Introverted Children in the Classroom

Introverted Children in the Classroom

It may not come as a surprise, but traditional classrooms are made for extroverted children. The morning circles, the singing (especially in the younger grades), the group work and projects, the loud talking of the adult over the children to get their attention...it’s an extrovert’s haven.

However, more and more, we are seeing higher levels of anxiety and depression in children. Could your child’s classroom have something to do with it? Is your classroom a trigger?

As our world and hence, our classrooms, become diverse, it’s becoming more and more important that teachers are able to make their classrooms more accommodating for the diverse groups of children that are coming in. Especially since introverts can make up anywhere between 16%-50% of our world and thus our classrooms.

According to Introvert, Dear, an introvert is defined as “someone who prefers calm, minimally stimulating environments. Introverts tend to feel drained after socializing and regain their energy by spending time alone. This is largely because introverts’ brains respond to dopamine differently than extroverts’ brains.” In other words, introverted children (and adults!) are born the way they are. There is nothing wrong with them, nor is introversion something that is to be overcome.

Below are 3 ways teachers can embrace their introverted students and ensure their style of learning is incorporated into the classroom.

1. Allow for quiet work time.
We all know that cooperative learning and group learning tends to be all the rage, and for good reason. Research has shown that cooperative learning has shown that groups outperform individuals on learning tasks and that individuals who work in groups do better on later individual assessments. Additionally cooperative learning has also has shown that it increases student self-concept, social interaction, time on task, and positive feelings toward peers, even more so for students of low-income and in urban neighborhoods.

However, group work can be highly-stimulating for introverted students. Instead, give a time-limit for group work and allow for quiet, individual work before and after group work. In this way, you allow all students to gather their thoughts and think through what they will do before they come together as a group, and allow for individual synthesis of learned information afterwards. Additionally, encourage those students that need to, to write their thoughts down before they go to their groups, during their group work, and after group work. Many introverts have an easier time putting their thoughts into words on paper than they do out loud, and writing before and after group work allows them to gather their thoughts before being required to state them in words.

2. Don’t Cold Call
In our teacher training, we are told time and time again that all students must be accountable for their learning. When teaching whole-group and you pose a question, oftentimes even with wait-time, students may not raise their hands, or, the same students do. This may encourage teachers to do the dreaded cold-call on the students who never offer an answer. However I’d encourage teachers to stay away from this practice, especially when it comes to introverted students and employ a different strategy to solicit student participation.

When it comes to speaking, we need to use word retrieval, or being able to find exact word we are trying to say. As introverts are known for processing information deeply, it can take them longer to think of the words they are trying to say than extroverted students. Add to that the anxiety of being called on while you are still thinking, in front of 25 of your peers, and a teacher has made a seemingly “normal” experience an inherently stressful one.

Instead, think of other ways students can answer questions without always raising their hands. Or give additional options for students who do not like to raise their hands. Can you give students the questions they may need to answer the day before so they have time to think about and write out their responses? Can they write a journal response? Can they use technology to select a correct answer or respond to a question? Try to think of different ways that students can show you their learning that don’t always require speaking alone in front of the class.

3. Seek One-on-One Time w/ Students
Introverts thrive in one-on-one, in-depth conversations. As such, a way to better know your more introverted students is to get to know them on their own terms. As a current teacher, I definitely understand the already time-restrained day. I for one, avoid after-school activities, because as an introvert myself, I’m “peopled-out” by the end of the school day. However, something I have done from time to time is host an informal “lunch bunch.” As a self-contained special education teacher for grades K-2, one of the incentives my students can pick from is to “have lunch with a friend” in the classroom. My introverted students tend to pick this incentive the most, and when they have earned enough stars in the morning, they are able to pick one friend, and eat lunch in the classroom with their friend and myself. I have found out information about siblings, hobbies, and the like from these lunch bunches (which I can then use later in lessons or even in future conversations!), even without being directly involved with their conversations . Teachers of older students can also host informal lunches such as these even 1-2 times a month as a way to get to know their less-talkative students.

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