The Introverted Headteacher

Okay, perhaps that's an exaggeration, but I wanted to grab your attention, so stick with me. In my upcoming book, I argue that our education system is disadvantaging introverted children to the extent that many of our young people will leave school without reaching their full potential. I put forward the case for making significant changes in practice to address this disadvantage and unleash the potential of introverts. I am really excited to have the opportunity to contribute to changing our school culture in this way. I read a news story yesterday which could serve as a metaphor for my mission, so I want to share that with you in this blog. If you haven't already done so, I suggest reading my post from yesterday on my other blog (exheadteacher.blogspot.com) in conjunction with this one, as there is a clear connection between them. The news story in question related to Ukraine's successful drone attack on Russian bombers, a strategic attack that reportedly took 18 months t...

I saw a headline today related to the former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern. It caught my eye as she is one of the examples I have used in my book to illustrate that introverts can become successful leaders, and from reading about her, I became an admirer of both her style and what she stands for. Unfortunately, the article that the headline was describing was not a positive one. It was written by a right-wing journalist called Chris Lynch and was basically a hit piece condemning her for the way that her government managed the pandemic in her country. Reading Lynch's words is an incredibly depressing experience and makes me recall the morons who quoted the Magna Carta as justifying their actions during lockdown. In my book I have written not just about Ardern but also more generally about the challenges of being an introverted leader, and it appears from this article that the challenges remain despite her no longer being in political office. From what I know about he...

Sports days pose significant issues for the introverted headteacher and for introverted children, too. As an introvert, the last thing you want to do is stand in front of a crowd of parents with a megaphone in your hand, so don't. Instead, delegate this role to your sportiest member of staff. You know the one. They are usually dressed in a tracksuit and spend most of the week talking about their park runs. It will be good for their profile, and they will do a better job leading the event than you would. Be present, but this is one occasion where you don't have to be the one out front. It's trickier to manage the event for introverted children. Sadly, we live in a society where parents withdraw their children from things they don't want to do, and while I understand that, we all know that is not the way to do it. As an introvert, you are well placed to predict the parts of sports day that are least introvert-friendly and change them for the better. Once you have done thi...

Quiet, by Susan Cain, was a complete game changer for me. Reading her book has given me some real clarity about why certain aspects of daily life are particularly challenging for me. I am pretty sure that I have made my nearest and dearest sick of the term 'introvert' since I finished Cain's amazing book, though, as I seem to have spent the majority of my waking hours explaining to them that my 'quirks' are not conscious and deliberate, and that I can't help the way I am! On a serious note, reading her book has also helped me understand myself, as I always had a sneaking suspicion that I was weird somehow. This opinion has been reinforced by society and the people within it over a lifetime of experiences, and it is so empowering to be able to say that I cannot help it as I am an introvert. Actually, I am proud of being one, as it gives me a number of advantages over my more extroverted peers. I wonder if being an extrovert is as much a part of the lives of peopl...

Before yesterday, I had no firsthand experience of the phenomenon of pets turning into their owners. That all changed when seven of my extended family members popped round for afternoon tea. I was really excited for them to see how much my two cats had grown, as they hadn’t seen them since Christmas, and I bought their favourite treats (my cat’s and my family’s) to share. My cats live a quiet life, and the most people they ever see in one go is three, so I really should have been the first one up the stairs of my second-floor flat rather than letting seven ‘strangers’ in to meet the cats face-to-face first. I didn’t think of that, though, so only the first person into the flat actually saw them, and that was for a fraction of a second, before they disappeared up the second flight of stairs, where they remained under my bed for the next two hours. One of my visitors is a vet, so I did my usual overthinking (I am a typical introvert) and was stressed out for the entire visit, thinking th...