Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions
During the readings of this week's resources and viewing the video with Dr. Sue, it has been brought to my attention just how easy it is to experience microaggressions. For example, there is a five-year-old boy in my class and I was made aware that he was on medications. These meds would make him very drowsy at times. This one incident occur in the classroom around transition time. My assistant blurted out to him Did you take your meds today because you are all over the place? To me, this was not the appropriate thing to say to a child nor the time to ask the question. So later in the day, I shared with her that we as child care professionals are not allowed to make fun of children. She reassured me that she wasn't making fun of him but thought it was appropriate to so.
So in observing this experience made me realize that as the Lead Teacher of a classroom, I not only need to model for those I work with but be able to address any moments that I feel that any individual rather it be a child, assistant, volunteer and even parent are being disrespectful to another in my classroom. The only way to keep my classroom a place that is inclusive of all cultures, beliefs and or religions is to not allow anyone to feel targeted at all.
Brandi,
ReplyDeleteI have experience this with my staff as well, I feel that we need to provide training to all staff during staff development, to ensure that we are sensitive to all children in our care at all times.
Oh my goodness. I myself have experienced this as well by a staff member. We really must be very cautious of our words because once it is out of our mouth, it can not be put back in. I myself know that I must practice thinking before I speak.
ReplyDeleteHi Brandi,
ReplyDeleteGreat job on letting your assistant teacher know that this is not appropriate to say to a five year old. She really didn't think that there was anything wrong with saying this and now that you informed her that this is wrong hopefully she won't say these types of things again!
Brandi, Your post really captured what many people need to know about equity and being truly intentional about how they are teaching children to interact and accept diverse people. When you said, "The only way to keep my classroom a place that is inclusive of all cultures, beliefs and or religions is to not allow anyone to feel targeted at all." I felt like you were letting everyone know, it starts here with us and how we deal with the small issues. That is how we effect the bigger picture.
ReplyDelete