JAASEP SPRING/SUMMER 2009 Part 4 of 9
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Why do people resist and what exactly is it? Physicists understand Ohm’s law in which resistance is equal to the voltage divided by the current. An electrician views resistance as a component that opposes the passage of an electric current. Educators view resistance as an unpleasant trait displayed by some students who are noncompliant and uncooperative when given directions to behave in certain ways. Serious oppositional behavior is one of the most frequent reasons young children are referred for psychiatric services (Kuczynski, Kochanska, Radke-Yarrow, & Girnius-Brown, 1987). Walker, Ramsey, and Gresham (2004) believed that noncompliance serves as a “gateway behavior” for children developing serious antisocial behavior. Maag (2001a) believed that terms such as “noncompliance” and “opposition” suggested that the problem resides solely with children whereas the term “resistance” focuses on the interaction between adult and child behaviors.
The belief that resistance originate from adults—as well as children—is both comforting and disconcerting. The good news is that the first step for dealing effectively with resistance involves changing adult behavior—something totally under their control versus trying to change children’s behavior which is mitigated by a myriad of factors outside of a school’s control.
Abstract
Many public schools currently have organizational structures that form barriers for dealing more effectively with students’ challenging behaviors even though positive school-wide approaches exist and provide empirical support for their use. Nevertheless, resistance to change occurs at both institutional and individual levels. Improving student behavior and learning requires a paradigm shift away from teachers working in isolation to working together. Professional growth also must shift away from oneshot inservices to more intense and long-term training. One method for achieving this type of paradigm shift is through the use of professional learning communities (PLCs). Through these communities, schools can challenge existing paradigms and explore the possibilities that positive supports offer to dealing with students’ challenging behaviors. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to describe prominent and misconceived beliefs that contribute to institutional and individual resistance and suggest professional learning communities (PLCs) as a means for moving past this resistance in a collaborative and empowering way to improve student behavior and learning.