#347: Reframing resistance: How teachers reclaim judgment in professional development on controversial issues

Teacher resistance is frequently framed in educational research as an obstacle to change, yet this view obscures the potential advantages of resistance as a resource for professional learning. We reconceptualize resistance as a professional stance in which teachers assert their judgment vis-à-vis educational purposes. Using micro-ethnographic discourse analysis, we examined how resistance emerged and functioned in teacher-facilitator interaction across 47 hours of video-recorded sessions from two year-long professional development programs addressing controversial social and political classroom issues. We identified 14 resistance segments, categorized into classroom-related and program-related topics. In most cases, facilitators swiftly closed resistance, thereby hindering deliberation and reinforcing bureaucratic logic. In some cases, facilitators' legitimized resistance opened up exploration of educational goals and assumptions. These interactional patterns carried political weight: closure reinscribed hierarchical authority, while opening positioned teachers as agentive professionals. The study contributes a framework for understanding and leveraging resistance as a potential tool for professional learning.