My journey from understanding students' resistance to learning to resolve their confrontations by compassionately responding (not reacting)

How meticulously Brookfield (2015, P 213-238) is congruent with the flowchart of my mind mapping when it comes to an understanding of the psychology of our students' resistance to learning. I have always considered this topic very serious throughout my teaching career. I have often shared my curiosity with my fellow instructors, high school teacher friends and even some of my family members who are kindergarten teachers here in Canada and back home in India. "What do you think is the reason for students' resistance to learning?". My question doesn’t end there and I further add, "How do you bring them back to track that they leave your class with some significantly positive "change" so that they are better accepted in the society and seen as 'successful' human beings!?"

There is no single answer to this question because the problem is not that small, as you know it well!

This morning I called my niece, who teaches grades 6 to 8 in a middle school, and asked the same question. She has been working for the last 15 years in the same school and has come across more than one thousand students. Her very prompt answer was, "when, sometimes, the students are not able to build 'that connection' with the teacher... when they find the teacher "boring" and the topic which is taught in the class doesn't make any sense to their personal lives, and they don't know why they are learning all this? There is a missing piece between our teaching and the purpose of their life. How is classroom teaching going to benefit the students in their personal lives? For example, how is British or French history or cellular structures of a human cell going to make a difference in their everyday life? They are not sure why they are studying Sciences or History when they want to become an accountant. For the first time, I found myself an avid listener with not even a single word answer! I reflected immediately on my Spiritual teachings group that I am a part of, which involves the teachings of Buddha. I have noticed some participants in our group show resistance to learning because sometimes they are not on the same page as others, either because they are too busy or have different priorities in life.  Of course, some of them might be finding the teachings boring because it takes time to adopt to certain types of spiritual practices. I was speechless as she was absolutely right!

 It further motivated me to read chapters 16 and 17 of Brookfield (2015) in a single stretch as my curiosity to know the answer hovered like a flame in the air. I must know what he has to say about this issue because I have suffered enough throughout my teaching career with this unresolved issue. When someone says, I don't have any dilemma in my teaching career, I guess he/she lies. A teaching career without dilemmas is like living a married life without husband-wife fights in a modern world...yeh!

Some of Brookfield's fundamental truths for understanding the students' resistance matched with my niece’s response and in addition to that there is a big one, which he described in the very beginning, "The unacknowledged problem which exists the most - 'we teach what we love'. The more experienced we become, the more we develop a stronger passion for our favorite topics. We sometimes stop paying attention to what students’ "need" to learn to pass their exams or prepare themselves for the next step in their lives. Sometimes (or most of the time) the students don't raise their hands to let you know or write in the students' feedback form with a fear of failure or being knocked down from the class about what you are teaching them is not what they are here for.

The other most essential reasons discussed by Brookfield are also eye-openers for me, such as poor self-image as learners, fear of the unknown (change), denial to be a slow learner or dyslexic and avoidance to accept help as a particular need. Finally, what I found most interesting was, the disjunction of your teaching style vs. their learning style, especially when teachers change their teaching style without warning or introductions to their student. They just want to try this in the class because they learnt something new in their professional development training. First of all, students are not so used to the change, and if any change in teaching style is brought to the class, some students lose their interest, thinking that teacher is treating us like guinea pigs to experiment with new teaching styles. They think that the teacher doesn't care about them but only himself to get his promotion or keep his job. Such teachers sometimes lose both credibility as well as authenticity.  

I will admit that I have been such teacher in the past, teaching what I love to teach, and trying different methods when I learnt something new. For example, we were asked to use Problem Based Learning in our teaching to the medical students when we received training in 1990. Some of the students found me not doing my job appropriately, and some students who were slow learners, could not understand my instructions well. I was unaware of their issues at that time and considered that they were showing resistance to my teaching and I judged them “uninterested students”. After going through Brookfield’s insights, now, I am able to understand a different perspective about such students.

Whatever has happened in the past has happened, now the next step is: once I have learnt to recognize some of the reasons for students' resistance in the class through this study, I will be more vigilant in the class to rule out at least some of the causes of the confrontations. After doing this PIDP diploma, I am expected to be wiser and more observant in class not only to notice students' resistances but also, I should be able to resolve some issues to help the students learn better. I have made the following strategy to enhance my teaching skills in terms of responding to Students’ resistance:

1.      On my very first day of class, I will introduce myself warmly and get to know my students while getting to know everyone and their learning goals. Most importantly, what brought them in this class.

2.      Next, if I find some students showing resistance in the class, I will try to find the root cause of their resistance rather than spending time and energy pursuing irrelevant solutions. I will use various methods to find the root cause, such as Critical Incidence Questionnaire, feedback instruments, evaluations and daily/end of the topic muddiest point questions

3.      Occasionally inviting former students who resisted and turned into motivated students to the class as guest speakers to boost the morale of my current students

4.      With chronic resisters, I will try to meet one-on-one to understand their personality type, the root cause of their resistance and more deep background about their life-style, learning abilities and any other concerns they wish to share. I will assure them about the confidentiality of our conversations as a policy of our organization

5.      Most importantly, I will use a variety of teaching methods, which has shown to be effective but only after discussion with the students.

As I said in my last blog, my authenticity as an instructor and winning my students' hearts by building a rapport with them as a caring instructor is my top priority and then comes the credibility of my knowledge. I agree with this quote, "Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care." Theodore Roosevelt.

References:

Brookfield, S.D., (2015): The Skillful Teacher – On Techniques, Trust and Responsiveness in the Classroom. (2nd Edition). The Jossey-Bass -Higher and Adult Education Series.  P. 213 – 238.