September 29, 2015


News Clips For The Day


http://www.cbsnews.com/news/vladimir-putin-un-speech-syria-ukraine-obama/

Putin: "We can no longer tolerate the current state of affairs in the world"
CBS NEWS
September 28, 2015

Photograph -- Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses attendees during the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. Headquarters in New York, September 28, 2015. REUTERS/MIKE SEGAR
Play VIDEO -- President Putin, part one
Play VIDEO -- President Putin, part two


NEW YORK - Russian President Vladimir Putin took a defiant tone in his highly-anticipated United Nations address on Monday, ahead of a planned meeting with President Barack Obama.

Putin spent much of the speech delivering the Russian perspective on world affairs, which he said is nothing more than "honest and frank." Putin dismissed many Western officials' expressed fears about Russian expansionism, saying the Kremlin has been accused too often of "growing ambitions."

"It's not about Russia's ambitions but recognition of the fact that we can no longer tolerate the current state of affairs in the world," Putin said.

The Russian president also mocked Western ideals and how they were applied to the Arab Spring, singling out Libya as an example of how things can go wrong. Instead of the promise of democratic reform, "we got violence, poverty and social disaster," Putin said.

Putin said the "export of revolutions" continue to fail. He slammed unnamed countries' "policies of self-conceit and a belief in exceptionality that has never been abandoned."

The Russian president also continued to defend his support for embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad, just as he did in a "60 Minutes" interview with Charlie Rose before his U.N. speech.

"We think it is an enormous mistake to refuse to cooperate with the Syrian government and its armed forces who are valiantly fighting terrorism face to face," Putin said. "We should finally acknowledge that no one but President Assad's armed forces and (Kurdish) militia are truly fighting (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) and other terrorist organizations in Syria."

Those sentiments echo the argument Putin made on "60 Minutes," but in the earlier interview he also conceded that "there is no other solution to the Syrian crisis than strengthening the effective government structures and rendering them help in fighting terrorism, but, at the same time, urging them to engage in positive dialogue with the rational opposition and conduct reform."

At his U.N. speech, Putin also urged the creation of a broad anti-terror coalition, similar to the "anti-Hitler" coalition that formed during World War II.

NATO was also specifically called out by Putin as having sown disorder in the world.

"NATO continues expanding," he said, adding that it offers "poor former Soviet countries a false choice, either be with the West or the East."

He blamed that expansionism and false choice on the chaos in Ukraine, where Putin said the the "discontent of the population was manipulated" and ended in "a military coup orchestrated from outside."

While Putin didn't name America directly in his speech, he appeared to accuse recent presidential administrations in Washington of trying to force their will on others, and implied only the U.N. stands in the way of the U.S.' global domination.

"After the end of the Cold War, the single center of domination has emerged in the world," Putin said. "Those who have found themselves on top of that pyramid were tempted to think that since they are so strong and singular, they know what to do better than others and it's unnecessary to pay any attention to the U.N."




“Putin said the "export of revolutions" continue to fail. He slammed unnamed countries' "policies of self-conceit and a belief in exceptionality that has never been abandoned." …. "We think it is an enormous mistake to refuse to cooperate with the Syrian government and its armed forces who are valiantly fighting terrorism face to face," Putin said. "We should finally acknowledge that no one but President Assad's armed forces and (Kurdish) militia are truly fighting (the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) and other terrorist organizations in Syria." .... "there is no other solution to the Syrian crisis than strengthening the effective government structures and rendering them help in fighting terrorism, but, at the same time, urging them to engage in positive dialogue with the rational opposition and conduct reform." At his U.N. speech, Putin also urged the creation of a broad anti-terror coalition, similar to the "anti-Hitler" coalition that formed during World War II. …. "NATO continues expanding," he said, adding that it offers "poor former Soviet countries a false choice, either be with the West or the East." …. While Putin didn't name America directly in his speech, he appeared to accuse recent presidential administrations in Washington of trying to force their will on others, and implied only the U.N. stands in the way of the U.S.' global domination.”

I agree with most of the things Putin said here – the US has tended to send in “advisors” where a conflict is raging on the part of one party over the other, (which is exactly what Russia also does) which could be described as “the export of revolutions;” only the Assad and Kurdish forces are really fighting ISIS (though I have hopes for the reported tenacity of Iranian forces); Syria’s government needs to be bolstered, though I question a leader who has used mustard gas on minorities in his regions; a “broad anti-terror coalition” whose membership he doesn’t specify would be most helpful for defeating ISIS. As for

Putin’s being “unable to tolerate” the present state of affairs, if he means that he would like to invade Western Ukraine, that would not be met peacefully by the Republicans in Congress, or by most of the nations of Europe. If he means he plans to put in lots of Russian ground troops into Syria to fight ISIS, I would be glad of that because their defeat is what I want to see. I would like to see both the US and Russia work together with Iran, the Kurds and the others who have formed this recent alliance, because so many of the local tribal people are totally terrified of ISIS. Even when they have weapons, they don’t fight, so somebody else needs to do it.

I don’t believe that the US engineered the toppling of Yanukovich except by passive resistance means and financing. The Ukrainian people have been fighting against Russia, Poland and some others for their freedom since 2004. If the US interfered there with financing, etc., which it did (see Wikipedia article below) it was justifiable since Russia has never promoted “freedom” or democracy anywhere, and the situation in Crimea was nothing short of an invasion. A Ukrainian woman was speaking on NPR today and she described Putin as “a criminal.” It has been awhile since I saw an article on Ukraine, so I have clipped the information below. See this Wikipedia excerpt.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine
Ukraine
Wikipedia

Orange Revolution[edit]

Main article: Orange Revolution

“Protesters at Independence Square on the first day of the Orange Revolution
In 2004, Viktor Yanukovych, then Prime Minister, was declared the winner of the presidential elections, which had been largely rigged, as the Supreme Court of Ukraine later ruled.[122] The results caused a public outcry in support of the opposition candidate, Viktor Yushchenko, who challenged the outcome. This resulted in the peaceful Orange Revolution, bringing Viktor Yushchenko and Yulia Tymoshenko to power, while casting Viktor Yanukovych in opposition.[123]

Activists of the Orange Revolution were funded and trained in tactics of political organisation and nonviolent resistance by Western pollsters[clarification needed] and professional consultants[who?] who were partly funded by Western government and non-government agencies but received most of their funding from domestic sources.[nb 1][124] According to The Guardian, the foreign donors included the U.S. State Department and USAID along with the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, the International Republican Institute, the NGO Freedom House and George Soros's Open Society Institute.[125] The National Endowment for Democracy has supported democracy-building efforts in Ukraine since 1988.[126] Writings on nonviolent struggle by Gene Sharp contributed in forming the strategic basis of the student campaigns.[127]

Russian authorities provided support through advisers such as Gleb Pavlovsky, consulting on blackening the image of Yushchenko through the state media, pressuring state-dependent voters to vote for Yanukovich and on vote-rigging techniques such as multiple 'carousel voting' and 'dead souls'.[124]

Yanukovych returned to power in 2006 as Prime Minister in the Alliance of National Unity,[128] until snap elections in September 2007 made Tymoshenko Prime Minister again.[129] Amid the 2008–09 Ukrainian financial crisis the Ukrainian economy plunged by 15%.[130] Disputes with Russia briefly stopped all gas supplies to Ukraine in 2006 and again in 2009, leading to gas shortages in other countries.[131][132] Viktor Yanukovych was elected President in 2010 with 48% of votes.[133]

Euromaidan and 2014 revolution[edit]
For more details on the ongoing protests, see Timeline of the Euromaidan.

Euromaidan. State flag of Ukraine carried by a protester to the heart of developing clashes in Kiev. Events of 18 February 2014 – photograph.

The Euromaidan (Ukrainian: Євромайдан, literally "Eurosquare") protests started in November 2013 after the president, Viktor Yanukovych, began shying away from an association agreement that had been in the works with the European Union and instead chose to establish closer ties with the Russian Federation.[134][135] Some Ukrainians took to the streets to show their support for closer ties with Europe.[136] Meanwhile, in the predominantly Russian-speaking east, a large portion of the population opposed the Euromaidan protests, instead supporting the Yanukovych government.[137] Over time, Euromaidan came to describe a wave of demonstrations and civil unrest in Ukraine,[138] the scope of which evolved to include calls for the resignation of President Yanukovych and his government.[139]

Violence escalated after 16 January 2014 when the government accepted new Anti-Protest Laws. Anti-government demonstrators occupied buildings in the centre of Kiev, including the Justice Ministry building, and riots left 98 dead with approximately fifteen thousand injured and 100 considered missing[140][141][142][143] from 18 to 20 February.[144][145] Owing to violent protests on 22 February 2014, Members of Parliament found the president unable to fulfill his duties[citation needed] and exercised "constitutional powers"[citation needed] to set an election for 25 May to select his replacement.[146] Petro Poroshenko, running on a pro-European Union platform, won with over fifty percent of the vote, therefore not requiring a run-off election.[147][148][149] Upon his election, Poroshenko announced that his immediate priorities would be to take action in the civil unrest in Eastern Ukraine and mend ties with Russian Federation.[147][148][149] Poroshenko was inaugurated as president on 7 June 2014, as previously announced by his spokeswoman Irina Friz in a low-key ceremony without a celebration on Kiev's Maidan Nezalezhnosti square (the center of the Euromaidan protests[150]) for the ceremony.[151][152] In October 2014, Ukrainians voted to keep Poroshenko in power.[153]





http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/09/when-america-was-great-taxes-were-high-unions-were-strong-and-government-was-big/407284/

When America Was 'Great,' Taxes Were High, Unions Were Strong, and Government Was Big
ESTER BLOOM
September, 2015


The bygone nation Donald Trump’s supporters yearn for looks awfully liberal, at least in terms of economic policy.

There is plenty about GOP hopeful Donald Trump to which potential primary voters respond. He’s successful. He’s plainspoken. At a time when politicians are historically unpopular, he’s not a politician. And he has a great slogan.

That slogan resonates with his supporters, according to Republican pollster Frank Luntz, who ran a recent focus group, the results of which were written about in Time. “I used to sleep on my front porch with the door wide open, and now everyone has deadbolts,” one man told Luntz. “I believe the best days of the country are behind us.” Luntz concluded that people see Trump as a “real-deal fixer-upper,” able to make repairs that others have bungled. “We know his goal is to make America great again,” one woman astutely observed. “It’s on his hat.”z

It could be on your hat too—Trump has begun selling “Make America Great Again” merchandise—if you can find one, that is. They have a tendency to sell out.

As Russell Berman pointed out in The Atlantic earlier this month, many white Americans these days are pessimistic to the point of despair:

White Americans—and in particular those under 30 or nearing retirement age—have all but given up on the American Dream. More than four out of five younger whites, and more than four out of five respondents between the ages of 51 and 64 said The Dream is suffering.

No wonder Trump’s message is so powerful—it’s a sugar pill coated with nostalgia. He is not promising to make America great, he’s promising to make it great again. But to what era does he intend to take the nation back? And what would that look like, practically speaking?

The boundaries of America’s “golden age” are clear on one end and fuzzy on the other. Everyone agrees that the midcentury boom times began after Allied soldiers returned in triumph from World War II. But when did they wane? The economist Joe Stiglitz, in an article in Politico Magazine titled “The Myth Of The American Golden Age,” sets the endpoint at 1980, a year until which “the fortunes of the wealthy and the middle class rose together.” Others put the cut-off earlier, at the economic collapse of 1971 and the ensuring [sic] malaise. Regardless of when it ended, it would not be unfair to use the ’50s as shorthand for this now glamorized period of plenty, peace, and the kind of optimism only plenty and peace can produce.

In 1950, America led the world in GDP per capita. Even by 1973, it had only sunk to number two. Jobs were so plentiful that male employment peaked at over 84 percent. Unemployment, when it did strike, didn’t last long. Housing was cheap. Gas was cheap. Movies were cheap. If America was ever “great,” it was great in 1950, and one can sympathize with a desire to recreate those economic conditions, if not the social ones.

Most of Trump’s supporters (but not all) deserve some benefit of the doubt that when they look wistfully at the past, they aren’t yearning for Jim Crow laws, Communist witch hunts, or an age before women could own credit cards.

Still, Trump’s supporters might not appreciate what an economic return to the ’50s—even a ’50s lacking overt discrimination against women and political, racial, and sexual minorities—would entail. The ’50 were, as Stiglitz puts it, “a time of war-induced solidarity when the government kept the playing field level.” In other words, they were a time of Big Government. And Big Labor: As Alternet reports, “By 1953, more than one out of three American workers were members of private sector unions. That means there was a union member in nearly every family.”

Then there’s the matter of taxes. Though a conservative writer at Bloomberg View scoffs at the oft-cited statistic that the top marginal tax rate in the ‘50s was an astounding 91 percent, even she admits that “the Internal Revenue Service reckoned that the effective rate of tax in 1954 for top earners was actually 70 percent”—vastly higher than it is today. Indeed, for most of the past 100 years, tax rates have been much higher than they are now, including during some boom times.

If bigger government, stronger unions, and higher taxes on the rich are what it takes to make America great again, Republican primary voters might be surprised to learn that the candidate who truly shares their values is not Donald Trump, but Bernie Sanders.




“In 1950, America led the world in GDP per capita. Even by 1973, it had only sunk to number two. Jobs were so plentiful that male employment peaked at over 84 percent. Unemployment, when it did strike, didn’t last long. Housing was cheap. Gas was cheap. Movies were cheap. If America was ever “great,” it was great in 1950, and one can sympathize with a desire to recreate those economic conditions, if not the social ones. …. Though a conservative writer at Bloomberg View scoffs at the oft-cited statistic that the top marginal tax rate in the ‘50s was an astounding 91 percent, even she admits that “the Internal Revenue Service reckoned that the effective rate of tax in 1954 for top earners was actually 70 percent”—vastly higher than it is today. Indeed, for most of the past 100 years, tax rates have been much higher than they are now, including during some boom times.”

I’ll say one thing for Bernie Sanders. Even if very few Republicans would admit to wanting those characteristics – high taxes, high union membership, low unemployment, and big government – to return, the need for peace and prosperity for all including the Middle Class is very keenly felt right now, at least by those I associate with. I also want to see the poor much more comfortable as well, however, which Sanders would probably encourage. His interesting proposal of free tuition at state operated colleges is new to me, though he said it used to be the case in an article a day or two ago. I don’t remember that. Maybe he means “for the very poor.” What I do remember was that when I went to the NC state run university at Chapel Hill, my tuition as an in-state student was lower than that for outsiders, and I was given student aid. I do believe some education above the high school level is essential in a young person’s path to a higher economic level. They need some kind of education that gives them specialized training for today’s modern job market – medical fields, computer skills, law and paralegal, etc. are all good areas to study, as they produce a technically trained worker who is more desirable to employers. When we talk about education we should forget about the difficulties of the world of work. A four year degree needs to be followed up with a two year specialization of some kind. Even teachers need a Masters Degree in Education.





http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/09/29/444466169/edward-snowden-joins-twitter-follows-the-nsa

Edward Snowden Joins Twitter, Follows The NSA
Eyder Peralta
September 29, 2015

Photograph -- Former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden appears live via video during a student organized world affairs conference at the Upper Canada College private high school in Toronto in February.
Mark Blinch/Reuters/Landov


Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden has joined Twitter.

His first tweet:

But perhaps the most telling detail of the nascent account is that the only account he is currently following is that of the National Security Agency.

Remember, Snowden sought asylum in Russia after he leaked a trove of classified information to reporters. The U.S. government has charged him with espionage and theft and has called for him to come back home to face the consequences of his actions.

Shortly after his first Tweet, Snowden responded to astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, who welcomed him to Twitter.

This conversation ensued:

Edward Snowden ✔ @Snowden
.@neiltyson Thanks for the welcome. And now we've got water on Mars! Do you think they check passports at the border? Asking for a friend.
12:38 PM - 29 Sep 2015

Neil deGrasse Tyson ✔ @neiltyson
Ed @Snowden, If you visit Mars, I'd bet any life forms there will greet you with a sip of that water -- and a tourist visa.
12:46 PM - 29 Sep 2015

Edward Snowden ✔ @Snowden
.@neiltyson Surveillance never sleeps, and secret projects @FreedomofPress are keeping me busy, but I still find time for cat pictures.
1:01 PM - 29 Sep 2015

Neil deGrasse Tyson ✔ @neiltyson
Ed @Snowden, many call you Hero, others Traitor. Whatever else you are, you’re a Geek to me. What do you say to those labels?
1:03 PM - 29 Sep 2015

Edward Snowden ✔ @Snowden
.@neiltyson Hero, traitor -- I'm just a citizen with a voice. [1/2]
1:17 PM - 29 Sep 2015

Edward Snowden ✔ @Snowden
.@neiltyson, @DanielEllsberg told me #labels never stopped progress. Neither in 1776 nor today. [2/2]
1:23 PM - 29 Sep 2015

Neil deGrasse Tyson ✔ @neiltyson
Ed @Snowden, after discussing everything from Chemistry to the Constitution on #StarTalk, you're a patriot to me. Stay safe.
1:30 PM - 29 Sep 2015


It's worth noting that Snowden's account also includes photographs of newspapers with the front-page news that the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had found the bulk collection of Americans' phone data was illegal, going beyond what Congress intended when it wrote Section 215 of the Patriot Act.

Snowden's leaks helped shed light on the secretive surveillance programs undertaken by the NSA. It also sparked a congressional debate about the practices that ultimately led to the USA Freedom Act, which will end the bulk collection of Americans' phone data as it currently operates.




“But perhaps the most telling detail of the nascent account is that the only account he is currently following is that of the National Security Agency. …. Edward Snowden ✔ @Snowden -- .@neiltyson Hero, traitor -- I'm just a citizen with a voice. [1/2]. …. It's worth noting that Snowden's account also includes photographs of newspapers with the front-page news that the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had found the bulk collection of Americans' phone data was illegal, going beyond what Congress intended when it wrote Section 215 of the Patriot Act. …. sparked a congressional debate about the practices that ultimately led to the USA Freedom Act, which will end the bulk collection of Americans' phone data as it currently operates.”

I think Snowden will be forced to stay in Russia, and I hope he does. To me he is a “hero” in that I believe in the right of Americans to engage in “whistle-blowing” for the purpose of exposing corrupt activities wherever they exist. Some of the most foul messes I can think of were exposed that way, and those who courageously made that move are sometimes punished very severely. What comes to mind off hand is Watergate. All power structures tend to become corrupt, by their very nature. When people tussle for power, they tend to become less and less merciful as individuals and usually to cheat freely if winning becomes the ONLY goal. The US government is no exception. The Right Wing crowd believes that an unquestioning loyalty to the government is necessary for a “patriotic” society. I believe that my loyalty should always be to what is right rather than what or who is in power.

As Lord Acton who was a Victorian British historian said: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end. Every thing secret degenerates, even the administration of justice; nothing is safe that does not show how it can bear discussion and publicity. Learn as much by writing as by reading. The issue which has swept down the centuries and which will have to be fought sooner or later is the people versus the banks. Opinions alter, manners change, creeds rise and fall, but the moral laws are written on the table of eternity. The most certain test by which we judge whether a country is really free is the amount of security enjoyed by minorities. Liberty is not the power of doing what we like, but the right to do what we ought. History is not a burden on the memory but an illumination of the soul. Be not content with the best book; seek sidelights from the others; have no favourites. ” See the following for more on this often quoted Catholic scholar.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dalberg-Acton,_1st_Baron_Acton
John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton, KCVO, DL (10 January 1834 – 19 June 1902)—known as Sir John Dalberg-Acton, 8th Baronet from 1837 to 1869 and usually referred to simply as Lord Acton—was an English Catholic historian, politician, and writer. He was the only son of Sir Ferdinand Dalberg-Acton, 7th Baronet[1] and a grandson of the Neapolitan admiral Sir John Acton, 6th Baronet.[2][3] He is perhaps best known for the remark, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men."[4] His key idea has been tested in laboratory settings under strongly incentivized conditions and with real manipulations of power and confirms what he has suggested: that power corrupts.[5]”

From an old Roman Catholic family, young Acton was educated at Oscott College under Dr (afterwards Cardinal) Wiseman until 1848 and then at Edinburgh where he studied privately. At Munich, Acton resided in the house of Johann Joseph Ignaz von Döllinger, theologian and forerunner of the Old Catholic Church, with whom he became lifelong friends. His attempt to be admitted to study at the University of Cambridge failed because he was a Catholic.[3] Nonetheless, Döllinger had inspired in him a deep love of historical research and a profound conception of its functions as a critical instrument, particularly in the history of liberty.[6] He was a master of the principal foreign languages and began at an early age to collect a magnificent historical library, with the object—which, however, he never realised—of writing a great "History of Liberty." In politics, he was always an ardent Liberal.[3]

Career[edit]

Portrait of John Acton by Franz Seraph von Lenbach, circa 1879.
Through extensive travels, Acton spent much time in the chief intellectual centres reading the actual correspondence of historical personalities.[6] Among his friends were Montalembert, Tocqueville, Fustel de Coulanges, Bluntschli, von Sybel and Ranke. In 1855, he was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Shropshire.[1] A year later, he was attached to Lord Granville's mission to Moscow as British representative at the coronation of Alexander II of Russia.[7]





http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2015/09/introverts-at-school-overlook/407467/

When Schools Overlook Introverts
MICHAEL GODSEY 8:00 AM ET
September 2015

As the focus on group work and collaboration increases, classrooms are neglecting the needs of students who work better in quiet settings.


When Susan Cain published Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking nearly four years ago, it was immediately met with acclaim. The book criticizes schools and other key institutions for primarily accommodating extroverts and such individuals’ “need for lots of stimulation.” Much to introverts’ relief, it also seeks to raise awareness about the personality type, particularly among those who’ve struggled to understand it.

It seems that such efforts have, for the most part, struggled to effect much change in the educational world. The way in which certain instructional trends—education buzzwords like “collaborative learning” and “project-based learning” and “flipped classrooms”—are applied often neglect the needs of introverts. In fact, these trends could mean that classroom environments that embrace extroverted behavior—through dynamic and social learning activities—are being promoted now more than ever. These can be appealing qualities in the classroom, of course, but overemphasizing them can undermine the learning of students who are inward-thinking and easily drained by constant interactions with others.

Just last week the University of Chicago library announced that in response to “increased demand,” librarians are working with architects to transform a presumably quiet reading room into a “vibrant laboratory of interactive learning.” One writer on Top Hat, a popular online resource for educators, argued in a post last month that “cooperative learning strategies harness the greatest part of human evolutionary behavior: sociality.” And earlier this month, Cal State University, Dominguez Hills, promoted their installation of “active learning classrooms” with “multiple desk formations” in which “professors must change their mindsets” because “the lectures should be designed to learn by doing.” Hamoud Salhi, a professor and acting associate dean, explains, “This project is not just about changing the classroom environment; it is also about changing how instructors approach teaching.”

Meanwhile, some advocates for “active learning classrooms” write about “breaking students and faculty out of their comfort zones” like it’s a good thing, and other teachers continue to conflate introversion and an inability to self-advocate. Dartmouth’s Institute for Writing and Rhetoric advertises a pedagogy that “seeks to overhaul the model of education” and challenges students to “forego passivity in favor of contribution and participation...students must overcome isolation in order to learn to write.” And Liz Sproat, head of Google for Education—an organization that doesn’t see a profit when students simply read quietly and think introspectively—situates “the increase in collaborative working” as an agreed-upon premise in an article on ComputerWeek.com, one that Google can make more “cost-effective.”

Introverts “feel at their most alive and their most switched-on when they’re in quieter, low-key environments.”

This growing emphasis in classrooms on group projects and other interactive arrangements can be challenging for introverted students who tend to perform better when they’re working independently and in more subdued environments. Comprising anywhere from one third to about half of the population, introverts sometimes appear shy, depressed, or antisocial, when that’s not always the case. As Susan Cain put it in her famous TED Talk, introverts simply “feel at their most alive and their most switched-on and their most capable when they’re in quieter, more low-key environments.”

I started reflecting on this recently after observing classes at a public high school in California. (I teach English at a different public high school and visited the school as a professional-development activity.) All but four of the 26 teachers I witnessed had their students arranged in groups or with partners. Such formations aren’t necessarily irreconcilable with the needs of introverts, but these arrangements can inherently enable noisy, distracting conditions that make learning particularly difficult for certain students.

Many of my own high-school students regularly request extended sessions of silent reading. Some prefer learning with the fluorescent classroom lights off, instead relying on the softer sunlight coming in through the window. Some admit to enjoying the opportunity to work in a quiet room and are eager to write about certain prompts for as long as I let them. I used to think their ubiquitous earbuds were feeding their need for stimulation; now I wonder if they’re sometimes blocking out the noise.

These are, of course, generalized observations, but I recently met with two high-school students who spoke directly and frankly about their need for quiet, solitary learning environments. Both of proudly spoke of their success at Grizzly Youth Academy, a 22-week charter-school program in San Luis Obispo, California, targeted at teens who’ve had a “history of school failure” at a previous school. Asked what she thought facilitated her success, one student responded: “The structure—I can concentrate here.” Acknowledging her tendency to get distracted, the student noted that there was “absolutely no quiet time” at her former public school, and she now appreciates the disciplined classes and quiet study hall sessions. “I’m like a completely different person now.”

The other student, whom I interviewed separately, offered similar reflections: “It’s more focused here [at the charter school], and noisier there [at the public school]. I have ADD so I’m usually distracted.” Beaming, he added, “but now I’m getting the best grades ever. I’m able to concentrate here more.”

It’s striking to me that a premise on Grizzly’s website is that there are “students who struggle in school [because they] often lack social and emotional skills to succeed in the classroom,” and the students themselves are quick to diagnose themselves with an inability to concentrate at their former school. The improvement they’re describing at Grizzly, however, isn’t based on a cure for a dysfunction or a breakthrough in social skills—it’s just a significant change in environment. And in the five Grizzly classrooms I observed, the students sat in rows that Cain nostalgically praised in her talk—the traditional classroom setup in which, Cain said, “we did most of our work autonomously.”

Certainly, group activities can serve a purpose in the teaching of introverts. In part because of the Common Core standards and the Internet increasingly serving as a proxy for classroom teachers, “cooperative learning” has grown in popularity among teachers in recent decades. As the English teacher Abigail Walthausen noted in The Atlantic two years ago, “Common Core standards place far greater value on small-group discussion and student-led work than on any teacher-led instruction.” And overall, this trend is a good thing. Several recent studies offer the latest evidence that students who engage in cooperative learning tend to outperform those immersed in traditional learning approaches—namely lectures. But cooperative learning doesn’t have to entail excessively social or overstimulating mandates; it can easily involve quiet components that facilitate internal contemplation.

Near the end of my observations last week, I told two teachers on separate occasions that I’d feel incredibly exhausted at the end of every day if I were a student at that school. To my surprise, both of them responded by immediately laughing and then agreeing. One recalled learning best when arranged in rows, while the other concurred, “I know, right? How exhausting it must be to have another student in your business all day long.”

The ideal, of course, would be to establish arrangements that facilitate differentiated instruction for varying personality types, but this might be difficult in large classes with students of diverse levels of proficiency and motivation. I’ve noticed that, like Grizzly, the private schools I’ve visited also seem to create space for the introverted students, ultimately resembling the university classes to which they hope to send their students. And at the aforementioned public school I observed, three of the four classes where students were in fact seated individually in rows were AP or honors courses.

But I’m reminded of Sartre’s famous line, “Hell is other people,” when I see that Georgia College’s webpage dedicated to collaborative learning, which includes the topic sentence: “Together is how we do everything here at Georgia College. Learn. Work. Play. Live. Together.” Everything, that is, except quiet introspection, free of cost and distraction.




“The book criticizes schools and other key institutions for primarily accommodating extroverts and such individuals’ “need for lots of stimulation.” Much to introverts’ relief, it also seeks to raise awareness about the personality type, particularly among those who’ve struggled to understand it. …. The way in which certain instructional trends—education buzzwords like “collaborative learning” and “project-based learning” and “flipped classrooms”—are applied often neglect the needs of introverts. …. Just last week the University of Chicago library announced that in response to “increased demand,” librarians are working with architects to transform a presumably quiet reading room into a “vibrant laboratory of interactive learning.” …. promoted their installation of “active learning classrooms” with “multiple desk formations” in which “professors must change their mindsets” because “the lectures should be designed to learn by doing.” …. Meanwhile, some advocates for “active learning classrooms” write about “breaking students and faculty out of their comfort zones” like it’s a good thing, and other teachers continue to conflate introversion and an inability to self-advocate. …. Introverts “feel at their most alive and their most switched-on when they’re in quieter, low-key environments.” This growing emphasis in classrooms on group projects and other interactive arrangements can be challenging for introverted students who tend to perform better when they’re working independently and in more subdued environments. Comprising anywhere from one third to about half of the population, introverts sometimes appear shy, depressed, or antisocial, when that’s not always the case. …. All but four of the 26 teachers I witnessed had their students arranged in groups or with partners. Such formations aren’t necessarily irreconcilable with the needs of introverts, but these arrangements can inherently enable noisy, distracting conditions that make learning particularly difficult for certain students. …. Both of proudly spoke of their success at Grizzly Youth Academy, a 22-week charter-school program in San Luis Obispo, California, targeted at teens who’ve had a “history of school failure” at a previous school. Asked what she thought facilitated her success, one student responded: “The structure—I can concentrate here.” Acknowledging her tendency to get distracted, the student noted that there was “absolutely no quiet time” at her former public school, and she now appreciates the disciplined classes and quiet study hall sessions. “

“The improvement they’re describing at Grizzly, however, isn’t based on a cure for a dysfunction or a breakthrough in social skills—it’s just a significant change in environment. And in the five Grizzly classrooms I observed, the students sat in rows that Cain nostalgically praised in her talk—the traditional classroom setup in which, Cain said, “we did most of our work autonomously.”

As one of those partially introverted people, I found this article very informative and comforting. It took me a while to realize that the constant interaction of others, especially if it is not a very high quality of input, is not only distracting, it is exhausting and adds no new information. Those of us who are introverts, or myself at any rate, can “collect data from the environment,” i.e. observe laboratory work and listen to the comments of other students in a well-disciplined classroom to great advantage, but I still want to sit quietly and read more detailed and logical written material on the same or a related subject, plus analyze what I have heard in class, in order to “connect the dots” so that a fully developed picture comes to be within my mind. I’m a “thinker,” not a memorizer or imitator. I also decide whether or not I AGREE with the material. Likewise I make very few big decisions on the spur of the moment, and when I have in fact done that, I often dislike the results. I may have to redo a piece of work due to errors, restate my conclusions, or perhaps make an apology. My off the cuff statements can be emotional.

As for the interesting statement that the student Cain made, “we did most of our work autonomously,” I think most detailed learning is necessarily done autonomously, as it requires the complex linking of new information into place within one specific human brain (mine or yours) with our older structure of knowledge which was formed from another day's reading. That type of learning is necessary for most scientific information or legal or historical. Some subjects are just more appropriately approached by a contemplative and analytical mindset, and “see say learning” experiences can’t encompass complex material. We don’t want high school kids to know a little very noisily, but a lot in a more quiet way, I believe, so that they can become a lawyer or write a non-fiction book. What I want to see in high school is a more competent group of students and not necessarily a more “competitive” highly socialized group, which is what I think the interactive learning and teaching tends to produce. I want to see kids who do better on the College Board test from their accumulated knowledge, rather than our "cheating" for them or worse, weakening and watering down the test so the “see say” kids grades will look better. Does anybody agree with that?