refusal and resistance

I like Martin's argument that people who resist are not always good, and Eugene's idea that the sme action, depending on the intentionality and the cotext, may or may not be resistance:

"For example, cheating can be a part of the activity system (e.g., a traditional school) to the conform the system or can be against the activity system to destroy or transform the system. Again there are cases when the difference is blurry but it may be useful still to see the difference because it produces important consequences for the future of the activity system"

I think another example might be some of the student and teacher responses to the standardized testing movement that's been sweeping the US lately.  I read some articles about some parents and kids in varoius places (Connecticut comes to mind, and I think there have been others) who have been refusing to participate in these tests, kids refusing to take and parents supporting in some cases.  Obviously this is resistance, and I think where it gets fuzzy is when there are varying degrees of organization around the resistance.  For example, kids simply don't bother/refuse to study, but ta! ke tests, without doing well. 

By the way Martin, thanks a lot for the web site link you sent about languages.  I found a lot of interesting information about Galician, and it was interesting to read about the legal and political organization of a system that I have only experienced from inside.  I can tell you that, in answer to your question How well did my daughter learn Galician language, this was a curious thing.  She considers that she knows nothing, but my son (one year younger) considers that he knows it well.  I think it has a lot to do with their personal experiences of acceptance and identity.  My son tells me he considers himself a "regular Galician boy." 

My personal insider experience (which is, I know, kind of near-sighted) is that the system of preserving the language is a bit disorganized and half-hearted (maybe even conflicted).  Certain texts are required to be written in Galician, but the teachers seem to be able to choose to teach in whichever language they wish.  So It is possible (and this happens in my kids' school) that the teacher can speak in Castillano while the text book is written in Galician.  I'm confused just thinking about it...:)  Overall, it from what I see in the web site, the policy looks better than in turns out in real practice.

Renee