Monday, February 29, 2016

The Introvert Advocate: When Advocacy Fights Denial in the Schoolyard

As an unapologetic introvert, I must speak up for the personality type. Thankfully, The Introvert Advocate provided an opportunity:

Before I begin, I must disclaim: I’m not a teacher, and I’ve never taken part in the education system. My experience comes from being a student myself once and what developments I’ve witnessed take place in middle and high schools since that time. Taking cues from Quiet author Susan Cain  and TIA editor Charita Cadenhead’s article on introverted teachers, I agree that extroverted educators today are more informed about introversion among their students than teachers in the past, still have a lot to learn regarding introversion as something to be “fixed”. As likely as it would seem though, extroverts are not the biggest threat to an introverted child’s academic development nowadays. Now that would be the last person one would expect.


The Hidden Threat Among The Well-Meaning

There are three challenges introverted students must contend with: extroverted teachers limited by their experience and perspective. The second involves the older teacher who cares for the children yet is reluctantly catching up with the latest developments in learning. They mean well in guiding student’s academic achievement, even if they have human limitations, but neither is as harmful as the third challenge: an introverted educator in denial. Unfortunately despite a growing population of introversion advocates, an equal number exists among introverts who’ve tragically succumbed to the old social attitudes regarding introversion and stubbornly stand by it...


Continue reading this article at:
http://theintrovertadvocate.com/introversion-denial-in-the-school-yard/

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