To learn well, should students be silent? While silence has long been linked to the exercise of authority, it now covers other issues.

In the collective imagination, a “studious” class is often represented by students in rows, immersed in their work, in absolute silence or, when the work is finished, with their arms crossed.

Is a silent class necessarily a class focused on its lessons? This question, far from being anecdotal, touches on the heart of the educational issues of expression, interaction and active participation of students. If silence has a history , it has a current relevance as a form of learning .

Silence and authority

For a pedagogy historically based on passive listening and repetitive memorization, silence is a central element of school discipline. Participating in the control of bodies and behaviors of which Michel Foucault speaks , it has become a symbol of respect for the authority of the teacher and of concentration of the students.

Silence is therefore often used by teachers, especially in primary schools, as a classroom management tool. It helps reduce distractions and signals to students that they need to focus on the task at hand. This silence is sometimes a struggle because it is so difficult to obtain.

It is also an element of the teacher’s authority as Magali Boizumault writes  :

“Silence is first of all a means, requiring the implementation of professional gestures requiring the physical staging of the teacher to obtain it and succeed in passing on his instructions to the entire class group. Then, it becomes an end in itself to maintain a serene working climate.”

Silence can also have counterproductive effects. A classroom that is too quiet can hide a lack of engagement or a lack of understanding from students. An imposed silence can mean that students do not dare to ask questions or interact. Therefore, it is essential for the teacher to be able to decode this silence: is it synonymous with concentration, or does it hide discomfort or passivity?

Student silence and participation

Speech and dialogue play a vital role in learning, particularly by allowing students to express their ideas, formulate their misunderstandings, and adjust their reasoning in contact with their peers. Silence, in this context, could be interpreted not as a sign of attention but as a hindrance to student participation and engagement.

The question is not new. The libertarian socialist Paul Robin theorized and implemented from 1881 an integral education at the same time intellectual, physical, emotional where the joyful expression is opposed to a silence synonymous with passivity. But this question divided the reforming pedagogues of the new education at the beginning of the 20th ^century  . Élise Freinet thus contrasted in 1932 the silence of the Montessori classes with the effervescence of the Freinet pedagogy  :

“We watched them with a kind of astonishment handling in silence, with dexterity, the surfaces and the cubes, and all these objects of immobility which sometimes lead to virtuosities of square root or cubic root placed us in an atmosphere of learned monkeys… We thought of our little shaggy and disheveled pupils so spontaneous in their gestures and in their impulses, and the memory of our buzzing classes imposed itself on us and prevented us from understanding perhaps what truth was hidden in the games of the little Montessori conjurers.”

Thus, if silence is often seen as antinomic to active participation, this opposition deserves to be nuanced. Some studies highlight its performative function . And suggest that silence encourages students’ self-regulation, by encouraging them to turn to their own thoughts and process information autonomously.

This silent space then becomes a time where each student can progress at their own pace, according to their needs and their ability to integrate knowledge allowing a better educational relationship .

In a classroom, the balance between silence and expression is fundamental to become a true educational tool . A teacher who only privileges silence can inhibit the creativity and curiosity of the students. On the contrary, an environment in which speech is encouraged, without falling into hubbub, can stimulate the participation and investment of all students to create a school climate where silence and speech coexist in a complementary way, each having a role to play in the learning process.

This learning of speaking and silence can be developed in particular through theatrical activities , where silences are important elements. Furthermore, silence, like oral expression, also constitutes a power issue between boys and girls in learning of which teachers must be aware.

Silence, a school issue

Beneficial for health , silence can play a key role in the development of socio-emotional skills, even as ambient noise becomes a real source of nuisance for students . In a society where noise is the norm , silent time takes on another meaning in the classroom: a time that can be controlled. The sound environment is a real challenge for the school in connection with understanding the role of silence in the entire school educational process .

If the idea of ​​a “visual” or “auditory” student appears as 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 class but rather linked to the needs of the students and the educational objectives to be achieved.

The management of silence and class noise level does not only depend on the way of teaching. It is also conditioned by the acoustic qualities of the spaces . A deficient acoustic environment can harm the effectiveness of sound management, by introducing internal or external parasitic noises into the classroom , altering the working climate and interactions. By improving the acoustic conditions, the teacher can therefore better control the noise and thus achieve his educational objectives.

Beyond the classroom , new forms of education, including outdoor education , approach silence differently and rethink its role and function in the educational act, using it as a means of listening to the surrounding nature, of concentration and observation . So many perspectives for learning the role and importance of silence today in education as in all human relationships .

Author Bios: Sylvain Wagnon is University Professor of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Education at the University of Montpellier, Fabien Groeninger is a Lecturer, Faculty of Education, LIRDEF (Interdisciplinary Research Laboratory in Didactics, Education and Training) also at the University of Montpellier and Sonia Vermeulen Steyaert is a PhD student in Work Psychology and Educational Sciences at the Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)