Celebrating Introverts
Possible Introvert courtesy of sahlgoode/Flickr
Introverts are dynamic, creative and inspiring members of our community. They just don’t tell us about it all the time.
But enough about me writing things. Check out this TED talk by Susan Cain entitled ThePower of Introverts.
Full disclosure, I’m an extrovert. In fact, I am such an extrovert that I’m dangerously close to being one of the lunatics that Ms. Cain mentions in the pretty darn good talk above. My lovely, talented and tolerant wife, Michelle, claims that she’s an “amnivert” but is probably an introvert (we’re all a bit of both, right?) – fun fact: Michelle absolutely has a suitcase full of books.
One of my dear friends, Holly, describes knowing how introverted and extroverted you are by reflecting on where you get your energy from. For example, on Saturday night Michelle and I were invited over to our friends’ place at 9:30pm. We were both exhausted after a day of home renovations. Consequently, Michelle stayed home, as she gets her energy – some of it, anyway, from the monk/rabbi-like solitude described in the above TED talk. I, on the other hand, went over to our friends’ house (it was only a block) and stayed there until almost 3am because there were people in attendance who I hadn’t seen in awhile, new people to meet (strangers are just best friends I haven’t met yet, in my opinion), and there were promises of playing games. Needless to say, we all got our energy for Sunday from different places in different ways.
As I work in a school that is also, um, a workplace, Ms. Cain’s ideas certainly struck a chord. I have definitely worked with many introverted students, much of the time advising them on how to find their element in a loud and impulsive world of extroverts seeking to win friends and influence people. Further, many of the things of which Ms. Cain is wary – loud brainstorming, charismatic speakers with half-baked ideas, hyper-teamwork – reflect my preferred working style. And this has me thinking about my introverted colleagues and how best to engage them going forward. So I’ll ask them about it; such is my style.
So, introverts of the world, as you thoughtfully and quietly engage and reflect on our communities – you allegedly make up between 30-50% of the world’s population – be sure to let we extroverts know your story because we’d love to help you tell it. Also, don’t be afraid to tell us to be quiet every now and then. We need introspection and solitude, too.
Manifesto, by Susan Cain
1. There’s a word for “people who are in their heads too much”: thinkers.
2. Our culture rightly admires risk-takers, but we need our “heed-takers” more than ever.
3. Solitude is a catalyst for innovation.
4. Texting is popular because in an overly extroverted society, everyone craves asynchronyous, non-F2F communication.
5. We teach kids in group classrooms not because this is the best way to learn but because it’s cost-efficient, and what else would we do with the children while all the grown-ups are at work? If your child prefers to work autonomously and socialize one-on-one, there’s nothing wrong with her; she just happens not to fit the model.
6. The next generation of quiet kids can and should be raised to know their own strength.
7. Sometimes it helps to be a pretend-extrovert. There’s always time to be quiet later.
8. But in the long run, staying true to your temperament is the key to finding work you love and work that matters.
9. Everyone shines, given the right lighting. For some, it’s a Broadway spotlight, for others, a lamplit desk.
10. Rule of thumb for networking events: one genuine new relationship is worth a fistful of business cards.
11. It’s OK to cross the street to avoid making small talk.
12. “Quiet leadership” is not an oxymoron.
13. The universal longing for heaven is not about immortality so much as the wish for a world in which everyone is always kind.
14. If the task of the first half of life is to put yourself out there, the task of the second half is to make sense of where you’ve been.
15. Love is essential, gregariousness is optional.
16. “In a gentle way, you can shake the world.” – Gandhi
Seen but not heard: the introverts in our classrooms
The extrovert ideal is perpetuated throughout education, how can teachers harness the positive features of the introvert personality at school?
The "hardworking but quiet" child may be overlooked in the classroom in favour of more extrovert peers. Photograph: www.alamy.com
Author Susan Cain has made a loud splash with her new book Quiet – The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking. Introverts the world over have breathed a collective sigh of relief at Cain's reassurance that it is okay to choose a night at home with a good book over a dinner party invite, and that letting your phone go to voicemail doesn't necessarily make you a friendless misanthrope.
Quiet celebrates the positive features of the introvert personality, while examining the way in which our society is geared up to celebrate and encourage extrovert personality traits. As a result of this, introverts are placed in opposition to the extrovert ideal and risk being undervalued and overlooked. Cain argues that our celebration of the extrovert type begins in the classroom, where, from the start, young pupils are grouped facing each other in pods, and are praised by teachers for giving quick (rather than thoughtful or original) answers.
This extrovert ideal is perpetuated throughout education. As far as I know, almost every teacher in my local authority has attended an intensive three day course on co operative learning.
The course is led by a charismatic Canadian, who, within minutes, has participants designing group logos, creating group lessons (to be team taught, naturally) and generally rejoicing in the power of togetherness. Every teacher I know has left the training session with renewed enthusiasm and a determination to put their new tool kit of co operative learning ideas into immediate effect.
Their enthusiasm is genuine, and it is clear that co operative teachingprovides an engaging and inclusive methodology. But do we risk alienating our introverted learners through an over reliance on it?
As a child I was most definitely an introvert. Painfully shy and bookish, I would never have willingly volunteered an answer. "Hardworking but quiet" was a frequent refrain on my report cards. I enjoyed one to one interaction and loved writing and working alone: so-called "treats" such as sports afternoons not only baffled me but filled me with dread: I would have preferred the quiet security of classwork to the noisy social activities which are now called "golden time" any day of the week.
Well over thirty years later, I have learned to disguise my introvert tendencies, at least in the workplace. I am vocal at meetings, gregarious at gatherings and never slow to put myself forward for exciting sounding opportunities.
However, deep down I know I'm still an introvert. How can I not be, when the workshop refrain "Now I want you to get into your groups and discuss…" sends a shiver down my spine? Thank you, Susan Cain, for finally giving me the courage to publicly admit to colleagues that the three day co operative learning course with its relentless seat shifting, group forming and speed dating style interaction felt, for me, like a brief descent into hell.
Thinking about Quiet has prompted me to re examine not only my own learning preferences but also my own teaching practice. In the process I have been surprised at the great disparity between the two. So much of what I do in my classroom is based on collaborative learning.
My learners are regularly asked to peer check answers, work together on information gap activities and take part in mingle activities. Recently, I led a poetry translation workshop: my learners worked on this highly subjective and personal endeavour in - you've guessed it – pairs.
It could, I suppose, be argued that there are sound reasons for all this collaborative work. I am, after all, a language teacher and oral communication is a key goal in language learning. I also work with a class of sociable and outgoing learners who frequently end up conferring in small groups even when they have been asked to work alone on a task.
But how would a more introvert newcomer to my class fare? In encouraging the extrovert learners in my class am I perpetuating "groupthink" at the expense of reflection, sensitivity and creativity?
Over the coming month I will keep a log of the types of activities I do in my classes and monitor my learners not just for their linguistic performance, but also for their reactions. I also plan to administer the simplified personality test available on Susan Cain's website in order to gauge the introvert/extrovert balance in my classrooms (you can find this here Are you an introvert?)
The Quiet manifesto proclaims that: "Everyone shines given the right lighting." As teachers it is our job to guide learners towards their own light, whether this be the spotlight or the "lamplit desk" that Cain herself suggests.
• Genevieve White has been an English language teacher for fourteen years, and has taught in Hungary, Romania and in various locations around the UK. She currently works as an ESOL tutor at a community education centre for adult learners in Lerwick, Shetland, and blogs atwww.esolinshetland.blogspot.com.
