Little Sally sits in class but rarely ever talks. She never raises her hands to answer questions. She prefers to work alone and doesn't talk in class. There must be something wrong with Sally right?
Wrong....
Far too often, having a shy or quiet personality is interpreted as someone having a low IQ, as having psychological/developmental issues, as being anti-social, as failing at achieving the goals of education through participation, or other negative labels. What teachers may not realize is that some students are naturally shy and prefer less social activities. They may find being social stressful and uncomfortable, as damaging to self-esteem, and more difficult to do than students who are naturally outgoing. Just because a child prefers to be socially isolated doesn't necessarily mean there is something wrong (note in some cases it might) but it could mean a student has different needs because they are shy and withdrawn socially.
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Being Social Is The Norm and This Causes Problems
In society, it is expected that people be social. For people to be anti-social, is seen as strange. Introverts are more comfortable working on their own. They are self-sufficient and internalize issues and thoughts rather than feel the need to share them through socialization.
This leads to a big problem in classrooms....teachers not recognizing that introverts need to be taught using different teaching methods than extroverts. Often, class participation may play a role in students grades. For introverts, they may feel uncomfortable raising their hands to answer questions out loud. They may feel anxious or self-conscious doing group work or presenting information in front of the class. Class participation grading punishes students for their own personalities.
Introverts work differently than more social students. Because they work well on their own, they process educational materials by working problems out internally. Being forced to talk to others or speak in front of a group may hinder an introvert students because they focus more on dealing with the anxiety and self-esteem issues they face interacting with other people instead of on the educational work they are suppose to be doing.
Introverts Need Time To Process
As an introvert I remember needing time to process the schoolwork I was asked to do and extra time to prepare myself for being social. Being social isn't necessarily easy for students who are shy or withdrawn. To be asked to be social in a classroom setting means an introvert has to prepare themselves mentally to interact with others.
The best example I can give is my own personal experiences. As a kid if I was asked to do group work or speak in front of the class, it instantly set ofd feelings of anxiety. Instead of focusing all my energy on preparing to do my schoolwork for the social assignments, my head was filled with thoughts about how I was going to get through the situation. I would have to think of the exact words I wanted to say and the body movements I would use. If I didn't have enough time to figure out what I wanted to say exactly, my face would turn bright red as I blushed and I would stumble over speaking in front of the class. For me, to be asked to be social in the classroom required more from me than it would students who were naturally outgoing. By the time the social experience was over I would be emotionally exhausted and super self-conscious I said something stupid. Social school activities were harmful and hurt me rather than help me because I needed to take more time than outgoing students to internalize and think about a situation to prepare myself for being social.
That is one thing teachers need to be aware of. Introverts need time to prepare themselves for social activities.
Not all students will succeed having to live up to the expectations of social society. Forcing students to be social when they are shy or withdrawn isn't always fair when it isn't acknowledged shy students have their own needs as students. Teachers should recognize introvert students and focus some class activities on being supportive on introvert learning styles. Instead of requiring class participation, teachers could have grading schemes that focus on engagement rather than social activity.
Introverts may make eye contact and listen attentively in class. They might not raise their hands to answer questions but they are absorbing information in listening quietly. Introverts may express their thoughts better through writing. Shy students may work well speaking in small groups of one or two people instead of an entire class. Teachers should learn how their shy students work best and include teaching methods to support those learning styles. They can pay attention to their shy students body and eye movements to see if they are listening in class. They can have students work on writing activities instead of having students raise their hands and answer questions. Teachers can give students more time to work to prepare for group work when they know they have shy students who will feel uncomfortable or anxious. If the don't have extra time, they can allow the shy students to go last in presenting to give them time to watch others in their social performances as a means of preparing.
Introverts Have Needs Too
An introverted student may not be successful at social activities but that doesn't mean they aren't smart. Teachers should focus on learning a wide variety of learning styles to educate both the shy and outgoing student successfully. Shy students shouldn't be punished with low grades for lack of class participation. Sometimes all they need is for a teacher to understand they need more time to process social situations and to internalize their thoughts and understandings of something.
thank you!
it's so hard being an introvert in a world that constantly expects you to be social.
yeah..agree
can I share this post on my fb page? I will credit you of course as the author of this..and even share the link..
Yes you may. It's nice of of you to ask. Being an introvert is a challenge when others don't understand our needs. Social situations are often too much for me to handle and I need time to decompress afterwards to regain my comfort. Social people don't always understand the need to recover from having to be social.
yeah i feel you..thank you for your approval!😊
wow.very empowering and challenging especially to all teachers out there.. I am an introvert and all the things you stated are basically true... as of me as my perception of being kinda quite person is because the world is too loud.
I don't think I've ever encountered a situation where introverted people were not considered smart.
One of my best friends was a real extrovert for a long time and he was always considered the party animal.........while I was considered the one who would think things through.
The truth is that we both liked to party except that I had to go home and recharge by myself for a while because I usually preferred not to be around a lot of other people.
Still waters run deep.
I've always believed that.
I think social interactions are important too though........ and I think that if people aren't put into socially interactive situations then they can become developmentally disorganized.
Great post my friend.
I remember back in 1990 I had to start going to the school counselor for my extreme shyness. She basically tried to coerce me to say I was being abused at home when I wasn't. I was just naturally shy and had no problems at home. My teachers thought something was wrong with me. They didn't know how to handle an introvert student back then. If I was abused they had a solution but since I wasn't, my teachers had no idea what to do for me. I even had one threaten to fail me for not talking enough. It was horrible and super damaging to my self-esteem.
Today I am very much like you. I enjoy being social and going to parties/events but I need to recharge afterwards. I get overwhelmed with social stimuli and need to take a few moments to calm my mind. Glad you enjoyed the post. It's nice to see others who understand the need to "recharge."
Very true. I am a teacher and an introvert. I always leave little areas of single seats and pockets of cozy areas for my introverts. They also like to keep at least one headphone in their ear. Many teachers won't allow, but I do. Schools can be loud and bright, often overwhelming. We need to accommodate all needs. The recent push to make everything group work doesn't always work with all. Great post. Blessings.
That's so awesome of you! I love the idea of comfortable spots to be alone in the classroom. And the headphones idea is new but pretty interesting. I guess with modern students and smartphones and tablets, headphones might provide introvert students help in separating their mind from the social world. Thanks for the great comment.
Yes, for sure. Our students are all issued chromebooks and most have one or two personal devices. Headphones do help and for some, it is actually written into accommodations.I wish I could wear them sometimes lol Thanks again!
In have, over the years, trained myself to be able to do presentations. But even a simple one takes such a lot out of me.
I am shy, and as a teenager it was a constantly pain in the ass to put myself out there. All you said here it is true. Superb post! Keep it up @marxrab :)
@marxrab, "Being Social Is The Norm and This Causes Problems" you really right, cos it causes more of danger, damage to the society at large..
Great post! I wish more people understood what it means to be an introvert. Not everybody feels comfortable being social and that's okay too.
Yes, so true. I had a lot of friend like these in the primary school and now they are very valuable people. Thank you
Thank you! This needs to be discussed more. Upvoted!
all over post is amazing ,
you do hard work and thanks for sharing