Aspects of resistance in teaching practice

Abstract

This study addresses behavior deviations that professors use to resist the management models of Brazilian universities; this resistance is made clear by assessing teaching performance in Brazilian universities. We used Foucault's concepts (1975) of surveillance and control mechanisms as well as Hodson's work (1995) on the relationship between power and resistance in daily professional life. Most teaching institutions do not collaboratively construct projects that are devoted to changes in institutional practices, nor do they collaboratively implement mechanisms such as information and education management systems. Besides meeting financial objectives, these systems include resources that equip teaching activities with "transparency and calculability." Recurring forms of resistance to these measures can be observed in the Brazilian academic environment, notably in private institutions. Among these forms or resistance, a notable form is the use of humor as a way of expressing discontent and even ridicule of management discourse and its control mechanisms. In this context, we aim to present some common forms of resistance in teaching practice, either on the individual or on the collective plane and to foster debate on this issue. Therefore, we can recognize the resistance issue as volatile, contextual, and sometimes contradictory because it coexists with acceptance behaviors. In the context of teaching institutions, the absence of discussion and collective construction of projects of change in institutional practices may become fertile ground for the expression of resistance behaviors.