My internal locus of conrol

Luck, what's that? Now, listen to me, as I have an internal locus of control and I control my destiny!

In the past, I've taken some self diagnostic tests. I cannot recall which ones, but I remember being told I should be a woodsman in elementary school; didn't turn out that way, but I still find the time to explore God's creation, hence me being a science teacher. Looking back, I also remember being labeled as a thinker and having a medial level of authority. These two descriptions seem to be accurate. I cannot see myself as being at the top, nor the bottom of the totem pole.

I just finished a "locus of control" test and received a "16." This test basically assesses how well you can govern your own decisions and the decisions of others, along with how you perceive your control of your world. The test results span a scale of 0-23, with 0 being a very strong external locus of control and 23 with a very strong internal locus of control. A score of "16" results with me having an internal locus of control. I would have to agree. I find myself judging my actions and feelings more than other peoples' opinions and feelings towards me. Although, I'm sure that when I was a student in public school I was more extrinsically controlled, as you wouldn't say that I was the most popular kid around.

I see myself as an authority below an authority, in the school setting and other aspects of my life. I can take control of a situation, but also know when to relinquish the reins when it is best for the group. Which is as it should be, since I am a teacher with students below and administration above me. I feel all teachers should have an equal mix of internal and external loci of control. Teachers in public schools are to guide their students along with being guided by our administrators, experiences in the classroom, and partially by our students' actions.

After taking this test, I can see that one of my students has a very high internal locus of control. He controls 2 students, which I now see have moderately strong external loci of control. I need to do some more research on how to adjust his condition, if possible.

Being aware of one's susceptibility to persuasion and ability to persuade others is extremely important to identify in a learning environment. Being able to look at my abilities and downfalls allows me to identify how I learn best and how I can be of use in a group setting, like the current team of teachers I work with. We can all learn more and teach better if we can identify our students' and our own strengths and weaknesses.