When a Waldorf educator commented on one of my blog posts about METAL children, she informed me of the 4 temperaments they use at the Waldorf School to characterize children. At Waldorf schools, the teachers advise parents according to their child’s temperament, and the teachers actually use the temperaments in their teaching style, and to arrange classroom seating as a way of optimizing social interaction and learning.
I find this absolutely intriguing! I did some research and tried to figure out some correlations between the 2 systems.
Hippocrates (460-370 B.C.E.), known as the “Father of Western Medicine,” believed that imbalances in bodily fluids, or humors, affected personality and mood. Later, during the Roman Empire, Greek physician and philosopher Galen of Pergamon  (129-216 C.E.) went a step further to outline the 4 temperaments as follows:  sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and phlegmatic.
Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925), Austrian philosopher, architect, and social reformer, further defined the 4 temperaments and founded the Waldorf School in Germany in 1919. The following descriptions explain the 4 temperaments and their tendencies.
A child of SANGUINE temperament tends to be social, warm-hearted, outgoing, pleasure-seeking, and talkative, but may have difficulty following through on tasks.
This temperament sounds a lot like either FIRE or EARTH, in terms of the 5 elements.
A child of CHOLERIC temperament tends to be ambitious, outgoing, task-oriented, aggressive, and prefers to be in charge.
This sounds exactly like the element WOOD.
A child of MELANCHOLIC temperament tends to be introverted, cautious, and preoccupied with the injustices of the world.
This sounds just like the element METAL.
A child of PHLEGMATIC temperament tends to be private, thoughtful, calm, introverted, tolerant, and may have slow or hesitant speech and clumsy movements.
This temperament seems to match well with the element WATER.
Isn’t it incredible how the eastern and western philosophies come together?
And what if public and other private schools could tailor their teaching and classroom seating to optimize learning for children of different elements? For example, it makes sense to have WOOD/CHOLERIC kids sitting in the back of the classroom, and the WATER/PHLEGMATIC kids in the front, to try to get them to speak up more.
And what if you could scatter the SANGUINE/FIRE/EARTH kids throughout the classroom to avoid excessive chatter, while keeping the mood cheerful and friendly?
What are YOUR thoughts on the 4 temperaments vs. the 5 elements? Do any of these accurately depict yourself or your child? Please comment below!
