Teaching "Disruption"

I came across a quote from an article on anti-oppression by Kumashiro (2000), which states, "teaching is not a representational act, an unproblematic transmission of knowledge about the world to the student, but is a performative act, constituting reality as it names it, while paradoxically acknowledging that the teacher cannot control how the student reads what the teacher is trying to en-act...There is always a space between the teaching and the learning, and rather than try to close that space (and control where and how the student is changed), the teacher should work within that space, embrace that paradox, and explore the possibilities of disruptions and change that reside within the unknowable" (p.46). This quote reminds me that what is being "learned" and "taught" is actually more like a process of mutual creation between teacher and student than it is a linear model. However, such an idea (which is rooted in a post-structural view of education) leads me to wonder: does this mean that teachers have nothing to plan at all for their classes?
  In fact, I do believe that teachers need to "plan" their classes, but maybe the implication is not that the class has a certain pre-defined layout, similar to an architectural blueprint. Rather, it seems safe to say that teachers are literally "preparing to be surprised" by their students. An unpredictable class is not a sign of failure, but is actually an indication that some aspect of one's lesson plan has an affect on the students, similar to a kind of mental or emotional alchemy.  "Planning", in this case, is a kind of soulful and sincere intention to be present in the students' learning in some fashion or another, but it's not a guarantee that there is a knowable way to connect that is going to happen every single time in the same way.
  The other point that comes to mind is the role of improvisation in teaching. Teachers don't just deliver content, but they also learn how to broker between their own interest in the content and the interests of their students. There are many times when a student is engaged in one aspect of a lesson that simply isn't covered in the plan, yet in itself might lead to a fruitful learning. The lesson plan triggers the student to find their own ways of learning something that is meaningful to them, rather than trying to "learn" what is actually not useful or memorable to the student. The balance of having a plan and allowing students to engage it in fresh ways, is always a tricky challenge for teachers, but it seems necessary in order for the students to find what they most need to learn for themselves in the moment.

Kumashiro, K. (2000). Toward a theory of anti-oppressive education. Review of Educational Research, 70(1), 25-53. http://simplelink.library.utoronto.ca/url.cfm/493768