3/22/2018 How to teach a young introvert |

How to teach a young introvert

Sep 2, 2014 / Kate Torgovnick May

What should we do with the quiet kids? A conversation with Susan Cain
on the future of classroom education.
Susan Cain sticks up for the introverts of the world. In the U.S., where one third to one half the
population identifies as introverts, that means sticking up for a lot of people. Some of them might
be data engineers overwhelmed by the noise of an open-floor-plan office. Others might be lawyers
turning 30, whose friends shame them for not wanting a big birthday bash. But Cain particularly
feels for one group of introverts: the quiet kids in a classroom.

Cain remembers a childhood full of moments when she was urged by teachers and peers to be more
outgoing and social — when that simply wasn’t in her nature. Our most important institutions, like
schools and workplaces, are designed for extroverts, says Cain in her TED Talk. [Watch: The
power of introverts.] “Nowadays, your typical classroom has pods of desks, and kids are working
on countless group assignments.” Yet if up to half the population has introvert tendencies, why is it
that kids who prefer to go off by themselves or to work alone are seen as outliers?

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We gave Cain a call to talk about how schools, both right now and far off in the future, could better
care for the needs of introverted students. Below, an edited transcript of that conversation, with
some very surprising answers. Could we rethink the chaotic school cafeteria? How about recess?
How about the very definition of “class participation?” Cain offers bold ideas in these areas and
more.

Photo by Tom Woodward/Flickr.

What kind of response did you get to the part of your TED Talk about the education system
and how it isn’t optimized for introverts?

I’ve heard from so many teachers and school administrators and parents and students about the
problems that they feel are embedded in the system. I’ve heard from students feeling that they are
unfairly docked for not meeting current standards of class participation. I’ve heard from teachers
who now, in many cases, are required to make a majority of their lessons centered on group work.
Even when the teachers feel that’s not a good idea, they have to do it, because the teachers
themselves are evaluated on that basis. They don’t have the wiggle room to modify it, even though
they think they should. Overall, I’ve seen firsthand in the wake of my TED Talk that there’s such
an enormous need for parents and teachers to better understand how to love and cultivate the
introverted kid.

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“What an extroverted act it is in the first place

to go to school. All day long, you are in a
classroom full of people with constant
stimulation.”

What can be done in the short term to help teachers better understand how to do that?

I believe that we need to do general teacher training to just make them aware of what makes a
student an introvert, what that means, and how best to cultivate the talent of those students. To raise
awareness of what an extroverted act it is in the first place to go to school. All day long, you are in
a classroom full of people with constant stimulation. Even for introverted kids who really like
school, it’s still a very overstimulating experience.

In general, teachers should avoid setting social standards for what is normal. There’s research that
shows that if a student has no friends at all — zero friends — that is problematic and should be
addressed. But a student who has one or two or three friends, and prefers to go deep with their
friendships instead of being one of a big gang, there’s nothing wrong with that at all, in terms of it
being a predictor for adulthood. That style of socializing is perfectly fine. So we should identify
problems when they are there — like a student who would really love to make friends but doesn’t
know how. But at the same time, we shouldn’t make problems when they aren’t there by saying,
“You should be more social.” If the kid is perfectly happy the way they are, they need to get the
message that the way they are is cool.

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Photo by lecercle/Flickr.

One thing I think that educators should bear in mind: we allow adults all kinds of flexibility in
terms of what kind of social life they want. Adults who have two or three friends, no one thinks
twice about it. But we don’t allow children the same degree of flexibility. I often ask people to
imagine their next big, milestone birthday and to think how they would want to celebrate it. Some
people want to celebrate with a big bash full of friends, and other people would rather just go out
with family or a couple of close friends. But think about what we expect children to do for their
birthday parties. We expect them to invite the whole class, and make it this big, uproarious affair. I
get letters from parents all the time, saying, “We invited the whole class over for the birthday, and
my child seemed happy for the first 15 minutes, and then she went to her room and wouldn’t come
out.” What I’d say is: celebrate the way the kid wants to celebrate. Don’t give the kid the idea that
there’s only one way to do it.

What are some small changes that teachers can make in the classroom right now that might
make a big difference for kids who are introverts?

Number one would be to make sure to build quiet time into the school day, especially when kids are
younger. Have 15 minutes set aside every day where the students just read. Make sure that the
classroom design accommodates nooks and crannies so you’re not just reading within groups of
people, but you can go and sit on a sofa in the classroom and curl up with your book. When I was
researching Quiet, I traveled around and sat in as a fly-on-the-wall in all kinds of classrooms, and
many already do this — but not all of them. That would be one easy thing.

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Photo by Greg Williams/Flickr.

Another would be reforming recess. Teachers should think about providing alternatives to recess,
which for many students is unnecessarily chaotic and not that interesting. Open up a classroom and
let students sit and play board games in small groups, or read a book, or just hang out and chill. The
notion that all students should restore themselves by running out into a big, noisy yard is very
limiting. Some will like it, some won’t. Some will like it on some days, but would prefer an
alternative on other days.

“The classroom is crying out for a solution that

is less one-size-fits-all.”

Interesting. So the theme seems to be giving students more options.

Yeah, the idea is just to maximize choice. All the suggestions that I’m giving are along those lines
of providing lots of different alternatives for how you get your learning and how you get your
restorative time. Let it be more of a pick-and-choose situation instead of it being, “Oh, let’s do it
this way.” There’s a well-known study in psychology by a guy named Russell Geen. He gave
learning tasks to kids to solve, with varying levels of background noise. He found that the
extroverts did best when the noise was louder, and the introverts did best when the noise was softer.
If you take that research and apply it to the classroom, it’s crying out for a solution that is less one-
size-fits-all — and that allows students to pick the amount of stimulation that is right for them in
that moment.

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How can teachers make introverted students feel more comfortable when class is in session?

I’d say: less group work in general. Teachers should really mix it up fairly between individual
work, group work, and have students do more work in pairs, which is a way that both introverts and
extroverts can thrive. There’s one technique that a lot educators will know of already, but should be
reminded of: it’s called “think-pair-share.” What you do is ask a question, like “Why did Romeo do
what he did?” or “Why did Juliet react the way she did?” and then the teacher thinks about it, and
students sit by themselves for a minute or two and they think too. Then they pair up, and discuss
their thoughts with their partner. The share part is when they share their thoughts with the group. A
lot of students who might be reticent at first will feel emboldened by having first discussed it with a
partner.

Photo via iStock.

I’d like to challenge teachers to rethink what they mean by class participation and start thinking of
it as classroom engagement instead. Participation ends up rewarding quantity, so you get kids
raising their hands for the sake of talking, and that’s not really in anybody’s interest. But
engagement recognizes that there are a lot of different ways to engage with the material and with
your peers. If you think more broadly about it, a student who’s a good listener or who gives one
really great, reflective comment is just as valued as the one who’s always raising their hand.

By the way, Greenwich Academy in Connecticut has adopted a lot of these ideas and has really
been using them to great effect.

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