Birth order matters for teachers & principals.

Michael Grose believes that birth order information about students, and, if possible, parents and your colleagues, will make your life as a teacher and school leader easier. Grose outlines why:

1. Birth order gives you greater understanding of children
2. Birth order tells you how much assistance parents need

3. Birth order explains why kids are different in a family
 4. Birth order gives you a clearer picture of your personal drivers
5. Birth order knowledge makes you more effective with your colleagues
He states that "there’s no doubt that an understanding of your colleagues’ birth order positions will give vital information to help you be more effective when interacting with them. Similarly, collecting data about children’s birth order will provide you with vital data to help you more effective as a teacher and administrator." 

To learn more visit Michael Grose's blog post:

parent-school relationships, helping parents, difficult parents

Dr. Gail Gross wrote a post entitled:
The Achiever, the Peacemaker and the Life of the Party: How Birth Order Affects Personality
Cross believes that Birth Order Does Matter. "While the eldest child is programmed for excellence and achievement, the middle child is raised to be understanding and conciliatory and the baby seeks attention. As a result, birth order is a powerful variable in the unfolding of your personality."

That Elusive Birth Order Effect and What it Means for You
Can birth order really shape your personality?
Published on May 18, 2013 by Susan Krauss Whitbourne, Ph.D. in Fulfillment at Any Age
Stewart, a University of Georgia psychologist Alan E. Stewart,wrote (2012) on the theory and research on birth order.  He based his paper on 529 journal articles published over a 20 year period.  The sheer number of studies on birth order is a testimony to the importance of this topic in psychology.
Stewart distinguished between “actual” birth order, or ABO (the numerical rank order into which you are born in your family of origin) and “psychological” birth order, or PBO (self-perceived position in the family).
This is a really important difference because as Susan Krauss Whitbourne, Ph.D.  stated it means that your birth order need not have the same impact on you as the birth order you believe you have.

 "Some researchers believe birth order is as important as gender and almost as important as genetics. It gets back to the old nurture vs. nature business."

Whitbourne explains that the actual and psychological birth order can deviate for a number of reasons, including illness of one child, size of family, and degree of separation between siblings. 

 She stated that your role in the family based on your age may not be same as the role you have come to occupy.Your perceived niche in your family plays a larger role in influencing the adult you’ve become than the actual timing of your birth.

In Birth Order in the Workplace BernadoTirado shares that

research shows that birth order has a lot of influence on how we behave in the workplace. Whether we like it or not, we unconsciously create a family environment at work. Tirado believes that having the ability to predict, or knowing someone's birth order provides you with a competitive advantage in understanding how to work with the individual. He  highly encourages you to read The Birth Order Book. He states that it's easy to read and doesn't follow the traditional academic writing style.

Tirado believes that first born, and often the only child as well, are perfectionists, reliable, conscientious, list makers, well-organized, natural leaders, critical, and serious- which in the workplace equates with being straight thinkers, organized, and goal setters.

Tirado states that only children are very thorough, deliberate, self-motivated, black-and-white thinkers, fearful, and cautious. Only children never have to compete with siblings for personal attention, which makes them more confident and articulate.
He finds that the middle child tends to be a mediator, diplomatic, avoids conflict, loyal to peers, has many friends, and is independent which in the workforce equates to being skilled at mediating disputes, willing to work things out, and can be trusted with sensitive information.
Tirado states that the last born typically are manipulative, charming, blames others, attention seekers, natural salesperson, engaging, and affectionate which in the workforce equates to being able to read others well and know how to work well one on one or in small groups., being caring. and always wanting to help, and are easy to talk too.

How can you see this information being useful for you in your classroom or office?