We Need to Talk About Icebreakers in the Classroom (And Why They Kinda Suck)

“Tell us your name and a fun fact about yourself!” 🫠

It’s your first week of university. You’re filled with nerves, anxiety, and excitement – the usual academic emotional roller coaster. But just as you remind yourself to breathe and settle into an empty chair at the back of the room, your tutor decides to start the class with an icebreaker activity.

An icebreaker (in case you’ve been lucky enough to avoid them) is a way of introducing yourself or another person to a group/classroom of new people to ‘break the ice’ of getting to know someone.

The first one? Not that bad. But by the tenth? The repetitive nature of having to introduce yourself to a new group of people, can make it a bit of an eye-roll situation.

Why do most students hate icebreakers?

Let’s look at some math here: the average university course is around three to four years full-time. This includes four units a semester, eight over the entirety of the year. And, because icebreakers occur every first day of class every semester, you end up encountering between 24-28 icebreakers throughout your degree.

What’s more daunting is having to introduce the person next to you. Where you spend 15 minutes asking pre-determined questions and frantically scribbling down notes and thinking of questions to ask them.  And when it comes to introducing your table neighbour, you’re so focused on remembering what to say that you’re not even listening to the ten people in front of you. You just need to remember that Leah is a marketing major, whose favourite colour is blue and recently read The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood.

It’s damn stressful.

Could we do better? 🤔

Why are icebreakers a first week of university staple, and does anyone, including the tutors, even take note of the information shared? It makes you ponder how different the first 15–20 minutes of class could be spent, or if icebreakers could have a ‘makeover’, stepping away from their traditional introductions.

In a recent chat with some friends about the ice breaker days, we discussed and agreed that the time designated to icebreakers could potentially be better used.

Some ideas included:

1. Networking in small groups (assigned tables) and getting to naturally know the people around you. This provides the freedom to let conversations flow, connections to be built and potential friendships to form, even if just for the semester.
2. Playing a few quick games of some kind at your table – snap, tic tac toe, connect 4, etc.
3. Omitting introductions altogether and jumping straight into the action. Discussing and debriefing the unit outline, asking questions, preparing for the first assessment (because let’s be real, it’s probably due in a week). And secretly hoping class could finish just that little bit earlier to save on parking or to grab a snack.
4. When you’re in your first semester, spending the first 15 to 20 minutes learning/understanding how university systems work. Discussing plagiarism checkers, referencing, how to access your readings, lectures, online units, timetables, etc.

So, do icebreakers actually work? And do people actually enjoy them? Or are they another reason to dread the upcoming semester? Well, while we’re sure icebreakers do have a purpose (hence their invention), it would be intriguing to see them re-invented or potentially omitted altogether.

Whether you’re an ice breaker fan, an avid hater, or on the undecided fence, we’ll leave you to be the judge of this debate.