Facts Within The Story

Audience: teachers or students who feel lost in the school environment and think that their voices aren’t being heard just because others are louder

School environments often favor extroverts over introverts. Extroverts are the ones who volunteer, raise their hand and want to share their ideas with no hesitations. They often are given “participation points” because they are the ones speaking. Classrooms often encourage group work and collaboration. As these methods can work for extroverted students, those who “need for lots of stimulation”(The Atlantic) they push away the needs of introverts. Introverts strive off of quiet, alone time and in “low-key environments”(The Atlantic). Introverts make up “one third to about half of the population”(The Atlantic), so why are extroverts being favored in these situations when the other half of the population does not?

Susan Cain who performed a TED Talk on how introverts are being overseen in a society that can’t stop talking, explains that “there is no correlation between being the best talker and having the best ideas.” I know that in my high school I was always ridiculed for not speaking as much as others. I found that when teachers gave me the time to write down my ideas or time to think before speaking, it was much easier for me to become engaged. I always consider myself a listener because I love to listen to people and hear what they have to say. In school, it is hard to just listen when being told to speak. In Susan Cain’s book, “Quiet” she expresses how “we have two ears and one mouth and we should use them proportionally.”