Singapore. Singapore educators will be trained in 2003. Ongoing training and development of our facilitators is annual.

In Israel, the intended goal of the initial seminar was to bring together a group of culturally and religiously diverse groups of people. However, this is the common experience in every Human Dynamics seminar even if the intended outcome has nothing to do with embracing diversity.

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About the Authors:

 Dr. Sandra Seagal has been engaged in original investigation in the new field of Human Dynamics since 1979, and in the development of Human Dynamics training programs for business, education, parenting, healthcare, and cross-cultural understanding.  She is founder and president of Human Dynamics International and executive director of Human Dynamics Foundation.  Her work has been lauded by such luminaries as the late Buckminster Fuller, who nominated her for a MacArthur Prize Fellowship.  Dr. Seagal's expertise is rooted in her background of education and psychology, with extensive service as a teacher, school psychologist, and psychotherapist.

 

 

David Horne has been devoted to the study of Human Dynamics since 1983.  Having served for over 25 years as a therapist, administrator, writer, and producer of training films in the fields of psychology and special education, his contributions in the areas of research, training, and development have been instrumental in furthering the study of Human Dynamics and its advancement as an ever-growing field.  He is a partner in Human Dynamics and co-director of Human Dynamics Foundation, a non-profit organization devoted to educational and scientific research.

 

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