The Skillful Teacher

Responding to Resistance
In the first edition of this book, this section was titled “Overcom-
ing Resistance to Learning.” This was unfortunate in that it set
readers up to expect that resistance could be overcome. What I
should have emphasized, of course, is that resistance can sometimes
16_980668 ch12.qxp  7/27/06  3:27 PM  Page 224

---

be contained, and its worst effects mitigated, but it can never be
completely overcome. And, as I have argued already, we should not
make the mistake of judging our competence as a teacher by the
extent to which we remove resistance to learning from our students.
However, the intensity and longevity of resistance stands a better
chance of being reduced if you follow some of the general practices
explored throughout this book—making a deliberate attempt to cre-
ate diversity in your teaching, regularly trying to get inside students’
heads, making sure you try to balance credibility and authenticity,
creating learning communities, and so on.