It is important that we apply the Brain Rules to our daily practice and employ strategies to increase dopamine and oxytocin, while reducing cortisol in the online environment.
Establish an anti-microaggression netiquette. Don’t enable a tone deaf ear to microaggressions. Instead, do some research and identify examples of it in pop culture, curate some engaging articles defining microagressions, and create a mandatory “Welcome Ice Breaker Check-In Assignment.” Have students authenticate themselves in the class (a good idea for a future blog post). Know that you, the instructor, have your own implicit biases and may not be able to identify a manifested microaggression. From the very beginning of the course, encourage your students to inform you when they feel a microaggression went undetected or was ignored.
Do not misinterpret low participation in group work. Communicate with all students individually and ask them about their experiences accessing the project’s information and communicating with their group members. Establish clear directions and expectations. Connect to an @ONE blog post about Late Policies
Follow the breadcrumbs. If you discover evidence of a microaggression in a discussion forum, read all previous comments. Aggressors may be repeated offenders and might enable others to continue the offense. Understanding the factors that surrounded the microaggression helps evaluate the next steps strategically rather than reacting emotionally. Connect to an @ONE blog post about microagressions in online environments.
Lean on your peers. Accept and understand that all instructors struggle with the line between freedom of expression and confronting offensive content. So instructors need to keep reaching out to colleagues, engaging in research, and maybe even constructing classroom climate surveys to explore how to reduce the proliferation of macro-level prejudices through microaggressions as well as asking for data-driven teaching methods/strategies. We are not in this alone. We TOO have to ask for help when we need it.
Add meaning. As you begin to learn about your student population, be aggressive with your academic discipline and include content, data, images and/or narratives representing your students as genuine and essential stakeholders of the course. One story, data set, or image can inspire success or enable empathy.
From @ONE Equity & Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning Online