Hell is other people: a different kind of diversity

So, reading this article by Michael Godsey at The Atlantic about how modern schools may make life difficult for introverted students made me laugh, but not because it’s funny. Because imagining myself in a classroom where it’s all group work all the time is so laughably horrible.

Near the end of my observations last week, I told two teachers on separate occasions that I’d feel incredibly exhausted at the end of every day if I were a student at that school. To my surprise, both of them responded by immediately laughing and then agreeing. One recalled learning best when arranged in rows, while the other concurred, “I know, right? How exhausting it must be to have another student in your business all day long.”

I never minded the occasional group project, if I could work with people I felt comfortable with (a big if) and if the group work was broken up by quiet independent work. Are all teacher extroverts? Surely introverted teachers would see how they are constantly pushing introverted students out of their preferred learning environment? Oh, wait, the quote above indicates they do see this — and sometimes just let it happen.

I’m glad to be able to look back on plenty of quiet reading and study time at my schools when I was an introverted little kid.