The Resistant Learner: Understanding and Responding

Encountering a student that is resistant to learning is difficult and frustrating, yet they are there in almost every class. Understanding their reasons for resistance and how to better respond to their resistance helps us to become a more skillful teacher, and can alleviate the frustration you feel as a teacher.

In The Skillful Teacher, Stephen D. Brookfield describes how he saw resistant learners as something that needed to be overcome. If he worked hard enough he could turn them into the opposite, a student that was responsive and excited. The problem he came to find is that this often made it so that all focus was put on the resistant learners in a group and took that focus away from those students who were ready and willing to learn. Despite all his hard work these resisters never came to be ready and willing, so why was he expending so much energy on them?

He shares a very honest reflection with us, and one that I have experienced in my own teaching practice. I have this overwhelming desire to change the resistant learners I encounter, and I can attest to doing the same thing as he describes by putting all my focus and energy into changing students who do not wish to change.

Why Are They Resistant?

Understanding why some students are resistant to learning is the first step. In Chapter 16 of the Skillful Teacher, Brookfield identifies that resistance to learning is a “multilayered and complex phenomenon in which several factors intersect” (Brookfield, 2015, pg 219) contradictory to the stance that a lot of educators take, excusing resistance as a generational phenomenon where technology has created a group of entitled students with a low attention span. (Brookfield, 2015, pg. 218) In my own experience I can say that I have encountered resistant learners from many different age groups, just as I have encountered excited learners from different age groups.

Several key factors are identified by Brookfield as to why a student may be resistant to learning from you.

Poor self-image as a learner
Fear of the unknown
A normal rhythm of learning
A disjunction of learning and teaching styles
Apparent irrelevance of the learning activity
Level of required learning is inappropriate
Fear of looking foolish in public
Cultural suicide
Lack of clarity in teachers’ instructions
Students’ dislike of teachers
Going too far, too fast

(Brookfield, 2015, pp 219-225)

Having a learner that is openly resistant to you and/or the course material you are teaching can become unhealthy for the group as a whole if not responded to. Resistance can spread and sabotage all of your best efforts. Of course, you also need to reflect on your own desires to win them over. You are the only one in control of you, so if the student will not change, your response to them can.

Responding to the Resistance

In Chapter 17 of the Skillful Teacher, Brookfield discusses how to respond to resistance. He makes it clear that, at one point in time, he thought of this as overcoming resistance, but now realizes that it is not something to be overcome. The resistant learner may remain resistant throughout the course with you. Resistance is not something you can overcome, but something you can respond to in the hopes of stopping the spread of resistance and maintaining a positive experience for the students who are there ready to learn. Since resistance is so complex and can be expressed differently by each student, there is no magic formula you can apply. Instead, Brookfield ascribes some key advice for educators, based on his own experience.

Try to sort out the causes of resistance
Ask yourself if the resistance is justified
Research your students’ backgrounds
Involve former resisters
Model the behaviors you are requesting
When appropriate involve students in educational planning
Use a variety of teaching methods and approaches
Asses learning incrementally
Check that your intentions are clearly understood
Build a case for learning
Create situations in which students succeed
Don’t push too fast
Admit the normality of resistance
Try to limit the negative effects of resistance

(Brookfield, 2015, pp 228-238)

Reflecting on the times that you may have been a resistant learner is helpful as well. Our own experiences as a student can give us vital insight into why student behavior is what it is. When we recognize that we have been a resistant learner ourselves we also come to recognize that the resistant learners we encounter are not bad students. They are having their own experience as a student. At the end of the day, we may not change them, but how we respond to them is what makes us a more skillful teacher.

This post was created for PIDP 3260: Professional Practice as part of the Provincial Instructor Diploma Program at Vancouver Community College. You can access their website here. To access the School of Instructor Education Facebook page click here.

Reference list:

Brookfield, S. D. (2015). The Skillfull Teacher. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Exercising Teacher Power Responsibly: Commentary

As a teacher, it can be easy to forget the amount of power you wield over the students in your classes. After all, to you, you are just a person living in this world who happens to have a particular job. You probably did not become a teacher because you wanted power. I know that was not my reasoning behind teaching. I became a teacher because I like seeing others succeed. It did not cross my mind how powerful I would be over others until I was in that position.

If you are a teacher, instructor, educator, trainer, or whatever title you choose to use, you have impacted your learners with your actions and reactions in the classroom. I am certain that at some point in your career you have done or said something and observed the reactions of your students, whether they be positive or not. You probably never intended anything you have said or done to be felt with apprehension or hurt feelings on the part of your students. Recognizing that we have done or said something that made a student fall silent, feel less, or singled out is a tough pill to swallow. Mainly because, in recognizing it, we understand that we may have impacted that student so greatly that it will reflect in their participation as a learner for all future learning and even deeper, it may have impacted their self esteem as a whole.

I believe we must also look at how we present material to students. Are we presenting something only from our perspective? Do we have a secret agenda, maybe even to ourselves, where opposite views from our own are not accepted? These questions are important ones because they dictate the level of power we hold over our students and the environment we create in the classroom.

So how do we create a classroom environment that uses our teacher power responsibly? This is a big question, with varying philosophies, but it seems to come down to what level of voice we give to our students, and how we react to that voice.

In Chapter 18 of The Skillful Teacher, titled Exercising Teacher Power Responsibly, Stephen D. Brookfield presents various views of how we wield power in the classroom. (Brookfield, 2015, pp 239-251) Are we of the view that students should have a say in what ideas we explore, how often we break, or what attendance policy should be in place? Or, are we of the view that this giving of power may render the teacher powerless and perhaps result in outcomes not being achieved? We know, as teachers that we often have to discuss information that students may find unimportant or show disinterest in, so what level of autonomy do we give them in this instance? If given choice, will students gravitate towards the comfortable, or will they be open to exploring new ideas? To what degree do we guide the student to a certain viewpoint?

Drawing on his own views, Brookfield presents three ways of thinking by looking to the philosophies of Ian Baptiste, bell hooks, and Herbert Marcuse. (Brookfield, 2015, pp 246-251) Baptiste desires recognition that we, as teachers, are directive in our actions, unable to truly be neutral, and do force an agenda. He believes that we cannot avoid imposing our agenda, and that we should in fact do so as a moral coercion. (Brookfield, 2015, pg 247) bell hooks views teaching as power, and defends this to the point of confrontation. She is the leader of her classroom, and enforces this by grading students for attendance and making participation in class discussion mandatory. (Brookfield, 2015, pg 250) Marcuse theorizes that it is crucial that students be exposed to opposite viewpoints so they can soundly come to their own decisions. If left to choice students will always gravitate towards what is comfortable and already supports how they think and feel, so they must be pushed to question and explore. (Brookfield, 2015, pg 249)

When it comes to my own teaching practice I often reflect back on my experiences as a student. I look to what helped me learn and what made me feel supported as a student, and try to emulate that. I venture to say that we probably all do that to some degree. But since we are all different, what works for one may not work for all. I will never be the very best to everyone all the time, but I can decide what sort of voice I give to the students that enter my classroom. That level may vary depending on what I want the outcome to be, and that is where the true power of being a teacher is. As long as I can defend my choices and maintain an ethical relationship with the student I am wielding my teacher power responsibly.

Reference list:

Brookfield, S. D. (2015). The Skillfull Teacher. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

The Core Assumptions of Skillful Teaching: Commentary

In chapter two of The Skillful Teacher by Stephen D. Brookfield, four core assumptions are presented.

Skillful teaching is whatever helps students learn

Skillful teachers adopt a critically reflective stance toward their practice

The most important knowledge that skillful teachers need to do good work is a constant awareness of how students are experiencing their learning and perceiving teachers’ actions

College students of any age should be treated as adults

(Brookfield, 2015, pg 15)

My own summation is that, if we are to become a skillful teacher we should create a space that is safe for students to give honest, anonymous feedback, especially near the beginning of the course. This will build trust and lead to more open communication in the future. We should recognize that our students will come from a range of backgrounds and age groups, but they should all be treated as the adults that they are, or are becoming. Reflecting on our own teaching will help us to be more creative and fluid in our teaching practice, instead of becoming complacent which will reflect in our connection with students and impact their experience. We should collaborate with our peers to co-teach or evaluate our practice so we can have perspective and gain insight. In order to achieve the first assumption of doing whatever is needed to help students learn we may need to step outside of what is considered professional, while remaining ethical and unbiased.

In my own experience, I can relate to sometimes having to do things that may be outside of what would traditionally be deemed professional. Brookfield’s example of stepping out of his classroom while his new students meet with past students on the first day of class is something that I would embrace. I can see where administration or some peers may find this verging on unprofessional, but I think it is simply just unconventional at best. Allowing your students to get honest information about the course material and you as an instructor is beneficial and shows your students that you are confident enough in your abilities to allow for critique. I do believe that this may be easier done as a seasoned instructor and that a new instructor may have their own complications with doing this. I say this because I can reflect back to when I first started teaching. You need to gain some confidence in yourself and with the course content before being comfortable enough to hear honest feedback without it feeling like an assault. I feel like one of the biggest challenges as an instructor is being okay with the fact that not every student is going to praise your every move and that they are going to discuss this with their fellow students. You are not a bad teacher, you are a human teaching other humans.

With increasingly diverse classrooms I agree with Brookfield that it is vital we treat our students with respect and as the adults that they are. How disappointing would it be for you, as an adult learner, to go into a college classroom only to be treated like a child? I do not think you would appreciate it, and it would not garner your respect or trust in the instructor.

Brookfield presents insight into what a skillful teacher should be and forces us to ask questions of ourselves that can be uncomfortable, but critical to our professional growth. Being a skillful teacher is so much more than creating interesting classroom activities and giving a great lecture. His message, at its core, is one of humanity and humility.

Reference list:

Brookfield, S. D. (2015). The Skillfull Teacher. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

A Case for Andragogy

If you are in education you probably already understand that there is a distinct difference in teaching adults over children.

In my own experience, I recognized this many years ago but found that the institutions I taught for did not embrace this. Courses were very centered around instructor directed education, and did not leave room for self exploration and thought on the part of the learner. I found that students often were very dismissive of what was being shared with them because they had no input into the information, nor was there any reasoning given to them. They did not understand why they had to learn these things, so there was no value to the information.

Andragogy is the name given to the assumptions of the adult learner. One cannot talk about andragogy and not also talk about Malcolm Knowles and his six assumptions of the adult learner.

Self-direction: as we mature into adulthood, we evolve into a being that is self-directing. No longer requiring the same leadership style found in pedagogical settings.
Experience: adults bring with them all of their life experiences, and this influences their behaviour towards learning.
Social roles: an adults social role impacts their readiness to learn something.
Perspective: adult learners tend to be more problem centered as opposed to subject centered in their learning. They have the desire to put what they are learning into perspective, in that they need to know when and why the knowledge will be applied to their life.
Motivation: adults tend to be internally motivated. Again, this goes to the desire to apply their knowledge.
The need to know: adults need to understand why they must know something.

If we really think about those six assumptions we can gain a lot of insight into how the adult mind works over the mind of a child. Children typically require direction and organization. They have not yet matured into a self sufficient person, so pedagogy works for them because they are used to being told what to do and how to do it. One thing that I must note is that there are some children who are more self aware, just as there are some adults who are not. Adult students crave being “treated as an adult” but are quick to turn their choices and actions onto their instructor or institution in some situations, specifically when feedback does not go in their favour. Knowles’ assumptions of andragogy are valuable, and set the foundation for us, but also seem to operate on the assumption that adult learners are self-directed in their learning. I think this is actually a common misconception of andragogy in that we make the assumption that everything is put into the hands of the learner and left to them, that we are simply facilitators as adult educators.

All of this is very interesting, but how does this translate to the classroom?

In my search for more information on the subject I came across a really great post, titled Contrasting Classrooms: Instructional Differences Between Pedagogy vs. Andragogy by Point Park University on the subject. It takes the theories of Malcolm Knowles and expands into Jack Mezirow‘s theory of transformational learning. They suggest that when we understand both theories, and marry the two, that we can meet the needs of the adult learner.

In my own experience I have found that adding self reflection, self assessment, and eliminating traditional testing has been very effective in improving the experience of my students. The nature of what I teach must be instructor led, but that does not mean that there is not room to allow the student to still have control over their own learning experience. Adult students that I encounter are typically experiential learners. I often look to the approach of the constructivist learning theory and cognitive apprenticeship when designing course materials as these theories allow for experiential learning to happen, but are led by an expert or mentor. Case studies and physical demonstration of skills that include feedback and involve reflection by the learner are ways that I encourage self exploration and critical thinking.

So, here is my case for andragogy…

It is, without a doubt, true that how we instruct adults needs to differ from how we instruct children. It is a field that continues to be studied and expanded on. The more we learn about it and implement it’s theories into our classroom, the better the learner experience.

I implore all adult educators to truly look at how they deliver their course materials. The world is constantly changing, and so should we. Do not fall back on what you have always done. Instead, think about what you could do to evolve. You will grow from the experience, and isn’t that a wonderful thing?

-Audrey

This post was created as part of the Provincial Instructor Diploma Program at Vancouver Community College. You can access their website here. To access the School of Instructor Education Facebook page click here.

Flipping the Classroom

What exactly is flipping the classroom?

This is a question that I had when I first encountered the term in my PIDP course. Since I love mixing it up when it comes to how we deliver adult education, I knew I needed to know more. I mean, it’s called FLIPPING the classroom, so I knew it had to be good.

“Flipping the classroom is a ‘pedagogy-first’ approach to teaching. In this approach in-class time is ‘re-purposed’ for inquiry, application, and assessment in order to better meet the needs of individual learners. Students gain control of the learning process through studying course material outside of class, using readings, pre-recorded video lectures… or research assignments. During class time, instructors facilitate the learning process by helping students work through course material individually and in groups.” (University of Washington)

Basically, a flipped classroom is one where the lecture portion of your lesson is done by the student, outside of class time, and the homework portion is what is then done in class.

A flipped classroom gives the student the power to engage in information in their own time and environment, and when they get to class we discuss the core concepts behind the lesson and engage in activities that promote thinking and problem solving. This allows the teacher to take on the role of facilitator and allows for deeper discussion on a subject, something that I think gets lost when you only have time in a lecture to introduce a concept. I love the idea that the student comes with a base understanding and the teacher engages with the learners to start the conversation or activity. I believe that deeper understanding would come out of this, and that the learner would feel more in control of their education.

This all has made me think back to a situation I encountered when presenting a treatment protocol and demonstrating the protocol in one of my classes two years ago. I had a student that really struggled with English comprehension. She asked if instead of following the written protocol, could she record the demonstration on her tablet and use that recording as a tool when she then did the hands on practice portion of the protocol. I allowed her to and it really helped her. Then everyone in her class started doing it. One would record, and then share the video with the class. It made me realize how visual my students are, and made me rethink using written protocols. I had the idea at the time that I would like to create a video series for my students, but found barriers to doing that, so I simply allowed them to keep recording me.

I was not aware of the term flipping the classroom back then, but in hindsight, that is what was happening. My student was telling me what she needed as an adult learner, and I went along with it to help her, not realizing that we were embarking on something much bigger. My student flipped the classroom on me and it was an amazing thing.

I cannot talk about flipping the classroom without mentioning Jon Bergmann, one of the pioneers of this method. He has a great website that is all about simplifying flipped learning. If you are thinking what I thought back when I wanted to create my video series, and that is about funding, you need to watch this video by Classroom Closeup featuring Jon Bergmann. It explains how to create a flipped environment without a big budget. Turns out there are a lot of teachers out there that are simply using what they have (think smart phone) to create video lessons for their students.

We have talked about what flipped learning is and how to easily flip your own classroom, but what then happens activity-wise in class? Well, that is going to depend on what you are teaching. There are many references on the internet to what other educators are doing. Because I am at a vocational college, where students need to be prepared for real life scenarios, I like to use case studies as much as possible. If I have a large group I break them into pairs to work on the case study together. If it is a small group, I have them do it independently. They have to share their findings with the class, and we then discuss those findings as a class. This allows for free thinking, creativity, and application of knowledge. And what teacher doesn’t yearn for that???

What are your thoughts on flipped learning? Are you already using this method? Leave me a comment.

–Audrey

Trends in Adult Education: Microlearning

In my search for what is considered new and hot in adult education I came across the term microlearning many times. Enough times that it made me want to know more.

What I found was a very cool concept of lesson delivery.

So what exactly is microlearning?

Microlearning is a form of spaced learning. Micro, meaning small. It is presented as small snippets of content heavy information, delivered to the learner on a daily basis. This is done through the use of apps, allowing the coursework to be delivered to the learner quickly, anywhere in the world, via their mobile device.

While microlearning may be a modern concept, the science behind it is not. German psychologist, Hermann Ebbinghaus, pioneer of the experimental study of memory, can be credited as the first to give a name to the concept of spaced learning. His findings were that long-term retention of information is improved when studying is spread out over time, in a repetitive form.

I found a great online article about the brain science of microlearning by Victoria Zambito, titled The Brain Science of Microlearning: Why it Works. It brings home why Ebbinghaus’s initial spaced learning theory is applicable to today’s learner. In a world where we have access to information at lightning speed, it makes sense that the expectations and characteristics of the learner have evolved. Why would I want to sit in an hour-long lecture, when I could access the usable portions of the lecture in 5 minutes of my time, on my device, from anywhere, at anytime?

The numbers behind this trend amazed me. As reported in 2015 by Karla Gutierrez on shiftelearning.com as to why bite sized learning is better for your learners:

Microlearning makes the transfer of learning 17% more efficient
Microlearning creates 50% more engagement
8 out of 10 Learning and Development professionals favor microlearning because their learners prefer it
Learning in stretches of 3 to 7 minutes matches the working memory capacity
Microlearning courses can be produced in 300% less time and at 50% less cost than traditional courses

I am so excited to start integrating microlearning into my workplace. I plan to use it as an instructor development tool for my staff, but I can see it taking on a much larger role when it comes to curriculum delivery in our classes. Because the programs I oversee at my college are vocational in nature, I would love to test this out for the theory component of our courses, leaving more time for practical applications. I am not threatened by this tool, as many teachers may be. I understand that we need to evolve in our role as educators, and that means that traditional lecturing may become a thing of the past.

I found Ed: The Mobile LMS in my search for a microlearning platform. I signed up for a free account and am currently at the stage of testing it out. You can check out Ed: The Mobile LMS here: https://www.edapp.com/

What do you think about microlearning? I would love to know. Please leave your thoughts in the comments section.

–Audrey