National
School
Reform
North,South,EastandWest:
Faculty
Harmony
Education
Center
CompassPoints
www.nsrfharmony.org
AnExerciseinUnderstandingPreferencesinGroupWork
DevelopedinthefieldbyeducatorsaffiliatedwithNSRF
SimilartotheMyers-BriggsPersonalityInventory,thisexerciseusesasetofpreferenceswhichrelatenotto
individualbuttogroupbehaviors,helpingustounderstandhowpreferencesaffectourgroupwork.
1. Theroomissetupwithfoursignsoneachwall—North,South,EastandWest.
2. Participantsareinvitedtogotothe“direction”oftheirchoice.Nooneisonlyone“direction,”but
everyonecanchooseoneastheirpre-dominantone.
3. Each“direction”answersthefivequestionsonasheetofnewsprint.Whencomplete,theyreportback
tothewholegroup.
4. Processingcaninclude:
• Notethedistributionamongthe“directions”:whatmightitmean?
• Whatisthebestcombinationforagrouptohave?Doesitmatter?
• Howcanyouavoidbeingdrivencrazybyanother“direction”?
• Howmightyouusethisexercisewithothers?Students?
North
Acting–“Let’sdoit;”
Likestoact,trythings,
plungein.
West
Payingattentiontodetail
—likestoknowthewho,
what,when,whereandwhy
beforeacting.
N

W
E
East
Speculating–likestolook
atthebigpictureandthe
possibilitiesbeforeacting.
S
South
Caring–likestoknow
thateveryone’sfeelings
havebeentakeninto
considerationandthattheir
voiceshavebeenheard
beforeacting.
ProtocolsaremostpowerfulandeffectivewhenusedwithinanongoingprofessionallearningcommunitysuchasaCriticalFriendsGroup®andfacilitated
byaskilledcoach.Tolearnmoreaboutprofessionallearningcommunitiesandseminarsforneworexperiencedcoaches,pleasevisittheNationalSchool
ReformFacultywebsiteatwww.nsrfharmony.org.
North,South,EastandWest
Decidewhichofthefour“directions”mostcloselydescribesyourpersonalstyle.Thenspend15minutes
answeringthefollowingquestionsasagroup.
1. Whatarethestrengthsofyourstyle?(4adjectives)
2. Whatarethelimitationsofyourstyle?(4adjectives)
3. Whatstyledoyoufindmostdifficulttoworkwithandwhy?
4. Whatdopeoplefromtheother“directions”orstylesneedtoknowaboutyousoyoucanworktogether
effectively?
5. Whatdoyouvalueabouttheotherthreestyles?
ProtocolsaremostpowerfulandeffectivewhenusedwithinanongoingprofessionallearningcommunitysuchasaCriticalFriendsGroup®andfacilitated
byaskilledcoach.Tolearnmoreaboutprofessionallearningcommunitiesandseminarsforneworexperiencedcoaches,pleasevisittheNationalSchool
ReformFacultywebsiteatwww.nsrfharmony.org.