Self-Awareness Experiences of the Teachers in Manay National High School Using Enneagram System

Self-Awareness Experiences of the Teachers in Manay National High School Using Enneagram System

Tristan John I. Gayta

Institute of Teacher Education, Davao Del Norte State College, Philippines

DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.47772/IJRISS.2025.905000139

Received: 22 April 2025; Accepted: 02 May 2025; Published: 03 June 2025

ABSTRACT

This qualitative study explored the self-awareness experiences of the teachers in Manay National High School using the Enneagram System. There were 24 teachers who underwent a workshop for the Enneagram and self-awareness practices. After the activity, six teachers were chosen as the key informants of the study. The qualitative data were gathered using the responses of the informants in an in-depth interview. The results were analyzed through a thematic analysis which are the basis of discussion and implication. The teachers were all given a self-awareness journal to record their daily responses to the self-awareness practices and keep track of their progress. Based on their experiences, the following themes have emerged: Mindfulness, Self-management, and Self-transformation. Therefore, the teachers can use the self-awareness practices and their benefits to attain personal development and lessen emotional stress. An intervention program was also given to the teachers according to the emerging themes and discussions.

INTRODUCTION

The teachers in Manay National High School usually reported that disturbing behaviors in the classroom are stress-provoking. The teachers reported that these common distractions in the classroom affect not only the students but also the teacher’s emotional well-being. Furthermore, student misbehavior has been linked to reduced occupational well-being (Aldrup, 2018).  An exhaustive number of studies investigating factors related to teacher well-being have found that teachers rate student misbehavior as particularly stressful and consistently report poorer well-being when they perceive elevated levels of inattentiveness, classroom disturbances, or disciplinary problems (Aloe, Shisler, Norris, Nickerson, & Rinker, 2014; Kyriacou, 2011). According to the teachers in Manay National High School, the major job stressors are classroom disturbances or disciplinary problems. According to Mrs. Crispina Estrella, the guidance counselor in Manay NHS, the most common disruptive student problem behaviors are talking out of turn, sleeping, out of seat, habitual failure in submitting assignments, physical aggression, passive engagement in class, disruptive talking, chronic avoidance of work, clowning, interfering with teaching activities, harassing classmates, rudeness to teacher, defiance, and hostility.

Teachers who work with students with emotional and behavioral problems can enhance their effectiveness and job satisfaction, minimize power struggles, and build more positive relationships with students by taking proactive steps to increase their own self-awareness. Increased self- awareness involves a more accurate understanding of how students affect our own emotional processes and behaviors and how we affect students, as well (Gold and Roth, 1993).

However, self-awareness and understanding are not taught in school. We enter the workforce knowing how to read, write, and report bodies of knowledge, but too often, we lack the skills to manage our emotions in the heat of the challenging problems that we face. Good decisions require far more than factual knowledge.

Self-awareness is so critical to success that it accounts for 58 percent of performance in all types of jobs. It is the single biggest predictor of performance in the workplace and the strongest driver of leadership and personal excellence (Bradberry and Greaves, 2009).

Personality is the final piece of the puzzle. It is the stable “style” that defines each of us. Your personality is a result of your preferences, such as your inclination to introversion or extroversion. Self-awareness, on the other hand, is a flexible skill that can be learned. While it is true that some people are naturally born more self-aware than others, a high self-awareness can be developed even if you are not born with it. You can use your personality to assist in developing your self-awareness, but the latter is not dependent on the former. Self-awareness is a flexible skill, while personality does not change (Bradberry and Greaves, 2009).

Often the experience in Manay National High School as educators, the teachers struggle in situations where teaching is not simply about content and curriculum, but about connecting across the divide of human differences. Teachers revealed that disruptive student behavior and classroom discipline are their primary educational concerns. People often expect teachers to assume not only academic roles, but also those of instructional model, disciplinarian, surrogate parent, social worker, and counselor. Helping the students with emotional and behavioral problems begins with understanding ourselves, particularly our own emotional processes that occur in the midst of conflict. Imagine the benefits of understanding how the teachers’ personality affects the way they teach. Conversely, imagine the benefits of knowing how the personality biases of the students affect how each learns and interacts with authority. The enneagram system is a model which allows educators to reconcile the differences between themselves, peers and students.

The teachers cannot understand their learners beyond their own understanding of themselves. They can never educate beyond their own complexes. The teachers’ work is to understand others, but it would be difficult, even impossible for them to do their work without understanding themselves first. The teachers, too are equally and frailly human (compassionatelearning.org).

Purpose Statement

The researcher intends to explore the self-awareness experiences of the teachers in Manay National High School. Self-awareness means knowing and mastering one’s personality.  The teacher’s personality shapes the teaching and learning styles and how they deal with others. Experiencing the process of discerning their own Enneagram types and then comparing and contrasting them with others can open up new insights about how others think and respond to the world around them. Through this, self-awareness is developed. This will enable the teachers to understand themselves and consequently, improve themselves and become better teachers and attain professional success.

Research Questions

This study seeks to answer the following questions:

1. What are the Enneagram Profiles of the teachers in MNHS?
2. What are the experiences of the teachers in MNHS while applying the self-awareness practices based on their Enneagram style?
3. What insights can be drawn in using the self-awareness practices based on the Enneagram system?

Theoretical Lens

This study is anchored on the theory of Daniel Goleman. Goleman (1995) wrote, “self-awareness means an ongoing attention to one’s internal states. In this self-reflexive awareness mind observes and investigates experience itself, including the emotions.” This quality of awareness is akin to what Freud described as an “evenly hovering attention,” and which he commended to those who would do psychoanalysis. Such attention takes in whatever passes through awareness with impartiality, as an interested yet unreactive witness. Some psychoanalysts call it the “observing ego,” the capacity of self-awareness that allows the analyst to monitor his own reactions to what the patient is saying, and which the process of free association nurtures in the patient. Self-awareness is not an attention that gets carried away by emotions, overreacting and amplifying what is perceived.

Another theory used in this research is the schema theory. It was firstly introduced in 1932 through the work of British psychologist Sir Frederic Barlet. A schema is a set of preconceived ideas that your brain uses to perceive and interpret new information.

Schemas are formed based on our experiences in life. Once they are formed, however, schemas have a tendency to remain unchanged—even in the face of contradictory information. In other words, your brain creates an “autopilot” version of how it thinks the world should work, and sometimes you keep using it even when it is no longer true or helpful. Schemas not only impact the memories you have about the outside world, but also the things you believe about yourself.

Significance of the Study

The generalization of this study would be highly significant and beneficial specifically to the following:

Teachers. The teachers can use the self-awareness practices and their benefits to attain personal development and lessen emotional stress. The study will also help them to understand themselves better and eventually, their students.

Researchers. The researchers can use the study for further exploration of self-awareness and its benefits.

Self-awareness facilitators. This study could be used by a self-awareness facilitator or a life coach as a reliable basis to create a study guide or learning material in a study or support group which aims on personal transformation and development.

Definition of Terms

Self-awareness. It is one of the skills in emotional intelligence (EQ). Self-awareness is your ability to accurately perceive your own emotions in the moment and understand your tendencies across situations (Bradberry and Greaves, 2009). According to Gold and Roth (1993), self-awareness is a process of getting in touch with your feelings and behaviors. A high degree of self-awareness requires a willingness to tolerate the discomfort of focusing on feelings that may be negative.

Enneagram. It is a geometric figure that delineates the nine basic personality types of human nature and their complex interrelationships. Each of these nine types has its own way of relating to others, its own set of perceptions and preoccupations, its own values and approaches to life. It states that there are nine different points of view, nine distinct sets of values, nine different communication styles, nine ways of solving problems—and so forth—that are equally useful and valid (Riso and Hudson, 2003).

Personality. It is defined as the characteristic set of behaviors, cognitions, and emotional patterns that evolve from biological and environmental factors (Sadock et. al., 2017)

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

Emotional Intelligence

According to Bradberry and Greaves (2009), Emotional Intelligence is your ability to recognize and understand emotions in yourself and others, and your ability to use this awareness to manage your behavior and relationships. It affects how we manage behavior, navigate social complexities, and make personal decisions that achieve positive results.

Additionally, emotional intelligence taps into a fundamental element of human behavior that is distinct from your intellect. There is no known connection between IQ and EQ; you simply cannot predict EQ based on how smart someone is.

People with the highest levels of intelligence (IQ) outperform those with average IQs just 20 percent of the time, while people with average IQs outperform those with high IQs 70 percent of the time (Bradberry and Greaves, 2009). This anomaly threw a massive wrench into what many people had always assumed was the source of success—IQ. Scientists realized there must be another variable that explained success above and beyond one’s IQ, and years of research and countless studies pointed to emotional intelligence (EQ) as the critical factor.

Self-Awareness

Self-awareness is one of the skills in emotional intelligence (EQ). Self-awareness is your ability to accurately perceive your own emotions in the moment and understand your tendencies across situations (Bradberry and Greaves, 2009). According to Gold and Roth (1993), self-awareness is a process of getting in touch with your feelings and behaviors. A high degree of self-awareness requires a willingness to tolerate the discomfort of focusing on feelings that may be negative.

Having self-awareness means you are not afraid of your emotional “mistakes.” They tell you what you should be doing differently and provide the steady stream of information you need to understand yourself and others.

Self-awareness is a foundational skill; when you have it, self-awareness makes the other emotional intelligence skills much easier to use. As self-awareness increases, people’s satisfaction with life—defined as their ability to reach their goals at work and at home—skyrockets. Self-awareness is so important for job performance that 83 percent of the people high in self-awareness are top performers. Why is this so? When you are self-aware you are far more likely to pursue the right opportunities, put your strengths to work and—perhaps most importantly—keep your emotions from holding you back (Bradberry and Greaves, 2009).

Self-awareness includes staying on top of your typical reactions to specific events, challenges, and people. A keen understanding of your tendencies is important; it helps you quickly make sense of your emotions.

The only way to genuinely understand your emotions is to spend enough time thinking through them to figure out where they come from and why they are there. Emotions always serve a purpose. Because they are your reactions to the world around you, emotions always come from somewhere. Many times emotions seem to arise out of thin air, and it’s important to understand why something gets a reaction out of you. People who do this can cut to the core of a feeling quickly.

The need for self-awareness has never been greater. Guided by the mistaken notion that psychology deals exclusively with pathology, we assume that the only time to learn about ourselves is in the face of crisis. We tend to embrace thiose things with which we are comfortable, and put the blinders on the moment something makes us uncomfortable. The more we understand the beauty and the blemishes, the better we are able to achieve our full potential.

Enneagram

According to Riso and Hudson (2003), the Enneagram is a geometric figure that delineates the nine basic personality types of human nature and their complex interrelationships. Each of these nine types has its own way of relating to others, its own set of perceptions and preoccupations, its own values and approaches to life. Each relates to others in different but understandable ways. The Enneagram helps everyone understand that there are nine different points of view, nine distinct sets of values, nine different communication styles, nine ways of solving problems—and so forth—that are equally useful and valid. All of the types have something necessary to contribute to a thriving, balanced world.

According to the Enneagram system, personality has nine distinct and fundamentally different patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting. Each of the nine patterns is based on an explicit perceptual filter. This filter determines what you pay attention to and how you direct your energy. Underneath each of the nine patterns is a basic proposition, or belief, about what you need in life for survival and satisfaction (Daniels and Price, 2000). Each personality views the world through slightly different colored lenses. Each ‘lens’ has a unique and valuable perspective, and shapes the ways in which we interact in the world. The Enneagram is a sort of toolbox which explains how the different drivers of personality work, and how the coping strategies which we develop in response to those play out in practice. It can therefore increase overall levels of emotional intelligence because it enables us to better understand how and why others see the world and why others see the world differently from us. This leads to empathy, compassion, greater acceptance of others and ultimately to better teamwork in the learning experience (compassionatelearning.org).

As a typology, the Enneagram helps people recognize and understand overall patterns in human behavior. External behaviors, underlying attitudes, one’s characteristic sense of self, conscious and unconscious motivations, emotional reactions, defense mechanisms, object relations, what we pay attention to, our spiritual barriers and potentials—and much more—are all parts of the complex patterns that forms each personality type. While the Enneagram suggests that there are nine basic personality types of human nature, there are of course, many subtypes and variations within the nine basic categories. Even with all of these subtle distinctions, however, the Enneagram cannot account for every aspect of human nature. Always remember that the Enneagram does not put you in a box—it shows you the box that you are already in (but do not know it) and the way out.

Further, while ideas about psychological type cannot tell us everything about people, they help us make meaningful distinctions that are extremely useful. For instance, people generally believe that others think the same way they do. They often believe that others have the same motivations, values, and priorities—although this is usually not the case.  However, when personality type is properly understood, communication becomes exponentially more effective because people begin to recognize and make the most of human diversity. We learn to respect others who are not the same as we are and to treat them with tolerance and compassion.

One of the primary things to understand about the Enneagram is that we find ourselves reflected in the whole of it. From one point of view, the personality types are metaphors for the various psychological functions operating in each of us. We develop into one of the nine personality types because our consciousness has developed in certain ways as a result of our heredity and childhood experiences. Nevertheless, our personality type is largely inborn and is the result of what psychologists call temperament. Any woman who has been a mother is aware that children are quite distinct from one another even when they are still in the womb. The child then uses the strengths of his or her temperament as a primary way to cope with stresses in his or her environment. But in the process of adapting, a variety of unconscious mechanisms and structures come into play that help the child feel safe but that also limit his or her sense of identity. In a sense, the development of the personality is as much a defense against our early environment as it is an adaptive reaction to it. The remaining eight personality types (which we develop to a greater or lesser degrees throughout our lives) represent the other potentials of our psyche and are important parts of who we are.

The Nine Enneagram Styles are the following:

Type 1: The Perfectionist

The Rational, Idealistic Type: Principled, Purposeful, Self-controlled, and Perfectionistic

Type 2: The Giver

The Caring, Interpersonal Type: Demonstrative, Generous, People-Pleasing, and Possessive

Type 3: The Performer

The Success-Oriented, Efficient Type: Adaptive, Excelling, Driven, and Image-Conscious

Type 4: The Romantic

The Sensitive, Withdrawn Type: Expressive, Dramatic, Self-Absorbed, and Temperamental

Type 5: The Observer

The Intense, Cerebral Type: Perceptive, Innovative, Secretive, and Isolated

Type 6: The Loyal Skeptic

The Committed, Security-Oriented Type: Engaging, Responsible, Anxious, and Suspicious

Type 7: The Epicure

The Busy, Fun-Loving Type: Spontaneous, Versatile, Distractible, and Scattered

Type 8: The Protector

The Powerful, Dominating Type: Self-Confident, Decisive, Willful, and Confrontational

Type 9: The Mediator

The Easygoing, Self-Effacing Type: Receptive, Reassuring, Agreeable, and Complacent

While the Enneagram is primarily a profound psychological and spiritual tool, it is also highly practical for business applications because its insights are so on target. Many businesses and organizations are using the Enneagram in management to increase their employee’s productivity and, ultimately, their profitability. They have discovered that they can save a great deal of time and frustration for management and employees alike by applying the Enneagram as a communication tool. Corporations have been using the Enneagram for hiring the best possible person for a particular job, for teaching executives to manage their employees more effectively, for customer service, for clarifying a corporate image—a corporate “personality type,” so to speak—or for building a more profitable sales force. Team building, executive development, marketing, corporate communication, and conflict resolution—among its many applications—are more effective when insights from the Enneagram are applied in the business world. Major organizations that have been using the Enneagram include Adobe, Amoco, AT&T, Avon Products, Boeing Corporation, The DuPont Company, e-Bay, Prudential Insurance (Japan), General Mills Corporation, General Motors, Alitalia Airlines, KLM Airlines, The Coalition of 100 Black Women, Kodak, Hewlett Packard, Toyota, Procter & Gamble, International Weight Watchers, Reebok Health Clubs, Motorola, and Sony (Riso and Hudson, 2003).

METHOD

Proposed Innovation, Intervention, and Strategy

The Enneagram System guided the teachers through the process of self-awareness once they identified their Enneagram style. First, they identified their Enneagram style by taking the Enneagram Test, which involved reading nine short paragraphs and choosing three of them. This  enabled them to identify their Enneagram profile.

Next, the self-awareness practices and journal were given. It is divided into two main parts. All of the information and exercises in the first part apply equally to all nine Enneagram personality types. Part 1 begins with a breathing and centering exercise. This is the basic exercise for noticing where the attention goes and what thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations are experienced. It then describes five general Enneagram principles that will aid the teachers in understanding themselves. Finally, the first part discusses nine important elements involved in personal and professional development.

Part 2 offers a series of suggested practices that are specific to each Enneagram style. Each practice is tailored to a particular type and provides practical means for pursuing self-development.

Research Participants

The participants of this study are the 24 teachers in Manay National High School in Junior and Senior level. There are 6 participants selected to be the informants of this qualitative research.

Data Gathering Procedure

1. Ask permission to adopt the Enneagram Test. The researcher asked permission through e-mail to adopt the Enneagram test to be used in identifying the personality type and profile of the teachers in MNHS.
2. Validity of the interview questions. The interview questions were validated by the three experts in the field of research and psychology.
3. Seek permission to conduct the study. A letter of permission was sent to the public secondary school principal, Mr. Rustico P. Hernandez Jr., to conduct a 4-hour workshop for the study.
4. Facilitating an Enneagram workshop. A 4-hour workshop was conducted to identify the teachers’ Enneagram profile. The teachers in Manay National High School used their Enneagram test result to identify their Enneagram style for the workshop. The test was scientifically developed by David N. Daniels, M. D. and Virginia A. Price, Ph. D. from Stanford University Medical School. After that, the self-awareness practices were discussed by the facilitator. A self-awareness journal was given to be used to keep track of the teachers’ experience and progress in their practice.
5. Collection and Analysis of Data. After 2 months the informants had a face to face in-depth interview. Purposive sampling was used to the informants who could really give the information needed. For this study, 6 teachers were be considered as the informants. The purpose is to gather substantial data to determine emerging themes. All the responses were then be grouped into themes. The qualitative data were gathered using the responses of the informants in the interview. The result was analyzed through thematic analysis. The results were used as the basis for discussion.
6. Drawing implications. Finally, the researcher drew implications from the emerging themes generated in corroboration with other studies.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Table 1. The Table shows the Enneagram Styles of the teachers in Manay National High School.

Based on Table 1., there are 2 teachers who are type 1, 6 teachers are type 2, 6 teachers are type 5, 3 teachers are type 7, 5 teachers are type 8, and 2 teachers are type 9. The table also indicates that there are no teachers in Manay NHS with types 3, 4, and 6 dominant Enneagram styles.

Figure 1.

Figure 1. Concept Map for Self-Awareness Experiences

Based on Figure 1., the following themes are generated from the self-awareness experience of the teachers in Manay National High School using the Enneagram System: Mindfulness, Self-management, and Self-transformation.

Mindfulness

At first, the teacher’s attention is very inconsistent, carried here and there by random thoughts, fleeting memories, captivating fantasies, snatches of things seen, heard, or otherwise perceived. The informants stated:

“I have realized that my thoughts are very inconsistent. My mind, as what I have observed, wanders and it is uncontrollable. Sometimes I feel bad without any external reasons but because of what I’m thinking. Usually they are thoughts from the past.” (Teacher_1)

However, mindfulness served as a distraction-resistant, sustained attention to the movements of the mind itself. The informant cited:

“As I started my breathing and centering exercise, I found out that I can focus my attention on observing my thoughts without being distracted or controlled. All I do is to allow my thoughts to come and go. I don’t judge them—my thoughts and feelings.”(Teacher_3)

According to Goleman (2001), mindfulness means seeing things as they are, without trying to change them. The point is to dissolve our reactions to disturbing emotions, being careful not to reject the emotion itself. Mindfulness can change how we relate to, and perceive, our emotional states; it does not necessarily mean eliminate them. Mindfulness is a meditative awareness that cultivates the capacity to see things as they are from moment to moment.

There is one huge barrier to our being more conscious and attuned in the present moment. It is that our personality is not at all interested in being here and now.

In fact, the personality is always drawing us somewhere else. Our habitual thoughts, emotional reactions, fantasies about the future, and old stories about who we are and what others have done to us cloud our awareness and limit our capacity to be fully awake and present to reality. The informants stated:

“I thought my student wasn’t interested in my class because he was sleeping. This is the common reason why they sleep. I got upset because this is the usual response of my personality. But instead of reprimanding the student, I took time to practice self-awareness. I used the breathing and centering exercise. Because of that, I calmed down and asked the student why he was sleeping. His classmate said, “Maam, gikalintura siya maam…” I checked and I found out that he really had a fever.”(Teacher_4)

The amazing thing is that as we are able to bring a nonjudgmental awareness to the reactivity of our personality, our perceptions become sharper, and we begin to discover a vast part of ourselves that is not conflicted, self-deluding, or fearful. As we become more conscious of the mechanical aspects of our personality (that is, our automatic response, reactive, defensive patterns), we are less and less controlled by them. By using the habits of our personality to remind us to be present, and then remaining present while observing and feeling the reactions and habits of the personality, we gradually open to real freedom and inner peace. (Riso and Hudson, 2003).

Another challenge experienced by the informants is being mentally and emotionally disturbed while observing themselves:

“As I started my self-awareness practices, I have realized that I am faced with a mixed mass of thoughts and feelings… There are unfinished thoughts, emotions, and passing moods because of the many things to do.”(Teacher_5)

Goleman (2001) stated that this mass of distraction, confusion, and disorder makes up much of our waking mental activity. The everyday state of distractedness creates a breeding ground for what is called “our most dangerous enemies—powerful emotional forces like frustrated desires and suppressed resentments, upsurging passions like greed, hatred and anger, delusion.”

However, the antidote to this distractedness is mindfulness. While ordinary attention swings rather wildly from focus to focus, carried here and there by distractions—random thoughts, fleeting memories, captivating fantasies, snatchers of things seen, heard, or otherwise sensed—by contrast, mindfulness is distraction resistant.

Goleman (2013) claims that a sustained attention, mindfulness keeps its beam of focus on to the next moment, then the next and the next—and on and on. If distractedness breeds emotional turmoil, the ability to sustain our gaze, to keep looking, is one essential quality of awareness in working with our emotions.

If we stay with it mindfully, we will notice that it moves through many changes, and that we can deconstruct it into its elements—such as pain, constriction, fear, pulsations of intensity, trains of thought and reactions—both the immediately obvious ones and their more subtle nuances. By keeping our attention on the feeling as it goes through these changes, we can investigate the emotion, culling a rich yield of insights into its causes and contours. (Goleman 2001). The teacher stated:

“As I practice self-awareness, I have noticed that my emotions come and go. They change from time to time. When I started to watch my thoughts and feelings during the practice, I feel more in control and aware of what’s happening inside me. Because of that, I am able to deal with my challenges more effectively.” (Teacher_6)

The power of sustained awareness lies in its impact on our thoughts, moods, and emotions. When we face a jumble of emotion with mindfulness, our sustained attention quiets the inner disorder and confusion; as mindfulness gains a hold, it calms the turmoil.

Additionally, full attention is the antidote to boredom. With mindfulness, we can choose to observe our own lives with the same alert, sustained attention. Mindfulness gives us the power to be with any moment as though for the first time.

In our normal state of awareness, we have stronger emotional reactions than we do when we become mindful. As we shift into a mindful mode, the brain shifts, too. We start to regulate an upsetting emotion the moment we become aware of it (Davidson, 2013).

Mindful awareness creates a kind if work space, a place in the mind where we can see and deal with our automatic habits (Goleman 2001).

If you can see a schema with mindfulness, with a neutral, clear awareness, you will be able to challenge it even when it has started to control you. Challenging schemas with mindfulness, in the very moment you are starting to lose it, offers the most effective way to work with these powerful emotional habits.

If our mindfulness has enough power to stay steady as we bring these hidden feelings and thoughts to the surface, they sometimes can reveal how poor and weak they actually are. Our fears can shrink back to manageable proportions—or maybe vanish.

Many teachers had realized that using the self-awareness practice allowed them to face and stay with the irritation they felt every time their students are misbehaving. They found that as they investigated those feelings and started to detect the patterns within that triggered them, they were becoming less reactive in her relationships with their students and coteachers.

Mindfulness helps us have wake-up moments when we need them most: in the midst of life, when our emotional reactions are in full swing (Goleman, 2001).

If an emotion is more strongly aroused, and if disturbing feelings persist, then we need to marshal a corresponding persistence in mindfulness. And more often than not in this process—particularly at the beginning—such feelings do persist (Goleman 2001).

At this level of mindfulness, it may help to use the method of naming—bringing to mind a single word that identifies the nature of the disturbance. If, for instance, you are being assailed by feelings of hurt because you have been triggered, you can lightly repeat in your mind a word—“fear” or “anger”—to help you notice what’s going on without being drawn deeper into it. Each time you sense the disturbing feelings as they, you can repeat the word in your mind, not as a mantra that you focus on but with equanimity, as a nod of acknowledgement.

Tranquility and concentration practices are also effective for calming turbulent emotions. When your turbulent emotions disturb your equilibrium, stirring strong feelings and reactions, it can be helpful first to calm your mind down and neutralize your feelings by, for instance, meditating on your breathing for a bit.

The calming aspect of mindfulness can help us quiet down the disturbing emotions of emotional attack (Goleman 2001).

Self-management

Self-management is your ability to use awareness of your emotions to consciously choose what you say and do. It may seem that self-management is only about taking a deep breath and keeping yourself in check when emotions are strong. There is far more to self-management than suppressing yourself when you are about to blow up. Your eruptions are no different from a volcano—there is all sorts of rumbling happening beneath the surface before the lava starts flowing.

Unlike a volcano, there are ways you can do to influence what is happening beneath the surface. Self-management builds upon a foundational skill—self-awareness. Enough self-awareness is important for effective self-management because you can only choose how to respond to an emotion when you are aware of it. A high level of self-management makes sure you are not stopping yourself and doing things that limit your success. It also ensures you are not frustrating other people to the point that they resent or dislike you. When you understand your own emotions and can respond the way you choose to them, you have the power to take control of difficult situations, react nimbly to change, and take the initiative needed to achieve your goals (Bradberry and Greaves 2009).

When you do not stop to think about your feelings—including how they are influencing your behavior now, and will continue to do so in the future—you set yourself up to be a frequent victim of emotional hijackings. Whether you are aware of it or not, your emotions will control you, and you will move through your day reacting to your feelings with little choice in what you say and do.

As you master each of the strategies and incorporate them into your daily routine, you will develop an increased capacity to respond effectively to your emotions. Of course, no matter how skilled you become in managing your emotions there are always going to be situations that push your buttons. Your life will not morph into a fairy tale devoid of obstacles, but you will equip yourself with everything you need to take the wheel and drive (Bradberry and Greaves 2009). The informant concluded:

 “When I am overcome by anxiety and stress because of a coming deadline, or focused on negative thoughts and feelings about something that happened in the past, or being upset by misbehaving students, doing the breathing and centering exercise calms me down and makes me feel better by powering up my  mind.” (Teacher_1)

According to Bradberry and Greaves (2009), our brain demands a full 20 percent of our body’s oxygen supply, which it needs to control basic functions like breathing and sight and complex functions like thinking and managing our mood. Our brain dedicates oxygen first to the basic functions, because they keep you alive. Whatever oxygen remains is used for the complex functions, which keeps us alert, focused, and calm. Shallow breaths deprive your brain of oxygen, which can lead to poor concentration, forgetfulness, moods swings, restlessness, depressed and anxious thoughts, and a lack of energy. Shallow breathing handicaps your ability to self-manage.

Additionally, there is a strong relationship between what the teachers think and how they feel, both physically and emotionally.

“What I think greatly affects what I feel. Doing the self-awareness practices helps me to communicate to myself better. Whenever there is a negative thought, I do the self-awareness practice and it helps me feel better especially talking to myself using the affirmation in the practices.” (Teacher_2)

Bradberry and Greaves (2009) state that the thoughts that are most influential are those where you literally talk to yourself. Though you might not realize you have these thoughts, we all have an internal voice inside our head that affects our perception of things. We tell ourselves to keep quiet, we congratulate ourselves on a job well done and we reprimand ourselves for making poor decisions. Our thoughts are talking to us every day, and this inner voice is called “self-talk.”

“The practice, such as praying the serenity prayer, helps me replace judgmental statements like ‘I’m stupid’ with factual ones like ‘I produced this result.” It makes me see things objectively… to see them as they are.” (Teacher_3)

Thoughts that attach a permanent label to you leave no room for improvement. Factual statements are objective, situational, and help you to focus on what you can change (Bradberry and Greaves 2009).

“Doing the self-awareness practices help me accept responsibility as a teacher. I’m not easily controlled by my strong emotions anymore. Before I used to say, “Ing ani na jud ko..” but now I know that it’s possible to be in control of myself. Whenever my students are noisy, which usually causes me to get mad, I don’t blame them anymore for their actions. Instead, I take charge of what I feel and take responsibility of what I’m feeling.” (Teacher_4)

The blame game and self-talk, as Greaves and Bradberry (2009) put it, go hand in hand. If you are someone who often thinks either “It’s my fault” or “It’s all their fault” you are wrong most of the time. It is commendable to accept responsibility for your actions, but not when you carry someone else’s burden. Likewise, if you are always blaming others, it is time to take responsibility for your part.

Many times you cannot change a situation or even the parties involved, but that does not mean it is time for you to give up. Focusing on restrictions is not only demoralizing—it helps negative feelings surface that confirm your sense of helplessness, you must take accountability for what you have control over, and focus your energy on remaining flexible and open-minded in spite of the situation (Bradberry and Greaves 2009).

Another experience from the teachers is equanimity. According to Goleman (2001), equanimity is a profound quality of mindfulness that cultivates the ability to let go. With equanimity, we can acknowledge that things are as they are, even though we may wish otherwise. It allows us to accept things that we have no control over and it allows us to have the courageousness of heart to stay open in the face of adversity. Equanimity can be used as a practice in itself, to help bring a mental ease to turbulent emotions like anxiety, worry and fear, frustration and anger.

Emotional fixations, if seen clearly, unflinchingly, for what they really are, lose its power to control you. The informants said:

“One student I am teaching is very annoying. He never stops talking and interrupting during activities. Usually that would lead me to get angry and be critical with him. Then I’d be in a bad mood for the entire class. But this time I did the self-awareness practice. When the student was misbehaving, I saw my mind start to become critical, as usual. So I reminded myself just to be aware of the unpleasant feelings that went with those thoughts. As I stayed mindful of these unpleasant feelings, I watched them dissolve into nothing, followed by the pleasant sense of not being so easily upset by unpleasant experiences. It’s a relief to live life with more clarity and equanimity.” (Teacher_5)

In that mindful pause the teacher was able to step far enough out of her own habitual response to bring clarity and equanimity to what might otherwise have been a mental tirade of criticism. Such moments bring self-awareness to the situation. Goleman (2001) said, “Ordinarily, when we are swept away by an emotion, our feelings lead us to act without thought about what we are about to do—we just react.”

You can convert anger from a destructive emotions to a constructive energy. As the Dalai Lama explains, when we transform anger constructively, we are left with clarity about what needs to be done and an intense energy to achieve our goals.

The self-awareness practice allows us to bring to the emotional process a precise awareness that makes distinctions among the thoughts, the feelings, and the impulse to act. Goleman (2001) stated that an enhanced ability to notice the moment of intention—the mental movement that comes before we act—gives us more choice.

Self-awareness gives us freedom at that critical choice point. If we can attend to that moment, we can stay with the sensations aroused by angry feelings and thoughts, following them until they fade or lose their grip on us rather than letting them dictate what we do. Or we can choose another response, perhaps clearly articulating and asserting our needs rather than just reacting with an angry outburst.

Refining our self-awareness means noticing the impulse even before we act on it so we can more readily decide not to follow the impulse to the action. (Goleman 2001).

Self-transformation

Self-transformation is the act, process, or result of transforming oneself especially a transforming of one’s own thoughts, actions, or behavior (Merriam-Webster, 2005).

Self-transformation lies in our capacity to be present-to be deeply abiding in the here and now, with our minds, hearts, and bodies fully engaged (Riso and Hudson, 2003).

When we are self-aware—free of preconception and judgment—we are automatically imbued with a lightheartedness. We can step far enough back from ourselves to make room for a sense of humor and playfulness. Davidson (2013) found that brains shift in a way that fosters positive, upbeat moods rather than negative ones.

“With proper focus and attention, the self-awareness practice helps me feel good and excited about my job. There is something in me that feels happy and enthusiastic as I become aware of myself and my emotions.” (Teacher_5)

“I tend to be more patient and playful to my students whenever I apply the self-awareness practice. I have also noticed that the stress is reduced.” (Teacher_3)

An investigative approach of self-awareness means working mindfully with the emotional reaction. With an observing awareness, the informant notices how she is being affected—while not getting pulled deeper into the reaction—and sees it as a learning opportunity:

“I felt peaceful since I started the first part of the self-awareness practice. Whenever I feel bad, I would just do the exercise. I observe my emotions that disturb me. At first it was scary. Then out of the blue, there’s a feeling of deep relief and calmness as I sustain my focus. My bad mood changes to good mood. Now I have learned to accept myself and how I feel without judging. The challenge has been changed to a learning experience.” (Teacher_6)

Investigating emotions in this way can lead to a more accurate understanding of them. The insights to be gained from this sustained awareness is a sense of what triggers your emotions.

Another important insight learned from the informant is that transformation does not happen overnight. It takes time to improve and relearn. The informant concluded:

“Habits indeed die hard. I find it not easy to replace destructive habits. I still give in to old habits from time to time because I got used to it. I sometimes forget to be aware and become reactive to my students when I get upset. But I think it really takes time. I just have to be gentle with myself.” (Teacher_2)

Normally, it takes much persistent practice, cultivation of the ability to bring awareness to what had been unconscious behavior, and sustained effort to try out the new way of thinking and acting despite the initial awkwardness and relapses into old habit (Goleman, 2001). Additionally, we have to unlearn the self-defeating old habit and replace it with a new and healthier one. That change is more than intellectual understanding—it involves the emotions.

When we look directly at intense or painful emotions, we develop a kind of courage and acceptance of how things are naturally unfolding in our experience. At such moments, we are not driven by hope or fear, not likely to repress the pain, to distract ourselves to avoid it, or to hope for something to happen so we will not have to feel what we fear. Instead, when we face the fear directly, we see that we are probably more afraid of our concept about how distressed we will be than of the actual experience of feeling it. Confidence and patience grow from this bold, challenging awareness (Goleman 2001).

When we see more clearly into a state of mind, our relationship to it changes. If we are aware of a reactive state—being angry for example—our perspective on it is fresh: we can experience angry feelings fully in our bodies and in our minds, rather than simply being swept along by those waves of anger. We can be aware of the feelings and let them pass. If we do not resist unpleasant feelings or try to prolong pleasant ones, we can be with our emotions and mental states as they are. Instead of being swept away by an emotion, and so just automatically reacting as we have hundreds of times before when we felt that way, we have a choice: we can be creative in our response (Goleman 2001).

“My attention now is more focused. Before realizing that wherever focus goes energy flows, it was hard for me to understand the lessons and my students. The self-awareness practices help me to have a focused attention. As a result, I learn fast and I do not easily get distracted. Sometimes I do get busy with many activities but my attention now is more focused and clearer compared to me before.” (Teacher_1)

According to Daniel Goleman (2013), we learn best with focused attention. As we focus on what we are learning, the brain maps that information on what we already know, making new neural connections. When our mind wanders off, our brain activates a host of brain circuits that chatter about things that have nothing to do with what we are trying to learn. Lacking focus, we store no crisp memory of what we are learning. The informant cited:

Implications

1. Developing self-awareness and understanding needs a good observation of the self. Self-observation practices are necessary to the process of personal and professional development and to the management of personality. Just as physical health and performance depend upon regular exercise, so mental well-being, fitness, and performance depend upon practicing regular observation. Observing our personality is necessary. As Daniels and Price (2009) stated, discovering our Enneagram style only presents us with greater challenge of courageously observing ourselves as we really are, no matter what we find. Without the willingness to see our personality mindfully, transformation cannot take place. Unless we learn to observe ourselves, knowing our type will give us little more than another label with which we can hide from ourselves. It is not very useful if we only find our type but go no further.
2. We discover that we are not our personality. When we experience this truth, transformation becomes possible. Without our trying to do anything to “fix” ourselves, the act of bringing awareness to the moment causes our higher essential qualities to become more available and our personality to lose its control over us. As we have more moments of freedom from our personality, our essence reveals its many aspects—acceptance, love, authenticity, forgiveness, compassion, courage, joy, and strength—and all of the other manifestations of the human spirit. One of the teachers said that practicing self-awareness in the classroom greatly enhanced her ability to understand not only herself but also her students. This made her more patient and understanding towards others. A sense of transformation takes place from being disturbed to being peaceful. By moving beyond merely knowing our type to the ability to see ourselves as we are, the shift from personality to who we really are takes place and we discover that we can be free from our personality.
3. Self-transformation takes time. It is important not to try to rush the process. We naturally go through different stages in the process of self-improvement. The first thing is to learn to bring awareness to the emotional habits and personality. This work is an ongoing process, gaining more insights, discoveries, and adjustments.

RECOMMENDATIONS

1. The Schools Division Office should provide trainings and workshops for self-awareness development using the Enneagram System and the intervention program formulated to facilitate mindfulness, self-management, and self-transformation.
2. The school heads should provide workshops that make use of the self-awareness practices and the intervention program as a tool for understanding the self for the teachers and eventually the students. The self-awareness practices facilitate their professional as well as personal development.
3. Students should also learn the self-awareness practices based on the Enneagram system since it is a crucial way to develop their ability to observe themselves and thus, gain better understanding of themselves and ultimately, others.
4. Further research related to the present study is highly encouraged to enhance and develop more understanding about the Enneagram system and self-awareness.

REFERENCES

1. Aloe et al., 2014 A.M. Aloe, S.M. Shisler, B.D. Norris, A.B. Nickerson, T.W. Rinker A multivariate meta-analysis of student misbehavior and teacher burnout Educational Research Review, 12 (2014), pp. 30-44, 10.1016/j.edurev.2014.05.003
2. Aldrup, Karen, et al. “Student Misbehavior and Teacher Well-Being: Testing the Mediating Role of the Teacher-Student Relationship.” Learning and Instruction, vol. 58, 2018, pp. 126–136., doi:10.1016/j.learninstruc.2018.05.006.
3. Barlett, F. (1932). Remembering: A study in experimental and social psychology. Cambridge University Press
4. Bradberry, T., & Greaves, J. (2009). Emotional intelligence 2.0. San Diego, CA: Talent Smart.
5. Daniels, D. N., & Price, V. A. (2009). The essential enneagram: The definitive personality test and self-discovery guide. NY, NY: Harper One.
6. Davidson, R. (2013). The Emotional Life of Your Brain. New York, New York: Penguin Group
7. Goleman, D. (2014). Emotional intelligence. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
8. Goleman, D. (2013). Focus. New York: Harper Collins Publishers.
9. Goleman, T. (2001). Emotional Alchemy. New York: Three Rivers Press.
10. Kyriacou, 2011 C. Kyriacou Teacher stress: From prevalence to resilience
11. J. Langan-Fox, C.L. Cooper (Eds.), New horizons in management, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham (2011), pp. 161-173
12. Riso, D. R., & Hudson, R. (2003). Discovering your personality type: The essential introduction to the Enneagram. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin.
13. Sadock et. al. (2017). Kaplan and Sadock’s Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry. Wolters Kluwer.
14. “Enneagram Personalities of Teachers.” Compassionate Learning, 30 Oct. 2015, compassionatelearning.org/compassionatelearning-enneagram-teacher-personalities-classroom-management-dynamics/.

APPENDIX A

Intervention Plan

*Choiceless Awareness

1. First, do a breathing exercise for at least 1 minute. After that, go back to your normal breathing.
2. As sounds, sensations, thoughts, images, or emotions appear in the background of your awareness, allow them to remain there, focusing primarily on the sensations of breathing.
3. As they move into the foreground of your awareness, let whatever predominates become the focus of your attention—a thought, a feeling, whatever appears most strongly in your awareness—opening a field of awareness to include the entire range of experience: breath, sounds, sensations, thoughts, images, emotions.
4. If you are not sure where your attention should be at any point, you can return to your breathing.
5. As a thought or sensory experience emerges strongly, let it be in your awareness. Stay with it mindfully, letting it fade and dissolve on its own, bringing your awareness back to your breathing, or to whatever is most predominant in your awareness.
6. Whatever appears, experience it fully in the expanse of awareness, letting your mind rest without wavering, wherever it goes.

**Emotional Habit Awareness

When you are unusually upset, preoccupied by persistent emotions, or behaving impulsively and inappropriately, take the following steps:

1. Acknowledge what is going on.
2. Be open to your feelings.
3. Notice your thoughts.
4. What does this remind you of?
5. Look for a pattern.

***Self-Management Strategies

1. Breathe Right
2. Create an Emotion vs. Reason List
3. Take Control of you Self-Talk
4. Clean Up your Sleep Hygiene
5. Put a Mental Recharge into your Schedule

****Serenity Prayer

Take a few minutes at the beginning of the day to become quiet and centered by doing the breathing practice for a few moments. Then repeat to yourself the serenity prayer:

“God grant me the courage to change the things that I can change, the serenity to accept the things that I cannot change, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

Through the day, reflect on the prayer in the morning when you wake up and and at night before you sleep.