What makes so many educators and teachers believe that introverted pupils & stud

1. 85

   gmwilliamsposted 9 years ago

   What makes so many educators and teachers believe that introverted pupils & students are
   
   developmentally delayed, even backwards, although many introverted children have an above average, even genius level IQ?  It seems that the educational system is built for & reward extroverted pupils & students.  Teachers, on average, consider extroverted pupils & students to be more developmentally apt & mature, even more intelligent than their introverted counterparts.  They contend that introverted pupils & students have deep psychological issues which a good psychologists could remedy.
   
   

   replyreport
2. 69

   connorjposted 9 years ago

   
   
   Quite simply and most profoundly, ignorance. There is significant misconception "out there" about what the "state of" introversion means. There is absolutely no negative or positive correlation between introversion and Intelligence Quotient (IQ).
   In addition, although there is no quantifiable evidence that gifted people (I. Q. Of 2 standard deviations above norm) are introverted there is evidence of correlation between withdrawn character and Giftedness. There are many examples of gifted people being somewhat withdrawn from society's norms. Can you think of any?

   replyreport
3. 93

   lisavollrathposted 9 years ago

   I was one of those kids. I liked reading and writing better than hanging out with other kids, and I had a lot of trouble paying attention in school. I liked being by myself, which makes sense, because I'm an only child, and so is my father, who was equally comfortable being alone.
   
   They tested our IQs in third grade, and discovered one of my problems: on the first test, I scored 181, and when they retested, assuming the first test was an error, I scored 183. From then on, my parents made sure that my teachers just let me be. My third grade teacher actually built me a little cubicle in our classroom, where I could just go and read my own books, instead of the class assigned ones. I vaguely remember making her a card with a quote from Hamlet inside.
   
   My mother also made the public library give me an adult library card, which didn't restrict me to books for my age level. Both my parents took the attitude that if I wanted to read something, I should be allowed to, regardless of subject matter.
   
   I suppose today, I would have been sent in for psych testing, rather than sent to the grown-up section of the library!

   replyreport
   1. 85

      gmwilliamsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I am an only child also,  My first/third grade teacher taught me to be odd because I liked being alone and found other children my age to be quite puerile.  My parents PUSHED me to be social, much to my chagrin.  I preferred reading to socializing.

      replyreport
4. 66

   Arachneaposted 9 years ago

   In today's society, extroversion is associated with intelligence, leadership and trustworthyness. There's a book on the subject that's really quite good, "Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking," by Susan Cain. It's on my list of book reviews to do.

   replyreport
   1. 85

      gmwilliamsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, SADLY it IS.

      replyreport
5. 73

   brakel2posted 9 years ago

   In my experience, the popular extroverts are the favorites of many educators, and children who are introverts, or just on the quiet side, stand in the background. When I graduated from eighth grade, the principal was shocked when a nice quiet girl won a prestigious medal for being top of class. The expected winner was a pretty, popular outgoing young girl. Fortunately, when she and others like her entered high school, some dedicated teachers did not have that attitude. The work world operates at times in similar fashion.

   replyreport
   1. 85

      gmwilliamsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      This sentiment is so true.  Many teachers prefer extroverted students to introverted students.  To these teachers, extroverted students seem to be SMARTER while introverted students seem to be SLOWER.

      replyreport
6. 84

   M. T. Dremerposted 9 years ago

   The U.S. has the 'extrovert ideal' which values students that are outspoken over those who keep to themselves. In other words, the student who has bad ideas, but speaks them loudly and clearly, will be graded higher than the one who has great ideas, but keeps them to himself.
   
   I read a book about this recently called "Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking" and it was pretty eye opening. The extrovert ideal isn't exclusive to the U.S. but there are other countries out there where introversion and quiet respect is valued higher. The point of the book being that we need a balance to run a smart society, not one dominating over the other.

   replyreport