So many schools and workplaces are now made so you're able to interact with people whenever and wherever you want, but is this as good as it sounds? Does constant interruption and interaction help with our learning and productivity?
For different lots of research, reading Quiet: The Power Of Introverts In A World That Can't Stop Talking by Susan Caine being the main piece of research I've learnt that these developments in this generation couldn't be further from the truth. Yes group work has it's positives including being able to interact with others and collecting different ideas however as people we are most productive and come up with the best ideas by being on our own in total solitude because we have no distractions and other people interrupting you can be incredibly distracting because our brains can only focus on one thing at a time.
By having open plan offices in many workplaces this means you are able to get interrupted at any time and can see what you are doing at any point of the working day. This can disturb introverts massively because they are not in complete solitude and privacy to be able to concentrate in the same way as they could if their office space was structured away from the other offices. This has a lot of negative points on people's health as well such as higher blood pressure, flues, the anxiety that causes fight or flight mode and headaches from the amount of noise and putting extra effort into concentrating because of this.
It doesn't just start in working places, it starts at schools where some classes arrange their tables in groups so students have to face each other and this encourages group work and makes it easier for teachers to put students into groups on a regular basis. As an introvert myself things like group work caused me so much stress and anxiety because i knew that being quiet it would be incredibly hard to add something to the group and when i did i was so paranoid i could be wrong even though if i worked on my own i would've been confident i was right. Teachers would also say things like "make sure everyone took part in the group" as if it was a crime to just sit back and observe what everyone else was saying. Little did they know that on average introverted people get the better grades and are generally more creative because they enjoy solitude. It is no surprise that teachers describe their 'perfect' student as outspoken, charming, enthusiastic, confident and always willing to contribute. It's extremely hard for introverts in this generation because the loudest people are always the ones who get heard even though they might not have put as much effort into their work as the introvert. It's not seen as normal as it used to be for students to do their own thing and spend a significant amount of time on their own it's now seen as rude that they don't want to participate with the rest of the class, teachers might think that something is bothering them or somethings wrong but little do they know some people actually like to be on their own and 'do their own thing' this is when some people feel their best and most people work better on their own. At school as soon as i heard the words "now can you get into groups of 4" or however many the number was i instantly got pangs of anxiety and dread for what was going to come. People underestimate how stressed it makes an introvert and most likely that group of people are going to be extroverted.
I enjoyed lessons such as English and R.E because the teachers hardly ever put us into groups and we could focus on our own work and i believe this is part of the reason why i loved these subjects so much at School. By not having to worry about group work i could totally concentrate on my work by myself. Reading at the start of English lessons meant total solitude which also helped incredibly, people really don't see how much solitude and quietness can be such a positive, motivational thing within creativity. There is nothing like peace and quiet. School's encourage extroverts to be even more extroverted which gains even more anxiety to introverts.
I understand that it's good to teach children at a young age about interaction and the benefits to group work for when they get older and to teach people skills because that is one of the most important skills we need as humans but i think it's been taken to the extreme. We need to take a step back and think of the benefits towards introverts rather than living in a completely extroverted way because a lot of people are not extroverts. I'm not saying it's bad to be loud and charismatic i'm just seeing we need both types of characters and each one has their benefits. We just need ways to complement both introverts and extroverts.
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