Our Extroverted Classroom.

Picture from here

Our schools are overcrowded, spontaneous, unpredictable, and fast paced - the perfect environment for an extroverted child (Burress and Kaenzig, 1999). On the other hand, for an introverted child, a school day can seem like a magnificent feat, which conflicts with the traits of their introverted personality. They can feel overwhelmed, over stimulated, and continually out of their comfort zone, as they are pushed to contribute to group or whole-class discussions, participate in a socially intense environment and have minimal alone or explorative time (Burress and Kaenzig, 1999). Cain (2012) explains that when we "look at the class on mass they look like a room of joyfully squirming puppies" (p. 251), which makes missing the reserved, gentle, and quiet children, easy. 

One approach to learning is known as humanism. This approach prioritizes social and emotional domains, as well as valuing the individual child and their unique needs (Krause, Bochner, Duchesne and McMaugh, 2010). Typically humanist teachers seek to create a warm, pleasant and caring environment where children feel safe and worthy as themselves. They remind us that our role as a teacher stretches beyond the exchanging of content knowledge and into the need to develop and care for the human beings in front of us (Krause et al, 2010)

Maslow, an influential humanist theorist, invented the hierarchy of needs. He explains that human beings do not simply have survival needs, but also require a sense of belongingness, acceptance, self-respect and esteem (Krause et al, 2010). His theory challenges us to consider whether our current education system is fulfilling these needs of our introverted children.

Through continuing to establish classroom environments that do not suit introverted personalities, are we unintentionally discriminating against, and denying the introverted children? Are we using a one-size-fits all model, and using an approach which works for only some of the personalities within our class?

Humanists challenge us to consider how we can change our classrooms so that school is not a place that introverts must seek to survive, but a place where they can grow and flourish as individuals (Cain, 2012). It seems that we must no longer simply differentiate the content we teach, but change our teaching approach to cater to the different personalities within our classrooms (Eysenck, 1996). This is particularly so for the extroverted teacher, who finds it difficult to comprehend the demands a school day places on an introverted child (Hodgson, 2012).

If we are to cater to the introverted children within our class, we must adopt a humanist philosophy. We, as teachers, need to look beyond the way we view the world, and try to understand and value the individual and unique needs of our introverted students. We must try to see the world as they do.