I identify with Brookfield’s descriptions of the joy of learning, and also with the tendency to assume that my students all feel the same (p. 214). I also have experienced resistance from students. I appreciate Brookfield’s descriptions of reasons students may be resistant, as well as some strategies for responding.

The three primary points I take away from Chapters 16 and 17 in “The skillful Teacher: On Technique, Trust, and Responsiveness in the Classroom” are:

  1. Pay attention to the pacing and build in early opportunities to acknowledge the students’ success. I often have students who arrive with uncertainty about their ability to be successful. And, as Brookfield describes, learning presumes change, and moving into the unknown” (p. 219) and “the fear of the unknown is often a massive inhibitor to learning.” (p. 219) So I see the value of having a small assignment or activity at the beginning of a course that has a high likelihood for success and opportunity for positive feedback. Brookfield also reminds me that my eagerness to see my students progress might lead me to “push too far, too fast” (p. 224) and not be sensitive to their need to adjust to and consolidate the recent learning before stepping ahead again. This may mean I need to stop and ask “are you ready for the next step?” before diving ahead.
  2. Deliberately share the purpose of the learning activities. Repeatedly in reading this book I am reminded that, though the learning activities I prepare for students are grounded in intentional thought and rationales, this is not obvious or clear to students unless I also tell them not only ‘what’ I want them to do but also ‘why’. I commonly give students permission early in a course to ask at any time ‘why do I need to know this?”, but I have not also acknowledged the need to ask ‘how will this activity help me get there?’ I see that I get bored with repeating myself, and assume that students understand when they may not. So I will remind myself to provide instructions more than once and in more than one medium with more details about what I hope will be gained in the activity.
  3. Consider the reasons for resistance by reflecting on my own experiences of resistance to learning and on student feedback during the course. I have had recent experiences with great frustration in tackling tasks as an online student. I have also been the sounding board for my son as he began his postsecondary education in an online format. I see that this can help me to understand some of my students’ struggles and look for ways to support them in their work. I appreciate Brookfield’s list of reasons for resistance to learning. I can be more conscientious in using the strategies I have control over as the teacher: using a variety of techniques, being clear with instructions and expectations, building incrementally, asking for feedback. I can also be more thoughtful and sensitive to the various fears related to learning and the potential costs of change for some individuals.

Perhaps the most striking quote in these chapters for me is “any teacher who invites people into learning by emphasizing its power to change them is unwittingly strengthening their resistance.” (p. 219) My hope about the learning process is that we all grow and change because of it. But this can be reframed as “learning … as a quest for certainty, for a system of beliefs or structure that they can commit to for life.” It is still growth and change and can be open-ended (ie life long learning) but provides something more solid to aim for.

Brookfield, S. (2015) The skillful Teacher: On Technique, Trust, and Responsiveness in the Classroom (3rd ed.) Jossey-Bass