Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

 

 

 

Surely providing students with a safe environment means teaching them what to do and when to do things. There exists a fine line between teaching guidelines and imposing power over them. In a combined first and second class this week, a female first grader was subjected to the microaggression of a female second grader. Although this interaction involved two young girls, the issue at stake involving power puts weight in the scale of gender microaggression.

At the end of class, the teacher calls students one by one and asks them to get up, push in their chairs, and get in line, all in the target language. Most of the children are in line and the teacher calls the third to last student, a first grade girl. After giving her instructions to this student, the teacher directs her attention to a student who was engaging a conversation with a peer. Then, the teacher hearing “Yes, the teacher told me” and seeing that the student whom she had asked to get in line was standing in the middle of the classroom asked what the problem was. The first grade student answered that a (second grade) peer was saying that the teacher had not asked her to get in line and that she was not following instructions. The teacher confirmed that she had given her permission to join the line. Once in line, the teacher asked the first grader if the teacher had given instructions to get in line and the first grader acquiesced. The teacher continued and asked the student if she was doing the right thing by getting in line, and she replied yes. Then, the teacher encouraged her to continue to do what she was doing if she knew she was doing what she was supposed to and not give up her position of power.

 

 

Since the second grader had engaged in a power struggle with the first grader, the teacher needed the situation so the microaggression could be turned into a positive outcome. Rather than focusing on the second grader’s point of view, the teacher chose to help the first grader empower herself when she knows she is doing the right thing, not give up her rights, and stand tall.

Was it appropriate to disregard the second grader’s behavior in that case and risk making the student feel dismissed in what she thought was right? Since the second grader took upon her to take a leader’s role and boss her classmate, the teacher not paying attention to her attempt of gaining power stopped the student’s behavior. Also, not giving the second grader any attention turned the focus back on the first grader who was doing the right thing, and allowed her to feel proud of herself.

Microaggressions can take many forms namely racial, gender discrimination, sexual orientation, and are frequently unconscious and unintentional. However, those unconscious and unintentional microaggressionss are the most damaging. In this light, it is important to learn to recognize microaggressions in school and address them immediately.  Teaching children how to empower themselves may palliate a future where they will have to deal with discrimination, prejudice and stereotypes.

Reference

Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2011). Microaggressions in Everyday Life [Video webcast]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu/