We all move along the continuum of introvert and extrovert behaviors and preferences all day long.
– Patricia Weber

A three-article Exchange Reflections, “Introverts? Extroverts? Supporting All Children,” invites educators to explore preferences for introversion and extroversion in young children. An article by Natasha Daniels explains that “introverts tend to observe a situation before they jump in. They build up confidence. The more they understand the environment and the people around them, the more relaxed they become.” She encourages educators to “teach introverted kids how to have a voice, but don’t do it by taking their voice away.”

An article by William A. Mosier and Ross Glen Chandler Nunamaker describes extroverted children as desiring to “seek interaction with others, whether direct or indirect. Therefore, an adult need only be responsive to a young extrovert who is seeking interaction with the adult. When a young child wants social interaction, the adult role is to share in the activity that the child is engaged in playing. Simply put, follow the child’s lead. She or he will guide the degree of your attention that is wanted.”

The final article, by Liane Nakano, invites us to take an open-minded approach to these insights, and to not think about children’s preferences too rigidly. “As educators, the challenge has been put upon us: to create a classroom culture of understanding and acceptance of all and move beyond labels and stereotypes that limit and/or define children and their behaviors.”

This Exchange Reflections encourages groups to discuss how our own tendencies toward introversion and extroversion might  impact how we respond to children with similar or opposite tendencies. It provides a helpful framework that can lead to better understanding of each child’s individual needs.