by Matthew Tyler Funk

Created on: October 14, 2010

The greatest gift teachers can give introverted students is the space and time to express themselves. Generally, introverted or introspective students may not be getting enough space to be themselves. They may feel unnecessarily pressured in the competitive, standardized, educational environment. In an environment that focuses on grades and testing, many students feel that everything they do in school is being judged. Feeling over-analyzed, students often withdraw into their own worlds.

Introverted and introspective students often excel in solitary creative activities. They may learn to express themselves well through painting or through playing a musical instrument through the solitary practice the pursuit of such a skill involves and rewards. If given the tools and space in a pressure-free environment such students will excel at developing skills which require discipline. Successfully developing such skills will lead to self confidence through the gradual recognition of those developing skills by others. Gradually this self confidence will become strong enough for the person to begin expressing themselves under pressure.

The key is really never to push an introverted or introspective individual to express themselves in situations they aren't comfortable in. Let them withdraw and develop the personal skills they need to develop in order to participate confidently in a social setting. It's important to keep in mind when dealing with introspective students that grades and tests may have a tendency to cause the student to withdraw further from the educational process in order to escape feelings of being over-analyzed.

Creativity and skill development should be stressed, but never in a competitive context. Personal development should be the focus of the introspective student. Introspective students can be very imaginative and the key to unleashing their creativity is unleashing the power and creative potential of that strong imagination.

It's very important to remember that introspective students do relatively poorly in competitive environments. Social competition results in further withdrawal from introspective individuals. They may shut down and shut themselves out of the learning process because of how uncomfortable the competitive environment makes them. They are not always looking for social recognition as a reward, many could care less about their popularity. They may be more likely to take pride in something they have created or accomplished through discipline. They are generally more easily engaged in a creative format or in lessons focused on the development of skills which interest them..

Different individuals have different skill sets, and to the extent which it's possible it is best to tailor each individual's education to the personality and skill sets that individual possesses. Standardized education is good for saving costs but not so great for developing unique individuals with unique skills. Ideally, education would be customized to suit the unique needs of every individual student.

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