After reading Karen Harris’s Embracing the Silence: Introverted Learning and the Online Classroom, I found myself reflecting deeply on my teaching practices, particularly around the concept of participation. I’ve often placed pressure on students to “actively participate,” sometimes even tying grades to this notion of engagement. However, this approach has sometimes led to students freezing or withdrawing, particularly those for whom English isn’t a first language or who are more introverted.
Harris’s critique of the active/passive dichotomy resonated strongly with me. Framing participation in these binary terms—active VS passive—creates an unhelpful polarisation. What about the space in between? What if silence itself could be a meaningful form of engagement?
Silence as Participation
Silence, I’ve come to realize, is not passivity. It can be an active, deliberate choice—a pause that allows for reflection. For naturally talkative students, choosing silence can create space for other peers to contribute. Harris’s perspective challenges us to rethink participation, not as a binary but as a spectrum that includes speaking, listening, reflecting, and observing.
This reflection leads me to question the language we use in assessment. Should we move beyond the terms “active” and “passive” participation? Instead, we might define participation as a multifaceted process that includes processing and considering ideas, as Harris so beautifully puts it: “processing, considering, and reflecting, rather than formulating and uttering superficial thoughts as a token of mental alertness.” (Harris, 2022)
Rethinking Equity in the Classroom
Another concept that warrants reconsideration is the pursuit of equality in the classroom. An equal classroom assumes that every student is the same, engaging in the same way. But real equity recognizes the diverse needs and engagement styles of students.
Some students thrive in discussion, while others prefer to observe and process internally.
Silence, in this context, becomes a tool for inclusivity. It allows space for all students—extroverted or introverted—to feel valued and to engage on their terms.
Dominant voices in the classroom might also reflect on how silence could create opportunities for other peers to participate, especially those for whom English is not their first language or who are more introverted and may need additional time and space to contribute.
Equity challenges us to disrupt traditional pedagogies. It’s not about enforcing compulsory participation, as Harris recalls her teacher saying in 1991: “You don’t leave this room until you’ve said something.” (Harris, 2022). This rigid stance mirrors Industrial Revolution-era notions of work, where constant activity and productivity were deemed the ultimate measures of success.
The Industrial Revolution’s Legacy in Education
Our current educational frameworks still bear the imprint of the Industrial Revolution. The factory model of education, as described by Audrey Davis in Impact of the Industrial Revolution on Education: From Factories to Classrooms, prioritized standardization and measurable productivity. Similarly, Michael Tomlinson’s The Implications of the Industrial Revolutions for Higher Education explores how successive industrial revolutions have framed education as a tool for economic productivity, focusing on preparing a workforce rather than fostering individual growth.
This legacy is evident in the classroom’s resistance to silence and stillness. We often equate productivity with success, expecting students to produce immediate responses rather than allowing them the time to reflect and process. Yet, as Harris argues, stillness and inactivity can be profoundly valuable, creating space where ideas can form, shift, and settle. Isn’t that also a form of participation?
Opportunities in Online Teaching
Teaching online has revealed unexpected challenges and opportunities, particularly regarding the sense of control I often hold in a physical classroom. When students turn their cameras off or mute their microphones, I find myself struggling to “read the room.” I lose the subtle cues—body language, facial expressions—that I rely on to gauge understanding, engagement, and the classroom’s overall energy. This disconnection leaves me feeling powerless and frustrated, exposing a reliance on monitoring my students to maintain a sense of authority.
Harris’s reflections helped me confront this discomfort and reframe my thinking. Do I subconsciously equate control with effective teaching? Am I clinging to a model where my role is to oversee and guide every aspect of classroom interaction? Harris challenges this assumption by showing how online teaching—despite its limitations—offers opportunities to rethink participation and power dynamics.
For instance, features like mute/unmute or camera-on/off grant students autonomy over their engagement. While this shift can feel disempowering for the teacher, it also redistributes agency to students. Chat functions, which allow for delayed, considered responses, highlight that meaningful participation doesn’t always have to be immediate or visible. These tools create space for students to engage on their own terms, offering a model of participation that values thoughtfulness and reflection over performative activity.
Harris’s work reminds me that learning flourishes in spaces where students feel empowered to participate in ways that align with their needs.
This shift requires vulnerability as a teacher. It asks me to trust my students to navigate their own learning journeys, even when their engagement isn’t immediately visible. But in doing so, I believe I can cultivate an environment where participation is redefined—as an authentic, inclusive and equitable process of learning.
References
Harris, K. (2022) Embracing the Silence: Introverted Learning and the Online Classroom. Available at: https://sparkjournal.arts.ac.uk/index.php/spark/article/view/161 (Accessed: 13 January 2024).
Davis, A. (2024) Impact of the Industrial Revolution on Education: From Factories to Classrooms. Available at: https://www.historyisnowmagazine.com (Accessed: 13 January 2024).
Tomlinson, M. (2022) The Implications of the Industrial Revolutions for Higher Education. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335442210_The_implications_of_the_Industrial_Revolutions_for_Higher_Education (Accessed: 13 January 2024).