Module 4: Facilitating for inclusivity
4.5 Addressing microaggressions in virtual learning contexts
Key principles: Social identity as a starting point for understanding microaggressions
In Module 2.3. Social Justice in Virtual Learning Contexts, we introduced and developed the notion of social identity, which we defined around an individual’s personal identification with a broader social group or community. In the same module, we also asked you to complete the power flower exercise that provided an opportunity to reflect on your own social identity, especially with regard to identities that either align or misalign with a dominant social group in that particular identity area (e.g., race, social class, status within colonialism, etc.).
Understanding social identity is an important precursor to understanding microaggressions, because it is social identity—particularly social identity experiencing marginalization—that is the primary point of injury when someone experiences a microaggression. In the next section, we’ll ask you to extend the reflection that you completed on the power flower in Module 2.3. Social Justice in Virtual Learning Contexts.
Reflect and apply: Extending your own power flower
If you haven’t already, please complete the power flower exercise in Module 2.3. Social Justice in Virtual Learning Contexts. If you aren’t able to commit the time to complete the full activity, we suggest that you review the aspects of social identity that are displayed in the power flower in order to get the most out of this extension exercise.
Thinking about your completion of the power flower diagram, and your reflection on the activity, extend your learning by responding to the question in the interaction below.
How to complete this activity and save your work:
Type your response to the questions in the box below. Your answers will be saved as you move forward to the next question (note: your answers will not be saved if you navigate away from this page, refresh the page, or hit the back button). Your responses are private and cannot be seen by anyone else.
When you complete the below activity and wish to download your responses or if you prefer to work in a Word document offline, please follow the steps below:
- Navigate through all tabs or jump ahead by selecting “Export” tab in the left-hand navigation.
- Hit “Export document” button.
- Hit “Export” button in the top right navigation.
To delete your answers simply refresh the page or move to the next page in this course.
Note: Social justice, as a part of humanizing learning, requires a lot of reflection on identity that can be intimate and personal. You may also leave these fields blank and record your responses elsewhere on your own device, or in your own offline journal or notebook.
Key principles: Microaggressions in virtual learning contexts
A University of British Columbia resource, Microaggressions in the online classroom, characterizes microaggressions and their impact as
small comments or gestures that are experienced as subtle forms of discrimination or attack against marginalized groups. Microaggressions are often unintentional and can be easily explained away, but they leave lasting impacts on students who experience them regularly. They are constant reminders that someone doesn’t belong or isn’t worthy. Even though they may be seen as small acts, they collectively normalize prejudice and reinforce it. Research is clear that regular exposure to microaggressions can do real psychological damage.
(Williams, 2019)
Being able to recognize and respond tactfully to microaggressions in your virtual classroom is an important way you can protect learners, preserve the sense of safety you have cultivated in your course, and perhaps even turn a microaggression into a teachable moment. The resources provided below provide a great introduction to microaggressions in virtual learning spaces.
Readings
Please read the following resources from the University of British Columbia (UBC), which provide an excellent and concise introduction to microaggressions in virtual learning contexts.
Strategies in action: Recognizing and responding to microaggressions
The best way to learn to recognize microaggressions is to see examples of them at play, along with guidance on how to tactfully address them.
Explore examples and strategies that address microaggressions
The following resource from UBC provides many case studies of microaggressions that students have experienced, along with suggestions on how to respond to and address those situations. Microaggressions in the online classroom case studies include scenarios such as
- failure to offer a land acknowledgement,
- dismissal of racial inequalities,
- putting a Black student on the spot,
- COVID-19 conspiracy theories,
- misgendering a student,
- repeated incorrect pronoun use,
- uneven student participation in class discussion,
- choosing group project partners,
- use of closed captions,
- questions about protesters in social movement, and
- economic value of diversity in workplace.
Reflect and apply: Responding to microaggressions in your own virtual learning environments
Perhaps you have witnessed a microaggression unfold in one of your own virtual learning environments. If so, how did you respond? Did your response resolve the situation in a way that left you and the learners feeling that course environment was safe for everyone (learners and instructors, and those who were the perpetrators and receivers of the microaggression)? If you were unsatisfied with the resolution, how might you respond differently the next time a similar situation arises in your virtual teaching?
In this interactive we would like you to document a short reflection on how you responded to a microaggression in your teaching. If you have not responded to such a situation in your teaching, choose one of the case studies in the UBC “Microaggressions in the Online Classroom” resource and extend or nuance one of the resolutions suggested there based on your own context and experience.
How to complete this activity and save your work:
Type your response to the questions in the box below. Your answers will be saved as you move forward to the next question (note: your answers will not be saved if you navigate away from this page, refresh the page, or hit the back button). Your responses are private and cannot be seen by anyone else.
When you complete the below activity and wish to download your responses or if you prefer to work in a Word document offline, please follow the steps below:
- Navigate through all tabs or jump ahead by selecting “Export” tab in the left-hand navigation.
- Hit “Export document” button.
- Hit “Export” button in the top right navigation.
To delete your answers simply refresh the page or move to the next page in this course.
References and credits
Williams, M. T. (2019, December 4). Psychology cannot afford to ignore the many harms caused by microaggressions. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 15(1), 38–43. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691619893362
University of British Columbia. (n.d.). Open case studies: Microaggressions in the online classroom. https://cases.open.ubc.ca/microagressions-in-the-online-classroom/
