My recent blog about the difference in the performance of boys and girls in school prompted a fair amount of interest and comments. I received another comment along these lines that referenced a short talk on schools not meeting the needs of our students who are introverted. You can find it at the following link: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/susan_cain_the_power_of_introverts.html . The speaker makes the point that the current practice of schools arranging students in pods of desks that face one another and having the students work in groups is in fact, not the best arrangement for about a third of our students who are more introverted than their peers. This criticism of course flies in the face of our quest to have collaboration lead us to the promised land of education. Although there is a lot of good research to support collaboration both at the classroom and professional level, I know that there are some who abhor this style of learning and much prefer to go it alone. To be fair, the speaker does make the point that collaboration is necessary and important. She stresses however, that deep learning may not occur for all while working in groups.
Like most things in life, what this talk points out is that there is not a one size fits all model for schools and student learning. In a few weeks our teachers will look at their new set of students and quickly recognize the differences among them. It is important that they respond to these differences by offering a variety of learning opportunities and activities. Creating the right conditions where the students are most at ease is a challenge, but is one that we must meet. A student working in a group is not a bad strategy, but for some, it is not that great.
2 Comments
I like this a lot, but aren’t there benefits to helping introverts learn to work with others. And to helping extroverts learn that they can do it alone.
I think there are positive benefits that come from encouraging introverted students to collaborate and work in situations that may be uncomfortable. While I agree that we should work to put students at ease, we should also challenge them to grow and learn to work with others.
That being said, we should also work with extroverted students and encourage them to work alone, even though that may not be their preferred way of working. This will be challenging for them, and allow them to grow.
It is amazing how different individuals are. I know some adults who were practically traumatized having to go to school and participate, while others thrived in the school environment.
As you all have stated, responding to these differences and trying to be in tune to the stress level of the student, would be a good thing. We need to help them grow, yet be respectful of their differences. It is a tough call. Sometimes I think we need an introvert support group, because we extroverts have absolutely no clue how traumatic day to day living can be.
I am not talking about the SPED students or bullied students which need different approaches. I am talking about the regular average Joe or Susie Student who can have average to high intelligence, healthy home-life, and somewhere in their make-up, facing a day of school is just plain awful. I know we all want to help them have happy days.