I’ve been reading with interest reviews of Susan Cain’s book
Quiet – The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/mar/22/quiet-power-introverts-susan-cain-review?INTCMP=SRCH
Cain’s book looks at
the ways in which our society is geared up to celebrate and encourage extrovert
personality traits. Placed in opposition
to the extrovert ideal, introverts are undervalued and overlooked. Cain goes on to argue that our celebration of extrovert
culture begins at an early age, where pupils are grouped facing each others in
pods, and praised by teachers for giving quick (rather than thoughtful or original)
answers.
As a child I was an introvert. Painfully shy and bookish, I would never have
willingly volunteered an answer. “Very
quiet pupil” was a frequent refrain on my report cards. Well over thirty years later, I have learned
to quell my introvert tendencies, at least at work. I am vocal at meetings,
gregarious at social events 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 typical workshop phrase “Now I want you to get into your
groups and discuss…” sends a shiver down my spine?
Thinking about Quiet
prompted me to examine my own classroom practice. So much of what we do in the
classroom is based on collaborative learning through group work and pair work. Learners are asked to peer check answers, work
together on information gap activities and take part in mingle activities.
Heck, my learners even worked in pairs to write poetry!
It can 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?
I look forward to reading Quiet. In the meantime I
will keep a log of the types of activities I do in my classes and monitor the
learners not just for their linguistic performance, but also for their
reactions. Perhaps in doing so, I will discover that I teach more introverts
(or ambiverts) than I had thought.
