Teachers as Aggressors: New Findings on Racial Microaggressions in Schools From the Youth Research Council

• In Event: Youth as Our "Present Already": Youth-Led Spaces at the Center of Advocacy, Research, Practice, and Design

Abstract

While overt acts of racism may be less common today than in the past, racial discrimination is a common experience for students in school settings (Hope et al., 2015) through more subtle, day-to-day acts of racism and discrimination known as microaggressions (Sue, 2007; Ayón & Philbin, 2017; Steketee et. al., 2021). The purpose of this paper is to highlight youth-led research findings about the prevalence of racial microaggressions in schools and to explain how this research was driven by the goals and interests of youth in the Youth Research Council (YRC).
The YRC, founded in 2021, convenes 30-40 racially and ethnically diverse youth as co-researchers alongside adult researchers from a Northeastern University. We conduct research on an issue important to youth research fellows and share findings and recommendations with local decision makers. The YRC follows a YPAR model, in that we begin from the view that students’ lived experiences and local, context-based practitioner knowledge (e.g., teachers, policymakers), when analyzed using systematic methods and analyses, constitute strong research evidence that can be utilized for decision making (Brion-Meisels & Alter, 2018; Cammarota & Fine, 2008).
From 2021-2023, YRC Fellows designed and carried out a multimethod study, using rapid research methods such as hallway interviews (n=70), online questionnaires (n=732), testimonials, and social media strategies to gather and analyze qualitative and quantitative data about the prevalence and effects of racial microaggressions on high school students in Northern Virginia.
One of the YRC’s most surprising and disappointing findings was that teachers are often aggressors in instances of racially-motivated micro (and macro) aggressions. According to YRC data, the majority (60%) of racial microaggressions take place in classrooms, in full view of teachers who often dismiss racial microaggressions as misunderstandings or “not racist”, or who were the perpetrators themselves according to 29% of questionnaire respondents. Many of these percentages increase significantly when focusing on students’ racial identity. For example, according to respondents who identified as Black or African American, 81% reported that microaggressions occurred in classrooms (compared to 60% of all respondents) and over 50% reported that teachers were the perpetrators of these offenses (compared to only 29% of all respondents). Analysis of interviews, testimonials, and social media data offer similar results and are highlighted in the paper alongside these descriptive statistics.
The significance of this paper is multifaceted. First, it is significant that youth who are most affected by racial microaggressions are the ones who not only designed the study but also carried it out. Those youth, YRC Fellows, will be the main presenters on this panel. Individual names are not yet listed as presenters because we are unsure which Fellows will be able to attend the conference next year (a structural barrier AERA should seek to resolve in order to democratize a conference aimed at that exact goal). A second point of significance is the major findings that teachers are often the main aggressors in situations of racial discrimination in schools and classrooms.

Authors

• Bethany Monea, University of the District of Columbia

• Meagan Call-Cummings, Johns Hopkins University

• Jeffery Keller, George Mason University