Resistance to Learning

In Chapter 16 of, The Skillful Teacher, Brookfield discusses students’ resistance to learning. This is a very interesting chapter and I was surprised at how many different reasons there can be for resistance. To summarize Brookfield, these are his listed possible reasons for resistance:

  1. Poor Self-Image as Learners
  2. Fear of the Unknown
  3. A Normal Rhythm of Learning
  4. A Disjunction of Learning and Teaching Styles
  5. Apparent Irrelevance of the Learning Activity
  6. Level of Required Learning is Appropriate
  7. Fear of Looking Foolish in Public
  8. Cultural Suicide
  9. Lack of Clarity in Teachers’ Instructions
  10. Students’ Dislike of Teachers
  11. Going Too Far, Too Fast

I think going forward it will be very important to reflect on all these possible scenarios to understand why there may be resistance. It is also interesting to note that several of the reasons to resistance may simply be something that as an instructor, I could change with the way I am presenting the material, such as ensuring that students understand why the activity has been assigned and how it is relevant to them and their learning.

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