This article reflects on the flexible learning concept through the eyes of the 19th-century industrial activists known as the Luddites. During a period of economic uncertainty, the Luddite perspective provides a sensitive justification for a change-free educational environment, and for a backlash in favour of "inflexible learning" (IL). The article outlines institutional strategies for encouraging IL in the face of flexibility, including a five-step intervention programme helping teachers to resist flexible tendencies in their work, and to return to the naturally inflexible state of many of their colleagues.