The April 26 Christian Science Monitor has an interesting article about how the dynamic of the classroom often leaves quiet kids left behind — a topic I personally find relevant since, for most of my academic career, I have been the quiet kid in my classes. (No, really.)
My second year of college, I got the lowest grade of my life (a C+) in Honors English because my professor seriously penalized me for being the quiet person in her class. I got A’s on all of my papers and exams, leaving only my class participation grade to bring me down — apparently, all the way down to a C+ (which I think is bullshit, but I digress…).
It bugged me then (and it still bugs me now) that children who are not aggressive talkers in a classroom environment are somehow seen — by their peers and especially by their teachers — as less intelligent, less capable, or somehow less involved. Just because some students prefer to reflect quietly on what’s been discussed doesn’t mean they’re not involved, it just means they like to think things through before contributing.
What I found most unfortunate about the otherwise good CSM article was a quote in the last paragraph. One teacher said, “I have this little Asian girl who speaks so quietly I can hardly hear her. And every time she speaks up I go, ‘Wow — Lindy’s talking so we can hear her!’ And we all clap, and the kids totally get it.”
What point does that make? It reinforces to Lindy that she’s only accepted when she talks, and reinforces to the other kids that shyness in the classroom will never be rewarded.
I did eventually grow out of my classroom shyness, but it didn’t happen (ever) while I was an undergraduate, I’ll tell ya. It was only once I got to graduate school and felt like I knew enough about what was being discussed to contribute to the conversation in a unique and important way that I began to shed my shyness. Today, I have no qualms about speaking up loudly and repeatedly when I’m in a class, but that’s largely because I’ve been a student long enough and been studying the same topics for ages that I feel really confident in my perspective and knowledge.
When I get to my classes at UTD this fall, I won’t be a bit surprised if I again become the quiet person in my classes, simply because this is a relatively new field of study for me and a completely unfamiliar environment. I’d just rather spend my time in class soaking up the collective knowledge of those assembled than I would distract myself by trying to figure out when and how I can inject my own opinions into the dialog. How’s that a bad thing?
Being another quiet kid in the class, I totally agree with you! 🙂