Writing in the Atlantic, Educator Jessica Lahey's article Introverted kids need to speak up at school makes the case that children should be graded for their level of class participation.
Past articles, including Introverts can be great presenters too and If your learners aren’t thinking creatively you may be asking the wrong question, have examined the effect of introversion in a classroom.
In this article, Lehey clearly admits that she is an extrovert herself, and that she naturally teaches to extroverts, and that her classes spend a “large amount of time” in learning dialogs. She also opines that it is her job to teach students how to succeed in the world, and that introverts must learn how to “self-advocate” to be successful.
Teachers, trainers and speakers all tend to be extroverts, and it is easy for us too to teach to the extrovert. They are the one who nod when we talk, laugh at our jokes and respond when we ask for an opinion. If we are not careful, they can overpower the introverted participants.
If we are instructors are not careful, we can shut down introvert learning. The key is in welcome full participation while not overly embarrassing any one individual.
Targeted work group sizes—between three and five individuals—can help by preventing more dominant participants from controlling while simultaneously remaining small enough so that everyone can have a say. The number of group members determines activity success of failure provides more information on effective group size.
Introductory activities that immediately throw people into talking and action situations, as we reported in Moving furniture makes one program more effective, can help shy participants become comfortable with their teammates and with the sound of their own voices in the learning room.
Research suggests that Introverts may actually be better learners. They have something of value to add if we encourage them to speak up.
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