"Introverts cannot be teachers"

Imagine this scene: a little girl of 8 years old is playing with her toys in her bedroom. She has lined up all her dolls and teddy bears in rows facing her. Then she says “Good morning class!” and proceeds to call the names of all her toys to check that they are present. What’s she doing? She is pretending to be a teacher. It brings her joy to “teach” her pupils about different subjects and even create worksheets and homemade books for them. Well, that little girl was me. I’m a teacher now of course, so you might not be too surprised at that description; however, there was an obstacle in my way to becoming a teacher. And so I’d like to share a little bit about how that little girl became a teacher. 

I was a very shy and quiet child and teenager. I was the one who never raised her hand in class and always wanted to melt into the background. I began to think that teaching may be harder than I had thought. Then, one day, during a class discussion about future careers, my high school teacher stated that introverts cannot be teachers… Introverts cannot be teachers. That statement stuck with me. It made me think that I could never be a teacher – as if that door was shut to me forever. 

Nevertheless, years later as I neared the end of my university degree with no career plans in mind I heard about a job opportunity from a family friend. The job was to teach English to middle school students in China. The job and location seemed to suit my interests and what I had been studying – linguistics and Chinese – so I decided to do it. I still had that teacher’s words in my ears: “introverts cannot be teachers” and I doubted myself intensely. But I decided that since the job was just for 1 year I would give it a try and if I didn’t like it I could always do something different. 

Well that job was difficult – as all first jobs are. But it ignited a passion in me for teaching. I loved interacting with young people and I loved seeing them get excited about learning. I knew I wanted to pursue this career. There’s a proverb that says: great teachers are the reason why ordinary students dream to do extraordinary things. I wanted to be able to inspire my students to do extraordinary things. And I learnt that being an introvert did not disqualify me from becoming a teacher; in fact, it has actually been an advantage in many ways. (This article expresses some of the powerful strengths of introverted teachers.) Sometimes things that we think are obstacles are not really obstacles at all – we just need another perspective. 

In my journey to becoming a teacher and being a teacher I have grown in many ways. I’m not as painfully shy as I used to be and I have done things that I never imagined all because I dared to face a challenge. It’s true that I am still an introvert, but I do not regret that because I can say proudly that introverts can be great teachers. I think back to that little girl playing happily in her room imagining being a teacher and I smile. Not because my job is perfect – there are hard things in every job – but I smile because when I teach I still have that same feeling of joy and satisfaction that I did all those years ago in my imaginary classroom. 

Were there obstacles in your journey to becoming a teacher? 

How did you face or overcome them?

Are you an introvert? 

What are your strengths as a teacher?