Safe Classrooms and Resistance to New Ideas

The Fall/Winter issue of On Campus With Women (available at http://www.aacu.org/ocww/volume34_1/) (Featured Topics) has a number of articles on "resistance" as expressed by students when learning about new concepts. This ties in to the idea of "safe" classrooms where students can struggle with new ideas without fear of being hurt. Here is a list of strategies to consider.

Strategies for engaging resistance in the classroom:

• Affirm students' right to resist.
• If students begin displaying attack-defend behaviors, slow the pace of the discussion.
• Incorporate student feedback and concerns into your session plan.
• Use students' resistance to illustrate course content and promote insight.
• Use "time outs" during which you allow students time to write about what's going on.
• Use humor, music, and other media to alter the mood of the classroom.

I especially like the idea of "time outs" for writing. This use of Writing to Learn activities can help diffuse an intellectual confrontation and help everyone involved better understand what is happening.