Teaching

Abstract

Unintended outcomes can derail the best of intentions in the classroom. Designing a new course for Honors students provided an opportunity to change my traditional teaching style. I envisioned a classroom where students enthusiastically became more self-directed learners. I was perplexed with mixed reactions from students; while some joined me and adopted the model of teaching and learning I proposed, far more than I expected resisted this change. Using a sociological framework helped me understand that I had overlooked the powerful influence of the larger institutional context for shaping and maintaining expectations for teacher/student role enactment. I argue that when students' comfort is disrupted and their normative role expectations are rendered unpredictable or misunderstood, some respond with resistance. Honors students, in particular, may be the most resistant to pedagogical innovation because they are the most skilled at, and invested in, enacting and maintaining the institutionally normative roles.