Observing Microaggressions
Observing a microaggression was hard
for me this week because I rarely leave the house right now! I am home on
maternity leave so my interactions are mostly with my husband, toddler, and
newborn.
Microaggression is described as when “verbal
behaviors create feelings of uncertainty, inferiority or marginalization even
though no offense was consciously intended” (Laureate Education, 2011).
An
example of a microaggression that I have experienced would be during the first
couple years of my teaching career. I
was about 22-23 years old and just starting out. I was given two assistants that
were both old enough to be my mother.
These women were great assistants and we worked pretty well as a team
BUT they constantly questioned why I was doing anything and then compare me to
the previous preschool teacher who had just retired and tell me how she would have done it. They never said because you are fresh out of
college, you don’t know anything or you don’t have kids so you don’t
understand, but I could tell that they felt this way because of the conversations
we would have daily about my lessons. I chose not to address the obvious but to
explain as I needed with evidence from
research or best practices as the preschool world had been changing. It was a long couple years but I made a lot
of impact with my two assistants and children those years, eventually winning
them over J. During this
time, I was constantly stressed out, on edge, and always second guessing my
instincts and what I had been taught and my two assistants never knew how they
were making me feel because I was not only the lead teacher, but also the
director over them. I felt like bringing it up would make for a really bad work
environment and chose just to endure it.
I learned a lot about myself and inner strength and learned if I bent a
little, they would take advantage but if I was truly committed to what I was
doing, they would also buy in and go along with me. It was a long two years but eventually we all
came to a place where we all worked cooperatively [most of the time].
This
week’s assignments really made me aware of more than just racism or prejudice
with microaggressions. I have no idea how
many times I may have done this myself - not meaning to be hurtful, but actually
doing so. I am definitely more aware and
was even talking about it with my husband – asking him to point out if I commit
these acts so that I can work on them personally. The effects of microaggressions over short or
long periods of time can cause a lot of stress and anxiety. I feel if more people were aware of this we
could move forward and start to change
the world.
Laureate
Education (Producer). (2011). Microaggressions
in everyday life [Video file]. Retrieved from
https://class.waldenu.edu
Hi Danielle,
ReplyDeleteYou know most of the time when we feel we have been wronged by someone our first reaction is to stand up for ourselves. But throughout my life I have learned that some people are thoughtless, and others are truly unaware of when they are hurting others through their language or actions. This is why learning about the different types of mircoaggressions are so important to the field of early childhood. Therefore I feel we can start by sharing this information with others as well, like you did with your husband to help others understand that their words, and actions carry more power than they think. Also like yourself this assignment has really helped me take a good look at the things I say and do now.