On this week there was a little girl who attends our center. She outwardly disobeyed her parent and was disciplined immediately. The staff shrugged their shoulders and made the assumption that the mother would still allow the child to participate in the activities regardless of the unacceptable behavior. “You know that you people give in and the child is in charge.” During our Summer Program children participate in different field trips and art projects on the next week the children are scheduled to go to the Children’s Museum. However, the mother called back later to check on the child and stated that “She will not be attending the field trip on next week.”
This was a microinsult. Because of the staff member’s experience with that culture they made the assumption that this parent would do the same. That their children are verbally disciplined but there are no consequences. When hearing the microaggression I wanted to apologize to the parent and correct the staff member for making such an accusation.
My observation really made me feel like I needed to do something. Have training with my staff to inform them of what microaggression really are and to encourage them to be more careful when speaking with parents and children because we want them to feel included in our program and not to make statements that would make them feel otherwise.
Hey Carmen, I love your blog.I agree with you we as educators have to be careful how we approach and what we say to parents because they can quickly assume its racism or just teachers that don't care about their students.
ReplyDeleteCarmen,
ReplyDeleteGreat Post!!! I had to deal with that this week at my program. But it wasn't dealing with another race it was still a microaggression towards a parent. Because the staff memeber felt like everytime she talks to the parent nothing is done. I do feel it may be time to discuss with my staff the meaning of microaggressions and how they affect people.
Christine,
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, in some instances it really is teachers that do not care and we know that there will always teachers like that. It is disheartening to see, but my goal is to make sure that while in our care they are educated on these different areas.
Tashana,
ReplyDeleteIt is always easier for staff to hold on to negatives versus the positive. But if we share this information with them hopefully they will learn to handle these situations differently.