This post considers why some people have a resistance to learning. I believe a key reason, as highlighted by Brookfield (2015), is that learning is about change and change is often difficult and even scary for people. I often see this in my work as a Provincial Trainer. While some staff happily embrace the changes new learning involves, even when it means a big paradigm shift in their thinking, others are steadfast in their belief that nothing needs to change so why do they have to learn something new. I think it is important for teachers or trainers to recognize that learning can change people in small or sometimes big ways, and that some learners fear how these changes will impact them going forward.
An additional thought about the relationship between learning and change is highlighted by James Atherton, in his article about in-service professional training programs. Atherton (1999) suggests that while learning new things is meant to be additive to what people already know, many learners do not experience learning this way. Instead they feel threatened by how learning will change or supplant their current knowledge and skill set. I think this is particularly true when an organization like the one I work for provides training to its staff to help them change the way they do pieces of their work. I have included a direct link to Atherton's article at the end of this post. I feel this article does a great job of demystifying some of the reasons that people resist learning.
Atherton, J. (1999) Resistance to learning: a discussion based on participants in in-service professional training
programmes, Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 51:1, 77-90,
DOI: 10.1080/13636829900200070
Brookfield, S. D. (2015). The Skillful Teacher: On Technique, Trust, and Responsiveness in the Classroom
(3rd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13636829900200070
An additional thought about the relationship between learning and change is highlighted by James Atherton, in his article about in-service professional training programs. Atherton (1999) suggests that while learning new things is meant to be additive to what people already know, many learners do not experience learning this way. Instead they feel threatened by how learning will change or supplant their current knowledge and skill set. I think this is particularly true when an organization like the one I work for provides training to its staff to help them change the way they do pieces of their work. I have included a direct link to Atherton's article at the end of this post. I feel this article does a great job of demystifying some of the reasons that people resist learning.
Atherton, J. (1999) Resistance to learning: a discussion based on participants in in-service professional training
programmes, Journal of Vocational Education and Training, 51:1, 77-90,
DOI: 10.1080/13636829900200070
Brookfield, S. D. (2015). The Skillful Teacher: On Technique, Trust, and Responsiveness in the Classroom
(3rd ed.). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
https://doi.org/10.1080/13636829900200070
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