S4E3 - A Conversation With Dr. Adam Wolfsdorf (Pt I): Teaching in the Riptide: Subversion, Power, and the Moments That Redefine the Classroom

🧭 Episodic Synopsis

In this return conversation (since spring 2025), Dr. Joey Weisler welcomes back Dr. Adam Wolfsdorf—English educator, scholar, and author of Teaching in the Riptide—for a deep exploration of the moments in education that pull teachers off balance and force reckoning, reflection, and growth. Drawing on vivid classroom narratives, Dr. Wolfsdorf introduces the metaphor of the “riptide”: those unpredictable, disorienting moments that no amount of lesson planning or graduate training can fully prepare educators for.

Together, Weisler and Wolfsdorf examine obstructive and constructive subversions, unpacking how power shifts in classrooms when students challenge authority...