Transformative learning is often a long and difficult process, during which learners may express many forms of resistance. To investigate such resistance, a 2-year qualitative study was conducted on Finnish teacher education. Field diary notes and students’ writings were collected from a group of teacher students ( N = 11). The analysis focuses on the whole group and two of its members. Using a phenomenological–hermeneutic methodology and the theories of Ziehe, Illeris, and Agamben, three interpretations of why and how students said no to transformative learning were formulated: regressive no (the need to rest from the process), defensive no (the lack of resources/motivation needed for the process), and emancipatory no (saying yes to something else). The reasons for refusal and withdrawal are based on case examples that do not cover all possible reasons. Thus, future studies should complement these, given the relevance of how resistance is interpreted during transformative learning.
Minni Matikainen (Mon,) studied this question.