This paper deals with the experience of introverted people in a school environment and how this environment responses to them. In the theoretical part, I begin with the presentation of personality and define two personality traits: introversion and extraversion. I describe the characteristics of these two traits and then focus on introversion and how this trait is perceived in today’s society. The next section sets introversion in a school environment, where I present the perception of introversion in a school context and experiencing school situations of adolescents with a more pronounced introversion trait; the problems that appear due to a possible misunderstanding of introversion; the hardships and environmental pressures experienced by introverted people in school situations; and how they deal with these situations. Lastly, in the theoretical part, I present the role of teachers and counselling services in handling introversion, suggestions for work and recommendations for introducing possible changes in their work in classes. I also present and compare the findings of some of the existing research on introversion in the education system and the expectations within it, as well as the emphasis of traits expressed by extraverted people in particular.
The empirical part is based on qualitative research. In it, through partially structured interviews, I explore how the selected introverted people involved in the education system experience themselves and the school environment, what their strategies to deal with unpleasant situations are, and what the expectations and responses of selected teachers and counsellors to them are. The study was comprised of eight people, which included 5 introverted adolescents, two teachers and a counsellor.
By carrying out the research, I have come to the conclusion that the interviewed adolescents with a more pronounced introversion experience many school situations as stressful. They have developed various strategies to cope with these situations, which helps them reduce the stress or cooperate in the situations more successfully. It turned out that they are experiencing a lack of understanding by others and the environmental pressure to behave more like extraverts. They expressed the desire that others should know more about this concept, understand their behaviour better and respect their needs for individual work or time to enter into interactions. The interviewed teachers and counsellor recognize the importance of recognizing such pupils and respecting their needs. They also see their role in providing the adolescents with positive experiences that they can gain through social interactions. They have also highlighted the desire to deepen their knowledge of this subject and get more guidance for working with adolescents who express their introversion trait.
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