Mathematical Microaffirmations
This piece makes it easy to see how your own choice of words signals to students—explicitly or implicitly—a welcome to disciplinary thinking. Little, persistent moves in the classroom make a big difference if you're studying math, Latin, philosophy, or anything else.
The phrase microaffirmations was introduced in 1974 by Mary Rowe (2008) and was related to the gender inequality she experienced in the workplace. She defined microaffirmations as "apparently small acts, which are often ephemeral and hardto- see, events that are public and private, often unconscious but very effective, which occur wherever people wish to help others succeed" (p. 4). Powell and colleagues (2013) expanded the term into higher education and academic advising, indicating that microaffirmations are acts that can help students feel welcome, visible, and capable of being successful in the college environment. Other scholars have shared how microaffirmations can contribute to students feeling "respected, strengthened, included, or otherwise affirmed" (Rolón-dow & Davison, 2021). These authors point out that an important aspect of microaffirmations is their potential to disrupt inequities and marginalization (Ellis, 2019). They can even be effective in countering the negative impacts of microaggressions on students' academic experiences. When framed in this way, microaffirmations can be a strategic and malleable tool for supporting students' success while working against inequities.