The Creating Brave Spaces workshop: a report on simulation-based faculty development to disarm microaggressions

Background Microaggressions occur regularly in the clinical and teaching environments and is harmful to individuals, teams and institutions. The aim of this brief report is to share experiences in developing and conducting a simulation-based faculty development initiative, the Creating Brave Spaces (CBS) workshop, to disarm microaggressions. Methods In 2021–2023, a total of six workshops were arranged for faculty in different settings, including faculty development events, faculty retreats, national and international conferences. From each workshop, the team gained insight and experience that they incorporated into additional deliveries. Experiences and lessons learnt from facilitators have been subject to systematic reflection by the authors. Results A total of 85 faculty participated in the workshops. We experienced that context was important and that participants varied greatly in their understanding of the concept of microaggression. We also found that participants play an active role in the co-creating of the learning experience. Highly engaged participants have shared their own techniques to disarm microaggressions with each other, adding value to the workshop. We experienced that facilitators found it helpful to debrief as a team after each event and incorporate experiences into future deliveries. Conclusion The CBS workshop is a feasible approach to build awareness about microaggressions and to learn strategies to disarm microaggressions.