I have been asked to contribute to Psychwire, a web site where psychology and mental health experts answer questions on psychological topics. There are topics for the general public and for mental health professionals as well as courses that can be followed. My topic is The psychological significance of blushing and so far (November 2022) I have posted short answers to nine questions on blushing and shyness. The web site and my topic can be found at:

https://psychwise.com/ask/topics/15f97wf/ask-about-the-psychological-significance-of-blushing

In 2018 I had the pleasure to meet and talk about shyness with Rhod Gilbert, the stand-up comedian and television personality. Our interview, which took place in Cardiff University over several hours, was recorded for the BBC television programme, Stand up to Shyness. Despite regularly performing solo in front of large audiences, Rhod describes himself as shy. The programme considered exploration of his shyness along with his interviews with members of the public about their shyness. Also, he encouraged three young shy people to prepare for and deliver a stand-up session to an audience in a comedy club in Cardiff: something they had never done or dreamed that they could ever do! I attended the session, hosted by Rhod, where the three performed in front of  a large live audience that included family and friends. The programme also included acts by professional comedians. All three did incredibly well and it was quite a moving experience. I also attended a preview of the television programme in a club in central Cardiff along with Rhod, fellow contributors to the programme, the three shy performers and makers of the programme.

Clips from the programme are still available (November 2022) on the BBC web site. My account of taking part can be found in the Psychologist magazine, March 2018.

Beginning in 2021, this project is based in the Department of Special Needs Education, Oslo University.

Principal Investigator: Geir Nyborg, University of Oslo. Investigators: Liv Heidi Mjelve, University of Oslo; Anne Edwards, Oxford University; W. Ray Crozier, Cardiff University; Robert J Coplan, Carleton University: Gunnar Bjørnebekk, The Norwegian Center for Child Behavioral Development, Oslo.

This project aims to identify the processes that contribute to shy students’ successful engagement as learners, as well as risk and protective factors that may impact on this success. In the first stage, interviews are conducted with individual middle-school students with the aim of tapping directly into their perspectives and allowing the researchers to hear the shy students in their own words. We draw upon the Vygotskian cultural-historical concept of “social situation of development”, “the path along which the social becomes the individual”. In the second phase, we aim to conduct a large-scale quantitative study to evaluate a theoretical model linking student shyness to measures of  school adjustment.

The research was based in the Department of Special Needs Education, Oslo University. Principal Investigators Geir Nyborg, University of Oslo; Liv Heidi Mjelve, University of Oslo; Investigators: Anne Edwards, Oxford University; W. Ray Crozier, Cardiff University; Robert J Coplan, Carleton University: Gunnar Bjørnebekk, University of Oslo, Anne Arnesen, Norwegian Center for Child Behavioral Development, Oslo.

This five-year research project investigated teachers’ use of strategies to promote learning and shy development for shy elementary-school students. Stage 1 of the proj3ect  collected interview and focus group from a sample of teachers who have successful experience of working with shy students. In the second stage, a questionnaire was constructed on the basis of the qualitative data collected in the first stage. The questionnaire was completed by a large sample of elementary-school teachers from across Norway. The findings from both stages appear in the publications listed below.

Publications include:

Mjelve, L. H., Nyborg, G., Edwards, A., & Crozier, W. R. (2019). Teachers’ understandings of shyness: Psychosocial differentiation for student inclusion. British Educational Research Journal, 45 (4), 681-697. doi: 10.1002/berj.3563

Nyborg, G., Mjelve, L. H., Edwards, A., & Crozier, W. R. (2020). Teachers’ strategies for enhancing shy children’s engagement in oral activities: Necessary, but insufficient? International Journal of Inclusive Education. doi: 10.1080/13603116.2020.1711538.

Mjelve, L. H., Nyborg, G., Arnesen, A., Bjørnebekk, G., Crozier, W. R., & Coplan, R. J. (2022). Characteristics of teacher-nominated shy students in Norwegian elementary schools. Journal of Research in Childhood Education. doi:10.1080/02568543.2022.2027582

Nyborg, G., Mjelve, L. H., Edwards, A., Crozier, W. R., & Coplan, R. J. (2022). Working  relationally with shy students: Pedagogical insights from teachers and students. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 2022, 33, 100610.  doi:10.1016/j.lcsi.2022.100610

Mjelve, L. H., Nyborg, G., Arnesen, A., Crozier, W. R , Bjørnebekk, G.,& Coplan, R. J. (2022). Teachers’ strategies for managing shy students’ anxiety at school. Nordic Psychology doi: 10.1080/19012276.2022.2058072

My paperback book  Patchin Place: The Powyses and Literary New York has now been published, October 2022. It is published by Sundial Press, Sherborne, Dorset. ISBN. 978-1-9082746-4-9, 262 pages. Contact: https://www.thesundialpress.co.uk if you wish to obtain a copy!