When Disruption Becomes Opportunity: Embracing Powershifts in the Classroom

Transform unexpected moments into meaningful learning experiences.

In conversation with

• Guest: Dr. Adam Wolfsdorf
• Host: Dr. Roberta Lenger Kang

Additional resources connected to this episode:
Don’t Take it Personally: De-Escalating Conflicts in the Classroom

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Snapshot

​In this episode, Dr. Roberta Lenger Kang speaks with Dr. Adam Wolfsdorf, Humanities Department Chair at Bay Ridge Prep and author of the upcoming book Teaching in the Riptide: Anchoring Pedagogies for Soulful Practitioners. The conversation explores the jarring gap between teacher preparation and classroom reality, focusing on unexpected moments when students challenge classroom norms and power dynamics. Adam introduces the concept of "subversive moments"—instances when the teacher's sense of control is completely upended—and discusses how these disruptions, whether destructive or constructive, can become profound opportunities for growth when educators respond with mindfulness, flexibility, and grace rather than reflexive control.

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Breakdown

In this episode, we bridge theory and practice in the classroom as we discuss the following:

• The gap between teacher preparation and the unpredictable reality of classroom life
• Three types of subversive moments: obstructive, destructive, and constructive
• Mindful strategies for responding to classroom disruptions without escalating conflict

The gap between teacher preparation and the unpredictable reality of classroom life.
New teachers often enter classrooms with idealized visions shaped by their favorite films and teachers, expecting students to hang on their every word. However, the reality involves unexpected challenges—students walking in late, shouting profanities, or creating disruptions that no amount of coursework can fully prepare you for. Adam describes how even elite teacher preparation programs can't replicate the experience of being alone in a classroom when something completely destabilizes your lesson plan. Teaching is learned through doing, through falling down and getting back up, and every classroom becomes a unique space where 20-30 different personalities, motivations, needs, cultures, and languages collide like balls in a pinball machine.

Three types of subversive moments: obstructive, destructive, and constructive.
Adam defines subversive moments as complete power shifts in the classroom where the teacher's sense of authority and control is suddenly turned upside down. Obstructive subversions occur when students actively block the teacher's planned work, like the graduate student who brought 50 balloons and cupcakes to derail a trauma-informed pedagogy workshop. Destructive subversions involve more aggressive challenges, such as when a student shouted profanities and threw a trash can after being asked to refocus. However, Adam also describes constructive subversions—moments when students exceed all expectations in profound ways, like the freshman who wrote a devastating poem about her father's death from dementia that completely shifted the teacher's understanding of what young writers are capable of producing.

Mindful strategies for responding to classroom disruptions without escalating conflict.
When faced with subversive moments, teachers must resist the urge to respond reflexively from a place of emotional hijacking. Adam emphasizes the importance of taking a step back, breathing, and recognizing when you don't have a good answer in the moment. Rather than escalating by shouting threats or making the situation about ego, teachers should ensure safety, check in with the disruptive student privately, and give themselves time to process before responding. Teachers shouldn't take student behavior personally—kids often don't know us and we may represent authority figures or power structures they're reacting against. Creating space for everyone to process what happened, perhaps through journaling or reflective writing, allows the classroom community to move forward. These moments require acknowledging our own inflexibilities and remaining open to what students bring, even when it challenges our expectations.

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Taking Action

• Practice mindfulness techniques when you feel yourself emotionally hijacked—recognize your triggers and give yourself permission to pause before responding to disruptive moments
  
• Remember "don't take this personally"—student behavior is rarely about you as an individual but rather about complex psychological material, power dynamics, and what you represent to them
  
• Create space after disruptive incidents by acknowledging what happened with the class (e.g., having everyone write their thoughts for three minutes) rather than pretending nothing occurred
  
• Have proactive conversations with your guidance department and colleagues about protocols for handling subversive moments before they arise, since you can't predict what will happen but can be certain something will
  
• Embrace flexibility and expansiveness in your classroom expectations—when you're open to possibilities beyond your planned agenda, you create psychological and emotional terrain for students to show up authentically, even when that means falling apart or exceeding your expectations
  

Summary assisted by Cleanvoice (2024 Cleanvoice AI) and Claude (Anthropic, 2024) 
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