Why do we value noise so much?

When I was 22, I went on a trip to London with my classmates for a schoolproject. We took the bus and the ferry, and the journey (including traffic jams) took several hours...

I hated every second of those hours and truth be told did not enjoy the rest of that trip that much either. Every single moment was spent with about forty other people around me. It was absolute, and utter hell. Seven years have passed since then and this distaste has never disappeared. Every field trip, every busride to camp, every single excursion to the theatre, sets my teeth on edge and grates my nerves. There's a reason I avoid marketplaces, don't do clubs or bars, won't go to festivals and will never see a movie in its opening week. Yes, it is true. I do not like crowds (and the people in them) very much. 

Now people who have met me, will be surprised, because everyone who has ever interacted with me for more than ten seconds will automatically label me as an extrovert. Outgoing and loud (mostly loud if we're being brutally honest). However, this is not the same as being extroverted, or better yet this might mean I have some extroversion inside me, but I am not a pure extrovert at all. If anything I am a healthy mix. Yes, I can work with people well (although often I don't enjoy it) and yes, I can and often will be the loudest person in the room. Yes, I have an opinion that I love to share and yes, I do enjoy hearing myself speak. However, I am at my most content on my couch at night, reading a book, while my husband sits next to me yelling at the tv screen as he loses, yet another, FIFA match. 

This very long introduction just to say that I have it easy, since I can switch and I have both introverted and extroverted qualities. Many of my students don't. A third to a half of the population identify as introverts, which is something I discovered while listening to Susan Cain's Ted Talk (2012). This means that in every class I have in front of me, at least ten to fifteen students are introverts. And this is great! Or well, actually not so great for them because our education system is not built for them at all. From the way we arrange our classrooms to the ever increasing amount of group work that we assign, teachers make introverts' life at school a living hell. And more importantly we think we are right to do so. Because, surely nobody could ever prefer the quiet over noise? Nobody could ever prefer working alone over working with friends. Nobody could ever really want to be alone and be happy, Right? 

If I think long and hard I can recall hundreds of moments wherein I, unwittingly have uttered a phrase wherein imply that students who like to be alone are probably not doing well. Or where I praise children who are extroverted over those who are introverted. I can recall dozens of times where I forced students to work together simply because 'they will benefit from collaboration'. And of course they do. Collaboration is very valuable, but the way wherein we have our students collaborate allows for extroverts to shine and for introverts to cower and be unhappy. All this without realizing it, and this shows once again that people do the most of their harm unknowingly. Because even though I know that introverts exist and know damned well that they require a different environment to flourish, I still don't always actively acknowledge it and moreover often even seem to completely disregard it. And I know, that I am not the only one.  

So what can we do? How can we be better? How do we ensure that introverts have their own little spot within our classes wherein they can be wholly themselves? When I think of small first steps, three things instantly spring to mind: First of all, we should allow our students more choice, by having assignments wherein they CAN work together but aren't forced to. Secondly, we could create a little quiet corner where the tables are still in rows of two instead of groups. To allow students who dislike being surrounded a little more of a personal bubble. Finally, we can praise them, acknowledge their strenghts instead of critizizing them for that what they 'lack'. Yes, these are incredibly small steps, and yes, this won't fix the bigger problem of society not valuing introverts and not being built for them. BUT, all change must start somewhere, and if there is one thing teachers can do, it is to create change within their own classroom, small as it might be.