Silence in the classroom: quiet classroom, studious classroom?
Do students need to be quiet in order to learn effectively? While silence has long been associated solely with the exercise of authority, today it encompasses other issues.
Sylvain Wagnon, University of Montpellier; Fabien Groeninger, University of Montpellier and Sonia Vermeulen Steyaert, Free University of Brussels (ULB)
In the collective imagination, a "studious" class is often represented by students sitting in rows, immersed in their work, in absolute silence or, when the work is finished, with their arms crossed.
Is a quiet classroom necessarily a classroom focused on learning? This question, far from being anecdotal, touches on the heart of educational issues relating to expression, interaction, and active student participation. While silence has a history, it is also relevant today in terms of learning.
Silence and authority
In an educational system historically based on passive listening and repetitive memorization, silence is a central element of school discipline. Contributing to the control of bodies and behaviors described by Michel Foucault, it has become a symbol of respect for the authority of the teacher and concentration on the part of students.
Silence is therefore often used by teachers, particularly in primary schools, as a classroom management tool. It helps to reduce distractions and signals to students that they need to focus on the task at hand. Achieving this silence can sometimes be a struggle, as it is so difficult to maintain.
It is also an element of the teacher's authority, as Magali Boizumaultwrites:
"Silence is first and foremost a means to an end, requiring the teacher to use professional techniques involving body language to achieve it and convey instructions to the whole class. It then becomes an end in itself, serving to maintain a calm working atmosphere."
Silence can also have counterproductive effects. A classroom that is too quiet may conceal a lack of engagement or understanding among students. Imposed silence may mean that students are afraid to ask questions or interact. It is therefore essential for teachers to know how to interpret this silence: does it mean concentration, or does it hide discomfort or passivity?
Silence and student participation
Speech and dialogue play an essential role in learning, particularly by allowing students to express their ideas, articulate their misunderstandings, and adjust their reasoning through contact with their peers. Silence, in this context, could be interpreted not as a sign of attention but as an obstacle to student participation and engagement.
This is not a new issue. Starting in 1881, libertarian socialist Paul Robin theorized and implemented a comprehensive education program that was intellectual, physical, and emotional, in which joyful expression was opposed to silence, which was synonymous with passivity. But this question divided educational reformers at the beginning of the20thcentury. In 1932, Élise Freinet contrasted the silence of Montessori classrooms with the effervescence of Freinet pedagogy:
We watched them with a kind of amazement as they silently and deftly handled the surfaces and cubes, and all these immobile objects, which sometimes lead to square root or cube root virtuosity, placed us in an atmosphere of trained monkeys... We thought of our little students, unkempt and disheveled, so spontaneous in their gestures and impulses, and the memory of our buzzing classrooms imposed itself on us and prevented us from understanding perhaps what truth was hidden in the games of the little Montessori conjurers."
Thus, while silence is often seen as antithetical to active participation, this opposition deserves to be nuanced. Some studies highlight its performative function and suggest that silence encourages students to self-regulate, prompting them to turn to their own thoughts and process information independently.
This quiet space then becomes a time when each student can progress at their own pace, according to their needs and their ability to integrate knowledge, enabling a better educational relationship.
In a classroom, the balance between silence and expression is fundamental to becoming a true educational tool. A teacher who favors silence alone can inhibit students' creativity and curiosity. On the contrary, an environment in which speaking is encouraged, without descending into hubbub, can stimulate the participation and involvement of all students to create a school climate where silence and speech coexist in a complementary manner, each having a role to play in the learning process.
This learning process of speaking and remaining silent can be developed through theatrical activities, where silence is an important element. Furthermore, silence, like verbal expression, also constitutes a power issue between boys and girls in learning, which teachers must be aware of.
Silence, a challenge in schools
Beneficial to health, silence can play a key role in the development of social-emotional skills, even as ambient noise becomes a real source of disturbance for students. In a society where noise is the norm, moments of silence take on a different meaning in the classroom: a moment that can be controlled. The sound environment is a real challenge for schools in terms of understanding the role of silence in the overall educational process.
While the idea of a "visual" or "auditory" learner may seem like a neuromyth, teachers can allow moments of silence for individual reflection, while encouraging interactive exchanges for those who learn through speech. In this sense, the management of silence should not be uniform in the classroom, but rather linked to the needs of the students and the educational objectives to be achieved.
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Managing silence and noise levels in the classroom does not depend solely on teaching methods. It is also influenced by the acoustic qualities of the space. A poor acoustic environment can undermine effective sound management by introducing internal or external noise into the classroom, disrupting the working atmosphere and interactions. By improving acoustic conditions, teachers can better control noise and thus achieve their educational goals.
Beyond the classroom, new forms of schooling, particularly outdoor education, approach silence in a different way and rethink its role and function in the educational process, using it as a means of listening to the surrounding nature, concentrating, and observing. These are all perspectives for learning about the role and importance of silence today in education and in all human relationships.
Sylvain Wagnon, Professor of Education Sciences, Faculty of Education, University of Montpellier; Fabien Groeninger, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Education, LIRDEF (Interdisciplinary Laboratory for Research in Didactics, Education, and Training), University of Montpellier and Sonia Vermeulen Steyaert, PhD student in Work Psychology and Educational Sciences, Free University of Brussels (ULB)
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