That's what it feels like when you're discriminated against.". The next day when the tables were turned, "I felt like quitting school. "We want to see Room No. More than 50 years after her famous exercise, Elliott is still fighting. Elliott started to see her own white privilege, even her own ignorance. she asked the children, who were white. A Class Divided - Wikipedia Undeterred, Elliott tried to appeal to Pauls self-interest. Much like the Zimbardo's Stanford Prison experiment where students were divided by either being the jailer or the jailed. How can we teach kids to be more like him? One example that has been in place for many years is the blue-eyed/brown-eyed experiment. She gave all of the students simple spelling and math tests two weeks before the exercise, on the days of the exercise, and after the exercise. Mental Sandboxes and Their Usefulness in Today's World, The Law of Reversed Effort: When Taking Action Isn't the Best Option. After the local newspaper published a story on Elliott and the experiment, she was flown to New York to appear on May 31, 1968, on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, where she extolled the experiments effectiveness in cluing in her 8-year-old white students on what it was like to be Black in America. If this arbitrary division that Elliott enforced for a few hours created so many problems in this classroom, whats happening on a larger scale? Folks leave their cars unlocked, keys in the ignition. When the exercise ended, some of the kids hugged, some cried. Essay Sample: Ethical Concerns in Jane Elliot's Experiment - SpeedyPaper Jane Elliott (ne Jennison; born on November 30, 1933) is an American diversity educator.As a schoolteacher, she became known for her "Blue eyes/Brown eyes" exercise, which she first conducted with her third-grade class on April 5, 1968, the day after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes offers an intimate portrait of the insular community where Elliott grew up and conducted the experiment on the town's children for more than a decade. We have to let people find out how it feels to be on the receiving end of that which we dish out so readily.". Some people feel we can't move on when you have her out there hawking her 30-year-old experiment. But the protests happening now have given her hope. "A Class Divided": How We Learn to Discriminate - Psychology Today Theyd have to use paper cups if they drank from the water fountain. These differences lead to war and hate. Back when she introduced the experiment to her Iowa students more than five decades ago, at least one student had the audacity to challenge Elliotts premise, according to those who were in the classroom at the time. Many critics that the children were too young to understand the exercise. There is a way to avoid editing or writing from scratch! He printed them under the headline "How Discrimination Feels." The latter felt discriminated against by the other brown-eyed children. Withdrawn brown-eyed kids were suddenly outgoing, some beaming with the widest smiles she had ever seen on them. She slumped. Though Jane's actions were justifiable because she was not a psychologist, her experiment cannot be replicated in the present society. Jane Elliot: Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes - UKEssays.com Blue-eyed students suggested that the teacher use a yardstick to discipline brown-eyed students that misbehaved. Let's just move on. Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes 1968 - Jane Elliot, grade school teacher in Iowa conducted a classroom experiment to test whether racism was a learned characteristic Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes - an experiment to "create racism" Jane Elliot divided her 4th grade class into two groups based on eye color The Brown eyed group were told they were superior due . Module 2 Discussion_ Are We Still Divided_ Blue Eyes_Brown Eyes_ A 3rd On the morning of april 5, 1968, a Friday, Steven Armstrong stepped into Jane Elliott's third-grade classroom in Riceville, Iowa. Ethical Issues With Jane Elliott's Experiment A second look at the blue-eyes, brown-eyes experiment that taught third-graders about racism. ", Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images, now-famous "blue eyes/brown eyes exercise, 'I See These Conversations As Protective': Talking With Kids About Race. "She could get kids to do anything she wanted them to," he says of Elliott. Blue Eyed vs Brown Eyed Study Conducted by Jane Elliott Presentation by Bree Elliott Ethics Background The Results In 1968, when Dr. Martin Luther King Junior was assassinated, Jane Elliott was the teacher of a third grade class in the town of Riceville, Iowa. Two students even got into a physical altercation. "On an airplane, it is," Elliott said to appreciative laughter from the studio audience. They killed hundreds of thousands of people based on eye color alone, thats the reason I used eye color for my determining factor that day., Elliott divided the class into children with blue eyes and children with brown eyes. Today, increased migration means more opportunities for people from different backgrounds to interact with each other, which is often a source of conflict. Elliott rattled off the rules for the day, saying blue-eyed kids had to use paper cups if they drank from the water fountain. Words are the most powerful weapon devised by humankind. The day after Martin Luther King Jr. was shot, Elliott had a talk with her students about diversity and racism. "She said, on the day after Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, 'I don't know why you're doing that I thought it was about time somebody shot that son of a bitch,' " she said. Watch it online right now! Blue-eyed students slumped in their chairs, as though . It is quite powerful to watch. Jane Elliott and Dr. On April 5 1968 the day after the death of Martin Luther King Jr Elliott decided to show her students how easy it was to be influenced by racism. "The browneyed people are the better people in this room," Elliott began. Tears formed in the corners of Elliott's eyes. "Brown-eyed people have more of that chemical in their eyes, so brown-eyed people are better than those with blue eyes," Elliott said. The second day, Elliott reversed the groups. The children said yes, and the exercise began. Brown Eyes or Blue: A Social Experiment - Soapboxie On the first day of the experiment, she declared the brown-eyed group superior and gave them extra privileges like seconds at lunch, extra recess time, and access to the new school playground. SpeedyPaper website, please click below to request its removal: Liked this essay sample but need an original one? The results were the same. Additionally, the brown-eyed students got to sit in the front of the class, while the blue-eyed kids . I got to have five minutes extra of recess." Jane Elliots work and experiences have made her an authority on education and anti-racism. Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images Blue Eyed vs Brown Eyed Experiment by Bree Elliott - Prezi "It's the same thing over and over again," Cross says. In 2001, Jane Elliott recordedThe Angry Eye,in which she revised and updated her experiment. [online] Today I Found Out. In explaining the experiment rules to the brown-eyed contestants, she addresses the people of color in the room. Exploring your mind Blog about psychology and philosophy. When some of the . A Class Divided | FRONTLINE - PBS Elliott began the exercise by dividing her students by eye color. We dont have to learn about those who are other than white. In the wake of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., Elliott developed a simple exercise that explored the nature of racism and prejudice.. Elliott's method for exploring racism in the context of an all-white classroom consisted of dividing her students into two groups on the basis of eye color, blue or brown (those with other eye colors were assigned to the group . Essay Example, Essay Example on Racism Towards Black People, Essay Sample about Developing a Campaign for School Intimidation, Essay Example on Therapist-Client Relationship Boundaries, Islamic Perspective on Euthanasia, Free Essay Sample. This technique allows researchers to show how many different traits are necessary to create defined groups, and then analyze the subjects behavior within their groups. The study also violates the American Principles of Psychologist codes of conduct making its replication or further investigation unethical. It has since evolved into an online blog and YouTube channel providing mental health advice, tools, and academic support to individuals from all backgrounds. The story was then picked up by the Associated Press. Malinda Whisenhunt? The fourth of five children, Elliott was born on her family's farm in Riceville in 1933, and was delivered by her Irish-American father himself. The Associated Press followed up, quoting Elliott as saying she was "dumbfounded" by the exercise's effectiveness. The day after Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination in 1968, Jane Elliott, a schoolteacher in rural Iowa, introduced to her all-white third-grade class a shocking . Privacy Statement Answer (1 of 3): My guess is that is doesn't really represent racism but classism. I think it can. Still, Elliott said the last few years have brought out America's worst racist tendencies. In the 60th year beyond Brown vs. Board of Education, Frontline is making available their classic 1985 documentary, " A Class Divided ," about the experiment and what happened later. In this 1998 photograph, former Iowa teacher Jane Elliott, center, speaks with two Augsburg University . 4. She left teaching in the mid-80s to speak publicly about the experience and the impact of prejudice and racism. While Jane Elliot's experiment makes several assumptions, it also has some ethical concerns. All the work should be used in accordance with the appropriate policies and applicable laws. The Brown Eyed / Blue Eyed Experiment - 980 Words | Bartleby She split the class in two categories, according to eye color, and told the children that one group was superior to the others. Jane Elliott | Psychology Wiki | Fandom Lesson of a Lifetime | Science| Smithsonian Magazine If you white folks want to be treated the way blacks are in this society, stand. Hire a professional with VAST experience! The results are mixed. Jane Elliot's 'The Blue Eyes and Brown Eyes Experiment' was unethical in that she created a segregated environment in a third grade classroom. The hate and discrimination that we see in adults have their origin in their upbringing. Jane divided the class into 9 brown eyes and 9 blue eyes. The experiment, known as Blue Eyes Brown Eyes experiment, is regarded as an eye-opening way for children to learn about racism and discrimination. On the second day, the roles were reversed, and those with brown eyes received special treatment, and the blue-eyed children were made to feel inferior (A Class, 2003). She says that its shocking how children whore normally kind, cooperative, and friendly with each other suddenly become arrogant, discriminatory, and hostile when they belong to a superior group. Jane Elliott The idea was simple but profound. Although Jane Elliot's intentions were to teach the youngsters about racism, ethical issues related to the simulation were raised. In a similar vein, Linda Seebach, a conservative columnist for the Rocky Mountain News, wrote in 2004 that Elliott was a "disgrace" and described her exercise as "sadistic," adding, "You would think that any normal person would realize that she had done an evil thing. The arbitrary division among the students intensified over the course of the experiment, so much so that it actually ended in physical violence. She appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show five times. Its not surprising to anyone that some social groups discriminate against others due to ethnicity, religion, or culture. You have the right color eyes!. The act of treating students differently was obviously a metaphor for the social decisions made on a larger level. ", We stopped on Woodlawn Avenue, and a woman in her mid-40s approached us on the sidewalk. Lasting Impact of Blue Eyes Brown Eyes Experiment, Words are the most powerful weapon devised by humankind. Written and verified by the psychologist Francisco Roballo. When Differences Matter | Facing History and Ourselves "Malinda? Kors writes that Elliott's exercise taught "blood-guilt and self-contempt to whites," adding that "in her view, nothing has changed in America since the collapse of Reconstruction." The contents of Exploring Your Mind are for informational and educational purposes only. She asked the other teachers what they were doing to bring news of the King assassination into their classrooms. ", Walt Gabelmann, 83, was Riceville's mayor for 18 years beginning in 1966. One teacher ended up displaying the same bigotry Elliott had spent the morning trying to fight. Jane would get invited to go to Timbuktu to give a speech. Everyone looked at Mrs. Elliott. It was the day after Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968 that Elliott ran her first "Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes" exercise in her Riceville, Iowa classroom. It is sometimes cited as a landmark of social science. "Maybe the way to sell the exercise would have been to invite the parents in, to talk about what she'd be doing. She said she watched and was horrified at what she saw. Jane Elliott's experiment. Fourteen years later, the students featured in The Eye of the Storm reunited and discussed their experiences with Elliott. Practical Psychology began as a collection of study material for psychology students in 2016, created by a student in the field. The blue eyes/brown eyes experiment, which could last one to three days, was at a glance similar to other human-potential-movement workshops of the era, including Werner Erhard's est training . "If this ugly change, if this negative change can happen this quickly, why can't positive change happen that quickly? She says its because racism, sexism, homophobia, ageism, and ethnocentrism are mean and nasty. When she separated the class by eye color and announced that blue-eyed children were superior, Paul Bodensteiner objected at every turn. ", A chorus of "Yeahs" went up, and so began one of the most astonishing exercises ever conducted in an American classroom. Their 12-year-old daughter, Mary, came home from school one day in tears, sobbing that her sixth-grade classmates had surrounded her in the school hallway and taunted her by saying her mother would soon be sleeping with black men. Throughout the investigation, the classroom represented a real-life scenario in which the unprivileged and minority members of the society are treated as out-groups making them susceptible to discrimination. Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes: On Race and Jane Elliott's Famous Experiment on They didnt need to engage with a single Black person. She told them that people with brown eyes were superior to those with blue eyes, for reasons she made up. PDF Blue eye Brown eye activity - The Classroom With over 2 million YouTube subscribers, over 500 articles, and an annual reach of almost 12 million students, it has become one of the most popular sources of psychological information. A Class Divided: An Experiment Involving Race and Prejudice The same experiment was also used a couple of years later with adults. Outside, rows of corn stretched to the horizon. The day after Kings murder, Jane Elliott, a white third-grade teacher in rural Riceville, Iowa, sought to make her students feel the brutality of racism. However, the study shows some bias in the sample size and race of participants. She was a local girl and the other teachers were intimidated by her success. Why was the Blue Eyes and Brown Eyes Experiment considered unethical in psychology? ", Steve Harnack, 62, served as the elementary school principal beginning in 1977. To most people, it seemed to suggest that racism could be reduced, even eliminated, by a one- or two-day exercise. Elliott was featured on nearly every national news show in America for decades. Jane Elliott's experiment of dividing an otherwise homogenous group of school kids by their eye color. Classroom experiment. Jane Elliott, Known for "Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes," on Racism in 2020 . Questioning authority The mainstream media were complicit in advancing such a simplistic narrative. The effectiveness of a well-known prejudice-reduction simulation activity, "Blue Eyes-Brown Eyes," was assessed as a tool for changing the attitudes of nonblack teacher education students toward blacks. The students initially involved wished that everyone could participate in an exercise like this. Sign up for Politics Weekly.]. Thats how it started, and thats how it went all day long. Jane Elliott, the American schoolmarm who would rid us of our racism Danko, M. (2013). The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 prompted educator Jane Elliott to create the now-famous "blue eyes/brown eyes exercise ." As a school teacher in the small town of Riceville, Iowa, Elliott first conducted the anti-racism experiment on her all-white third-grade classroom, the day after the civil rights leader was killed. Could you?". Select from the 0 categories from which you would like to receive articles. She noticed that student relationships had changed; even if students were friendly outside of the exercise, they treated each other with arrogance or bossiness once the roles were assigned. This meeting, along with other clips of the exercises impact on education, is featured in a PBS documentary called A Class Divided. As Elliott recalls, she engineered the "blue eyes/brown eyes exercise" in 1968 after watching the late-night news cycle announce the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Rather than be deterred by possible Then tell them that . "Hey, Mrs. Elliott," Steven yelled as he slung his books on his desk. The smell of the crops and loam and topsoil and manure wafted though the open door. The next day, Jane made it known to the students that she had made a mistake and that the brown-eyed pupils were better and smarter than their counterparts. he asked. You should be happy! "She taught in this school for 18 years." However, both Mary and Zeke have brown eyes. She attended a oneroom rural schoolhouse.Today, at 72, Elliott, who has short white hair, a penetrating gaze and no-nonsense demeanor, shows no signs of slowing. The experiment was to be a division of eye colour starting with blue eyed student having superiority and then the following day, the roles would be reversed. In response to the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968, Jane Elliott devised the controversial and startling, "Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes Exercise." This, now famous, exercise labels participants as inferior or superior based solely upon the color of their eyes and exposes them to the experience of . In the case of any doubt, it's best to consult a trusted specialist. According to role theorist Erving Goffman, emotional and cognitive experiences in such experiments as the Blue-Eyed versus the Brown-Eyed can have a long-term influence on behaviors and attitudes of participants especially when they are made to play the role of a stigmatized group (Biddle, 2013). Melanin, she said, is what causes intelligence. Blue-eyed people. If you have ever heard of the self-fulfilling prophecy, these results may not come as a surprise. The fact that children are easy to manipulate into acting in a particular manner explains Jane's choice of sample. New York: Elsevier Science. SpeedyPaper.com 2023 All rights reserved. Given the long-term results of the experiment, the controversial study could not have taken place in today's society despite its significant insights on matters racism. But they returned to a better placeunlike a child of color, who gets abused every day, and never has the ability to find him or herself in a nurturing classroom environment." One of the main ones was the fact that their right to withdraw was taken away from them. Ethical & Pedagogical Issues 2. Jane Elliott's brown eye/blue eye experiment starts at 03:10 of A Class Divided. The American Psychologists Principles and code of conduct state that in cases of deception, experimenters should take into consideration the potential harmful effects to participants. Thats what it feels like when youre discriminated against., -A child participant in the Blue Eyes-Brown Eyes experiment-. I often think about Paul Bodensteiner. "Why?" Jane Elliott's Blue-Eyed versus Brown-Eyed Students experiment was conducted to determine whether racism was a learned characteristic. Things even got violent at recess. Solve your problem differently! Unfortunately, you cant copy samples. Later, it would occur to Elliott that the blueys were much less nasty than the brown-eyed kids had been, perhaps because the blue-eyed kids had felt the sting of being ostracized and didn't want to inflict it on their former tormentors. "No person of any age [was] going to leave my presence with those attitudes unchallenged," Elliott said. And the exercise continued in a similar fashion to how it was executed the day before. Abstract The effectiveness of a well-known prejudice-reduction simulation, "Blue Eyes-Brown Eyes," was assessed as a tool for changing the attitudes of ncnblack teacher eduction students toward blacks. Alan Charles Kors, a professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania, says Elliott's diversity training is "Orwellian" and singled her out as "the Torquemada of thought reform." They are steeped in centuries of economic deprivation and cultural appropriation. (In later versions of the exercise, children in the inferior group were given collars to wear.). "I know who she is. PDF A Guide to THE ANGRY EYE - 016e880.netsolhost.com The Hangout Bar & Grill, the Riceville Pharmacy and ATouch of Dutch, a restaurant owned by Mennonites, line Main Street. From the moment the experiment begins, Jane Elliott uses a mean tone to speak to the participants. . "Probably because they have been taught how they're treated in this country that they have to understand us. In 1970, Elliott would come to national attention when ABC broadcast their Eye of the Storm documentary which filmed the experiment in action. Once indoors, the brown-eyed group was then treated to coffee and doughnuts, while the blue-eyed group could only stand around and wait. Did they know what it was like to be discriminated against? She also assumed that none of the children had interacted with black people and that the only place they could have seen them is on television. Elliott was even brought on The Tonight Show to talk about her experiences. The Blue Eye/Brown Eye was an experiment performed by Jane Elliot in 1968 on the day after Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. Elliot wanted to show that the same thing happens in real life with brown eyed people (minority). ERIC - ED300491 - Ethical and Pedagogical Issues in the Use of With this experiment she wanted to let the blue-eyed people (white people) feel how it is to be in low power position. (2022, Apr 06). "You better apologize to us for getting in our way because we're better than you are," one of the brownies said. . Multi-Problem Adolescents: An Increasing Problem, Professor Jane Elliott performed a group experiment, the current problems related to discrimination. Is it even possible today? Directed by William Peters, the episode profiles the Iowa schoolteacher Jane Elliott and her class of third graders, who took part in a class exercise about discrimination and prejudice in 1970 and reunited in the present day to recall the experience. See Page 1. Knowing that her experiment would have consequences, Jane remained committed to her course. Strong, Effective and Ethical Lessons | Applied Social Psychology (ASP) She traveled to corporations, banks, prisons, schools and military bases. Many educators responded by holding mandatory workshops on institutional racism and implicit bias, reforming teaching methods and lesson plans and searching for ways to amplify undersung voices.