You’re Too Quiet: Why Student Engagement Is More Than Talking

Those who interact with me on a regular basis would not likely call me a quiet person. However, earlier in my life, this was not the case. I was much quieter in many of my interactions as a student and as an early professional.  

There are many learners who similarly self-identify as quiet. This is one reason my coauthors and I included an item on the Who’s in Class? Form giving students the opportunity to anonymously share such information and encourage their instructors to adopt more inclusive perspectives on classroom engagement. 

Many years ago as a learner, I wasn’t aware that quietness could impact my academic outcomes until one particular experience. I asked one of my educators to write letters of recommendations for me to participate in some programs that seemed like great opportunities. I thought I was doing relatively well in their class, but the educator responded that since I did not speak a lot relative to my peers, they could only say that I was receiving a particular grade in the class, and hence write fairly bland letters. Unfortunately, I had few references to choose from that fit within the guidelines so I still agreed for them to write the letters. Other references would also submit letters that I felt certain would be quite strong. 

The educator’s class involved a lot of writing and a peer review process where fellow students would critique the essays aloud during the class sessions. All writings had names redacted, but if desired, the authors could disclose their identities. This structure without ground rules or intervention enabled classmates to publicly shame the work done by their peers in what I perceived to be a scary form of peer review. I did not consider it a safe or a brave space to speak up at the time. 

Even though I was selected for all the programs to which I applied, I felt disheartened that being quiet was seen as a negative trait, and that my engagement in the class was viewed as lesser than. Such experiences made me concerned about my ability to perform well in other classes if I did not speak out as much as my peers. I often thought deeply through ideas, and I was not necessarily the first to engage as a learner. Yet, this experience revealed a component of the hidden curriculum – that I would be regarded as more academically astute if I spoke up more readily. This was particularly challenging as a Black female student in an educational setting where I was in the minority and experienced the pressures of stereotype threat. I did not want to say anything prematurely and come across as less intelligent. 

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic one of the many comments I heard from instructors was that using the Zoom chat area resulted in increased engagement by many students, especially those who were “quieter.” Instructors subsequently have also created various back channels for in-person classes and used tools like Slack to engage students in other ways beyond traditional hand raising. Many students who do not readily speak in class embrace these tools, and several students have told me and their instructors how much they have appreciated them. Instructors also use other forms of engagement such as discussion boards or other social annotation tools. 

We can find ways to be more inclusive of quiet students and not view raised hands as the only form of engagement, or participation, by our learners. We can also endeavor to create learning spaces where students feel empowered to speak up. Let’s do away with phrases like “you’re too quiet” and instead focus on the strengths that quiet students can bring to our classes. Susan Cain’s Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking is also worth a read.