Quiet or Quitting? Engaging the Introvert in the Active Learning Classroom
Faculty Conference, September 11, 2013
There is an amusing video on YouTube called “Cat Herders.”1 It was a commercial aired on TV during the 2000 Super Bowl. It’s about “cowboys” who take very seriously their work as cat herders. Although they are terribly diligent and devoted, they often come out clawed and scratched up, but they would never “do anything else.” Their ultimate reward is bringing all the cats” safely back into town.” This tongue-in-cheek video is also a perfect analogy for university professors. Some semesters we feel like we have succeeded in bringing the whole herd safely into town, and some semesters we feel more like we got our faces all scratched up. But frequently, we feel like our students are all going in different directions because we have students with all sorts of backgrounds, varied proficiency levels, learning modalities, and personality temperaments such as being an introvert or an extrovert.
I just attended a great conference in New Orleans in May called “The Teaching Professor Conference.” One of the most useful sessions was about keeping introverts in mind by Nicki Monahan of George Brown College in Ontario, Canada. I came away from the session inspired to read Susan Cain’s NY Times Best seller entitled Quiet: The Power of Introvert in a World That Can’t Stop Talking—a fascinating, well-researched read that was amazingly motivating . I concluded that in my many years of teaching at this institution although I have always wanted to connect with each student in my classes, I may not have always herded the introverts safely back into town. This conference helped me see that I should and couldbe mindful of the introverts as well as the extroverts in my classes.
The What
What are the personality temperaments called introversion and extroversion? Current psychology gives us the following definitions as they apply to students:
Students who are Extroverts
•Often find group work energizing and stimulating
•Often figure out what they are thinking as they are speaking
•Often get their best ideas in conversation with others
•Often appear to have the “right” answer straight away
•Are often charismatic and socially very skilled
Students who are Introverts
•Often prefer to work on their own
•Often prefer to work with a partner or small group rather than a larger group
•Tend to prefer to think and/or write before speaking
•Often get their best ideas outside the classroom
•Are active learners, but “active” might look different than the “active” learning of extroverts2
•They may not be “quitting” at all, just preferring to be quiet3
Georgia Newman, a Flannery O’Connor scholar who came here to BYU-I to do a summer session said that the difference between an introvert and extrovert is just a question of where they find their energy source.Susan Cain author of Quiet; The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking concurs that it’s all about how a student responds to stimulation. “Solitude and solo flights of thought are the air introverts breath,” as she puts it.4 Extroverts; on the other hand, thrive on interaction, conversation and activity.
Now, if I were to ask you to use your non-dominant hand throughout an entire semester, how would you feel? Uncomfortable? Irritated? Slow and awkward? Would you think of any positive effects of this request? Would this activity help you acquire a new skill? Would it force you to “s-t-r-e-t-c-h?”5
Clearly, we currently live in what is called an “extrovert ideal” society. The outgoing, aggressive, vocal personality is highly prized. The favored man is the man of action over the man of contemplation. It wasn’t always so. Ours used to be a culture of character where the modest, unassuming, autonomous person such as Abraham Lincoln was reverenced. It wasn’t until the 20th century when the culture of personality, the idealizing of magnetism, charm and charisma eclipsed deep thought and quiet strength.6 You have got to admit it’s fun and easy to teach the vocal, gregarious, participating student, right? You will notice too, that letters of recommendation for our students often ask questions like, “Is the candidate outgoing? Is the candidate a good team player?”
What Susan Cain calls the “Group Think” or collaborative model or HBS (Harvard Business School Model)is prevalent in our most important institutions; businesses, corporations, and education.7 It is therefore crucial that we help our students s-t-r-e-t-c-h outside their comfort zones and preferred levels of stimulation and learn to put themselves “out there” as well as work well in collaborative situations.
The Why
So why go to the effort to help introverts as well as extroverts capitalize on their strengths?
•First and foremost, as we endeavor to teach by the spirit we feel the imperative to connect with each student in a meaningful way
•In the Doctrine and Covenants section 88:122 the Lord councils us: “Appoint among yourselves a teacher, and let not all be spokesmen at once; but let one speak at a time and let all listen unto his sayings, that all may be edified of all, and that every man may have an equal privilege.”
•as an imperative of our BYU-I Learning Model, so we can teach our students to love, respect and serve one another and learn from one another
•For another thing, 1/3 to ½ of the population is statistically proven to be introverts, which means that 1-2 out of every 3 of our students are introverts8
•Introverts have much to contribute. Just ask Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Einstein, Eleanor Roosevelt, Rosa Parks, and Theodore Geisel better known as Dr. Seus; all consummate introverts9
•Sometimes introverts and extroverts working together produce life-changing results. Consider Steve Wozniac, introvert and Steve Jobs, extrovert who came together to found Apple Computer 10
•We need to find balance so that all of our students have the opportunity to s-t-r-e-t-c-h.11
The How
Now to the strategies to make this happen:
1. The first strategy that I would like to suggest is to just plain speak openly about it towards the beginning of the semester. Give students an opportunity to self-identify, to recognize their own personality inclinations and become aware of their peers’ learning temperaments. Actually discuss extroverts stretching by yielding the floor to introverts and inviting their ideas as well as introverts trying out new roles in group dynamics. Explore as a class the benefits and challenges of working within and outside of our comfort zones and preferred levels of stimulation. Start at a comfortable place and move from there. In other words, encourage all students to s-t-re-t-c-h.
2. Provide multiple opportunities for students to get to know one another
3. Think, INK, pair and share. Put the “think” back in and more often include an “INK” component
4. Another strategy would be to separate into groups with at least one introvert in each group. Ask the groups write down the answer to a thought provoking question you have just posed. Have them put their ideas an envelope you have provided. Next, you will have them choose someone from their group to read all the ideas to the group. They will then choose the idea that their group finds the best, allowing the introvert to present the group’s chosen idea to the entire class.
5. Have many varied activities. Find a balance between small groups, pairs, individual think time, and on-line discussion forums
6. Assign roles – i.e. recorder, spokes- person etc. and then shift roles
7. Let students know ahead of time what will be required of them that day
8. Send messages to students complimenting them on their ideas/contributions
9. Get permission from students to share their ideas, contributions or research with the class / invite them ahead of time to share during the next class or with a smaller group
10. Circulate in the class and call on students who have the right answer12, 13
Our students at BYU-I come to us with a variety of learning styles and personality temperaments. We want them all to have the best possible learning environment and educational experience while they are under our auspices. It is therefore, well-worth our efforts to consider the needs of both introverts and extroverts and structure our classes accordingly. It also never hurts us as instructors to occasionally “repot” ourselves when we get” root-bound” and change things up for the benefit of our students. The challenge I extend for all of us is to create a milieu in our classes where are “all may be edified of all” and where we might enjoy a successful and “happy herding.”
Personality Quiz
On your first gut reaction, what would you say you are: introvert or extrovert? It’s interesting and instructive to see where we as instructors fit in on the spectrum. Here is a quiz that may help you decide:
1. At the end of a highly engaging three hour class, would you prefer to:
A. Continue the conversation with students in the hallway OR
B. Return to your office and take a break
2. You have been approached by your academic Chair to develop a new first year seminar course. Would you prefer to get started on this project by:
A. Calling a meeting with colleagues to brainstorm ideas OR
B. Thinking about it and writing down some ideas
3. You are in your office reading a pertinent article and the phone rings. Are you more likely to:
A. Welcome the interruption and pick up the phone OR
B. Let the phone go to voice mail
4. Your department is redesigning office space. Would you prefer to work in:
A. An open office design with colleagues close at hand OR
B. A private space with a door that closes
5. Do you prefer to:
A. Go to committee meetings OR
B. Grade papers OR
C. None of the above (How dare you be a normal teacher!)
6. You are about to celebrate your retirement from BYU-Idaho. Would you prefer:
A. A public reception with attendees from across the institution OR
B. A dinner with your closest colleagues
7. Would you prefer your colleagues to describe you as:
A. Someone who is prepared to take risks OR
B. Someone who will weigh the risks before acting
8. You are present for a heated discussion among your colleagues about an expensive internship opportunity. Are you more likely to:
A. Clarify your own views as you share them OR
B. Think later about something you wished you had said
9. At the end of today’s sessions, would you prefer to:
A. Go to a buffet luncheon with your whole college
OR B. Have lunch at the Original Thai restaurant with close friends
(Adapted from Cain)
Where do you fit?
# of “A’s”… further on the extrovert end
# of “B’s”… further on the introvert end
Equal # of “A’s” and “B’s” –ambivert14
Yes, there is such a thing as an ambivert! Carl Jung who first popularized these terms said there was no such thing as a pure introvert or extrovert, that we are all probably a combination. 15
Notes
1. CBS. “EDS an HP Company ‘Cat Herders.’”Youtube.Youtube, 16 Jan. 2009. Online video
clip. 22 Oct. 2013. < >.
2. Monahan, Nikki. The Teaching Professor Conference New Orleans, “Keeping Introverts in Mind in the Active Learning Classroom.” May 2013.
3. Geddes, Christine. The Faculty Conference Brigham Young University, “Quite or Quitting:Engaging the Introvert in an Active Learning Classroom.” September 2013
4. “Susan Cain: The power of introverts.” TED Talks. March 2012. Online video clip. 22 Oct. 2013. <
5. see note 2
6. Cain, Susan. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. New
Crown Publishers, 2012, 4.
7. see note 4
8. see note 4
9. see note 6; p 12,72, 92.
10. see note 4
11. see note 2
12. see note 2
13. see note 3
14. see note 2
15. see note 4