The Skillful Teacher

Try to Sort Out the Causes of Resistance
Since resistance to learning is such a complex phenomenon, an
important first step is to gain some sense of what combination of
factors is causing this in a student or group of students. Before any
thought of making an appropriate response to resistance, you need
a clear sense of the origins of resistance; otherwise you risk spend-
ing time and energy pursuing irrelevant solutions. The various class-
room research instruments discussed in Chapter Three are very
helpful in this regard, although if the resistance runs wide and deep
there may not be many who take these seriously. CIQs, one-minute
papers, and learning audits are not much use if they are returned as
blank sheets of paper. If that’s the case, then you have other options:
you can speak to resisters individually and privately (when the cul-
ture of cool is less likely to stop them speaking), you can consult
colleagues about their “read” of the resistance you’re facing, you can
regularly invite students to voice their concerns and problems, and
you can find out what the history of the course has been at the col-
lege. Was there a previous instructor who created much of the resis-
tance and skepticism that new students bring to the course? Was
the course changed from an elective to a requirement after the stu-
dents were already committed to their program? What kind of
instructor turnover rate has the course exhibited in the past? All
these factors are likely to cause resistance.
Responding to Resistance
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