with Shy or Withdrawn Students
ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education
students who are (compared to their peers) inactive in the classroom,
many are well adjusted academically and socially but relatively quiet
and content to work independently. Some are problematically shy or
withdrawn in varying degrees, and a few may be headed toward schizophrenia.
This digest focuses on the middle range of such students, who are
commonly described as shy (inhibited, lacking in confidence,
socially anxious) or withdrawn (unresponsive, uncommunicative,
A degree of shyness
is normal whenever social expectations are new or ambiguous. Shyness
begins to emerge as a problem if it becomes not merely situational
but dispositional, so that the child is labeled as shy. Especially
if the child internalizes this label, a generalized pattern of shyness
may become established and begin to include such additional symptoms
as diffidence about entering social situations, discomfort and inhibition
in the presence of others, exaggerated self-concern, and increasingly
negative social self-concepts (Honig, 1987; Thompson & Rudolph,
Causes of Shyness and Withdrawal in The Classroom
Symptoms of shyness or withdrawal may appear as part of the student's
overall personality or as a situation-specific response to a particular
stress factor. Children are especially susceptible to self-consciousness
in social situations that make them feel conspicuous and psychologically
Other types of
social unresponsiveness may result from specific experiences or environmental
causes. Some children have not developed effective conversational
skills because their parents seldom converse with them or respond
positively to their verbal initiations, and they have not had much
opportunity to interact with peers. This circumstance may explain
some of the shyness seen in kindergarten and first grade. Children
starting school for the first time may exhibit school phobia (usually
fear of the unknown or unwillingness to be separated from the parent,
rather than a specific negative reaction to the teacher or the school).
can also develop as a ongoing reaction to repeated failure, mistreatment,
or rejection from adults or peers. Some students may show good peer
group adjustment and ability to interact socially with the teacher,
but they may display communication apprehension when asked to answer
academic questions, perform in public, or engage in an activity that
they know will be evaluated. Finally, many students experience at
least temporary social adjustment problems when they change schools
for Coping with Shy or Withdrawn Students
coping with shy or withdrawn students include peer involvement, teacher
interventions, and other kinds of psychological interventions.
Several authors have suggested treating shyness and withdrawal through
peer involvement (see Rosenberg et al., 1992, for a review). Such
efforts might include involving shy students in cross-age tutoring
programs, creating opportunities for them to play in pairs with younger
children, enlisting peers as confederates to draw out withdrawn children,
and involving them in small group, cooperative classroom activities.
Brophy (1995) surveyed effective teachers to find out how they responded
to shy students. The most commonly mentioned responses included (1)
changing the social environment (e.g., seating them among friendly
classmates or assigning them to a partner or small group), (2) encouraging
or shaping increased responsiveness, (3) minimizing stress or embarrassment,
(4) engaging shy students in special activities, and (5) involving
them in frequent private talks. Conspicuously absent from these teachers'
responses was emphasis on threat or punishment.
Blanco and Bogacki's (1988) recommendations from school psychologists
for coping with general student shyness or withdrawal echo many of
these same themes. They suggested encouraging children to join volunteer
groups or recreational organizations outside of school; involving
them frequently in small-group, cooperative interaction with peers;
using them as peer tutors; determining their peer preferences and
seating them near preferred peers; leading but not forcing them to
communicate; avoiding putting them in situations that would be embarrassing
or frightening; and assigning them to messenger roles or other tasks
that require communication.
For students whose
withdrawal symptoms include excessive daydreaming, researchers suggest
calling on them frequently, standing near them to ensure attention,
making sure that they get started successfully on their assignment
at the beginning of work time rather than scolding them for daydreaming,
stressing the need for attention and participation, and assigning
partners to work with them and keep them involved.
specific teacher strategies for coping with shy or withdrawn students
are suggested by the work of several researchers over the last two
decades (Honig, 1987; McIntyre, 1989; Thompson & Rudolph, 1992;
- use interest
inventories to determine interests of shy students, then follow
up by using these interests as bases for conversations or learning
- display their
(good) artwork or assignments for others to see in the classroom;
- assign them
as a partner to, or promote their friendship with, a classmate
who is popular and engages in frequent contact with peers;
- check with
these students frequently if they are prone to daydreaming;
- help shy
children to set social development goals and assist them by providing
training in assertiveness, initiating interactions with peers,
or other social skills;
- provide them
with information needed to develop social insight (e.g., explaining
that new students often have trouble making friends at first,
or that teasing does not necessarily mean that peers do not like
you), suggesting ways for them to initiate productive peer contacts
or to respond more effectively to peer initiations;
- provide them
with a designated role that will give them something to do and
cause them to interact with others in social situations in which
they might otherwise become shy and retreat to the fringes of
- teach them
social "door openers" for greeting others and speaking
to them in person or on the telephone, especially assertive requests
("Can I play, too?");
- make time
to talk with them each day, even if just for a few minutes, and
listen carefully and respond specifically to what they tell you;
- use bibliotherapy
materials such as The Shy Little Girl, a story by P. Krasilovsky
about a sad and shy girl who becomes more outgoing.
Shy children may
need direct instruction in social skills, such as those included
in various social skills training programs intended for elementary
school students. For more information on such programs, including
a description of a program that included collaboration between teachers
and parents, see Sheridan, Kratochwill, and Elliott (1990).
Teachers may be able to help shy and withdrawn students considerably
by using strategies that are relatively easy to implement and well
matched to the teacher's basic role as a helpful instructor to students.
These strategies include providing self-concept support, encouragement,
and opportunities to develop confidence and comfort in the classroom
to shy and inhibited students, as well as closer monitoring, improved
nonverbal communication, environmental engineering, and instructive
suggestions or demands for improved concentration designed to maintain
the attention of students prone to withdrawal or daydreaming. Most
teachers seem to develop an intuitive understanding of some of the
needs of shy or withdrawn students, but many could meet these needs
more effectively by systematically applying the principles and strategies
was adapted from: Brophy, Jere. (1996). Teaching Problem Students.
New York, Guilford. Adapted with permission of the author.
For More Information
Blanco, R., and D. Bogacki. (1988). Prescriptions for Children with
Learning and Adjustment Problems: A Consultant's Desk Reference
(3rd ed.). Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.
Brophy, J. (1995).
Elementary Teachers' Perceptions of and Reported Strategies for Coping
with Twelve Types of Problem Students. East Lansing, MI: Institute
for Research on Teaching, Michigan State University. ED 389 390.
Honig, A. (1987).
The Shy Child. Young Children 42(4): 54-64. EJ 358 395.
M. (1995). Shyness and Self-Esteem in Early Childhood. Journal of
Humanistic Education and Development 33(4): 173-82. EJ 509 552.
McIntyre, T. (1989).
A Resource Book for Remediating Common Behavior and Learning Problems.
Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
R. Wilson, L. Maheady, and P. Sindelar. (1992). Educating Students
with Behavior Disorders. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
T. Kratochwill, and S. Elliott. (1990). Behavioral Consultation with
Parents and Teachers: Delivering Treatment for Socially Withdrawn
Children at Home and School. School Psychology Review 19(1): 33-52.
and L. Rudolph. (1992). Counseling Children (3rd ed.). Pacific Grove,
was prepared (November 1996) with funding from the Office of Educational
Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, under OERI
contract no. DERR93002007.
The opinions expressed
in this report do not necessarily reflect the positions or policies
of Learn2study, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products,
or organizations imply endorsement by Learn2study.