Week 5

Resistance to learning is quite an interesting topic. It always strikes me when a student digs their heels in the dirt.. I mean, after all, aren't they here to learn? Over the years I have spent some time time unpacking this idea. Brookfield states: "The ground zero of resistance to learning is the fear of change. It requires us to explore new ideas, acquire new skills, develop new ways of understanding old experiences, and so on" (p. 213).

In order to understand why my students feel the ay they do I turned to my own experiences. Learning is tough especially when you are challenged to think and reflect critically. Good news, this is where the amazing learning happens. Bad news: it can be a pretty uncomfortable experience for some! So what can we do to assist our students to jump on the learning train? First stop, reflect back on your own learning journey. A bit of empathy can go a log way! I remember some uncomfortable experiences through the years and I vowed to not repeat those moments. Be it, lack of information, public speaking, shaming or going too far too fast.

Getting to know our learners and checking in with them often can be helpful in mitigating resistance.

Reference:

Brookfield, S.D. (2015). The Skillful Teacher: On Techniques, Trust and Responsiveness in

the Classroom (3rd edition). Jossey-Bass