What are micro-aggressions?
Watch the following videos in their entirety before moving to the next step.
What Are Micro-Aggressions? - Catharsis Productions
SNIPPET: Micro-aggressions in the Classroom - Focused.Arts.Media.Education
SNIPPET: Micro-aggressions in the Classroom (Part 2) - Focused.Arts.Media.Education
Defining micro-aggressions
For the purposes of this course, the following definition will be used to describe micro-aggressions.
Micro-aggressions are subtle actions, remarks or visual cues - either intentional or unintentional - in our everyday interactions that ultimately communicate negative ideas about a group of people, more commonly, a systematically disadvantaged group (Sue et al., 2007).
Impact of micro-aggressions on students
Research has shown that micro-aggression in learning environments can negatively impact students & their learning outcomes (Cardoza et al., 2017).
Some of the impacts of micro-aggression include:
- Dropping or skipping classes where students frequently face micro-aggressions.
- Negative health impacts such as anxiety, depression and sleep difficulties
- Decreased confidence
- Decreased cognition
Impact vs. Intention
Sometimes, people often question the impact of harms caused (Berk, 2017a). However, questioning the legitimacy of impact caused is a form of micro-invalidation and can be just as harmful as micro-aggressions (Inclusive Teaching UBC). While many of the instances of micro-aggressions may seem insignificant and unintentional, for those experience these slight indignities on a daily basis, even an small incident can greatly impact their wellbeing (Berk, 2017b).
Activity #1: Video & Reflection Questions
Look Different - Micro-aggressions - MTV (watch all 7 videos listed on the playlist)
Answer the reflection questions on the worksheet attached below.