I did a research project last year about how classrooms could be more inclusive to introverts, and in doing so it could be beneficial to extroverts as well. A lot of classes moving towards 21st century skills have left introverts in the dust as the US has moved to value extroverted qualities. After I presented my project, someone in the class brought up the point that if the current cultural standard in the US, wouldn't students want to work towards extroversion? I have thought about that a lot since, always ends with me being upset with the trend of over-valuing extroversion. Before getting to my actual point, I will fill you in on what exactly what was included in my project. The first step of my research involved defining introvert and extrovert. In my research, I found an article by Emma Lowry titled "Silence is Golden- The Loss of Solitude in Schools and Culture." Lowry explained that introverts “thrive in environments that are not over-stimulating,” “tend to enjoy quiet concentration,” and spend more time listening than speaking while extroverts “are energized by social situations and tend to be assertive multi-taskers who think out loud” I would just like to include a quick disclaimer here: I am aware that introversion and extroversion exist on a spectrum rather than in two defined groups (I am an ambivert myself), but for the sake of my paper, I focused on the traits most associated with the far ends of the spectrum. Once I had my working definition of introvert and extrovert, I set to work on looking at the educational aspect. Many of today's classrooms rely on cooperative and communication-based learning. These are great learning techniques and are hugely beneficial to extroverted students, but an over-reliance on these techniques can create a negative learning experience for introverted students where they feel exhausted and inadequate. The bulk of my research paper details alternative teaching methods that are more inclusive to introverted students. These methods included things like solitude/silent work time, online discussion, think-pair-share, questioner/respondent schedules for discussions, flipped/inverted classrooms, and structured small groups. One of the things that really stood out to me in my research is that the methods I was reading about not only include introverts, but can be beneficial to extroverted students as well. Because extroverts tend to respond to questions and problems with the first thing that comes to mind, they have a tendency to not fully develop their responses. Many of the strategies I discuss in my paper involve an element of quiet thinking or self-reflection. This gives introverts the time they need to work through the answer or solution and compels extroverted students to create more developed responses. A win-win situation really. As a future teacher, I plan do my part in teaching the importance of skills from both end of the spectrum, and hope that when my students are the generation in charge they will implement the values I taught them. However, I would like to see the change happen a little sooner than that, which would require a group effort. I propose that we bridge the gap and learn to appreciate skills from across the spectrum. We live in a world of constant communication where it comes in handy to be able talk to people every day. What troubles me is how easy it is to appreciate extrovert skills because they are surface level, but valuable introvert skills are neglected because they are more internal. When it comes down to it, there are two different approaches to bridging this inequality: a change in mentality or a change in process. The first approach would be to put greater societal value on introverted traits and see their benefits in the professional world, viewing introvert qualities as equally employable skills to extrovert qualities. This would be a more separate-but-equal take on the issue, which can present problems of its own as it is hard to enforce. The second approach is that if introverts are expected to learn social skills to be successful in the current job market, extroverts should be expected to learn independent critical thinking skills. This would lead to less stigmatism of both ends of the spectrum while creating a greater understanding among people of different personality types and is the kind of approach I plan to take as a teacher. I present a lot of big dreams and ideas, but I do not believe they are entirely unattainable. It is far from an overnight change and will take a lot of work on the behalf of individuals. It is hard to change everyone's mind and it is hard to change the whole system, but society could greatly benefit from a little more understanding and inclusion when it comes to introversion and extroversion. I believe it can be done, it just takes a place to start, someone to open their mind to the possibilities and share with those around them. It can start with you.
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AuthorMy name is Vanessa and I decided actually utilize this blog site I made for an undergrad writing class assignment and only posted on once. I hate the name of this blog (I thought I was really clever and subtly subversive in 2017), but I'm not going to change it because my moral code is to stick to the stupid shticks that I come up with. Archives |