"The browneyed people are the better people in this room," Elliott began. Jane Elliott, a teacher and anti-racism activist, performed a direct experiment with the students in her classroom. Problems with this research were that it went against a lot of ethical issues. In the 60s, the United States was in the midst of a social race crisis. And the exercise continued in a similar fashion to how it was executed the day before. The tallest structure in Riceville is the water tower. Ethical issues were 1/3 of the participants refused to take the head off the rat . She said she watched and was horrified at what she saw. She decided to continue the exercise with her students after lunch. If this arbitrary division that Elliott enforced for a few hours created so many problems in this classroom, whats happening on a larger scale? The corn grows so fast in northern Iowafrom seedling to seven-foot-high stalk in 12 weeksthat it crackles. You can start from that point in Activity 2, or you can play the video from the beginning (00:00) so that your students can see civil rights era footage following the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as well as Elliott's students returning to Iowa . Practical Psychology began as a collection of study material for psychology students in 2016, created by a student in the field. In 1968 after Martin Luther King was assassinated the United States was in turmoil. Today, increased migration means more opportunities for people from different backgrounds to interact with each other, which is often a source of conflict. ", We stopped on Woodlawn Avenue, and a woman in her mid-40s approached us on the sidewalk. She told the students that the brown-eyed children were inferior and repeated the experiment. Hire a professional with VAST experience! Why are we still talking about this experiment over 50 years later? One of the ways Hitler decided who went into the gas chamber was eye color, Elliott said in a later speech. She then made the blue-eyed students believe that they were better and smarter than their counterparts. Brown-eyed people. The second day, Elliott reversed the groups. The children said yes, and the exercise began. They are steeped in centuries of economic deprivation and cultural appropriation. The 1970s and 1980s were ripe for diversity education in the private and public sectors, and Elliott would try out the experiment at workshops on tens of thousands of participants, not just in the U.S. and Canada, but in Europe, the Middle East and Australia. The nearest traffic light is 20 miles away. ", 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. It didnt take long for the children to turn on each other. [online] Today I Found Out. Initial Reaction to the Blue Eyes Brown Eyes Exercise. I think it can. The brown-eyed children didnt want to play with the blue-eyes during recess. If you had a good German name, but you had brown eyes, they threw you into the gas chamber because they thought you might be a Jewish person who was trying to pass. They are cleaner than blue-eyed people. When she went downtown to do errands, she heard whispers. She knew that the children weren't going to buy her pitch unless she came up with a reason, and the more scientific to these Space Age children of the 1960s, the better. Knowing that her experiment would have consequences, Jane remained committed to her course. Its not surprising to anyone that some social groups discriminate against others due to ethnicity, religion, or culture. Brown-eyed people, she told the students, are smarter, more civilized and better than blue-eyed people. I often think about Paul Bodensteiner. ", For years scholars have evaluated Elliott's exercise, seeking to determine if it reduces racial prejudice in participants or poses a psychological risk to them. Jane Elliott's Blue-Eyed versus Brown-Eyed Students experiment was conducted to determine whether racism was a learned characteristic. In fact, most of the initial response was negative. Did they know what it was like to be discriminated against? 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. Much like the Zimbardo's Stanford Prison experiment where students were divided by either being the jailer or the jailed. Lasting Impact of Blue Eyes Brown Eyes Experiment, Words are the most powerful weapon devised by humankind. Is it even possible today? The demonstration has since been taught by generations of teachers to millions of kids across the country. those with brown eyes (or hazel eyes). ", Elliott replied, "Why are we so worried about the fragile egos of white children who experience a couple of hours of made-up racism one day when blacks experience real racism every day of their lives?". The hate and discrimination that we see in adults have their origin in their upbringing. All rights reserved. Classroom experiment. Jane Elliott, shown here in 2009, remains an outspoken advocate against racism. Professor of Journalism, University of Iowa. Now 45, she had been in Elliott's third grade class in 1969. Why Did Jane Elliott Choose Eye Color To Divide Her Students? Traditionally, society has always treated leadership as a male issue. Professor Jane Elliott performed a group experiment with her students that they would never forget. To get her points across, Elliott hurled insults at workshop participants, particularly those who were white and had blue eyes. Order original essays online. Brian, the Elliotts' oldest son, got beaten up at school, and Jane called the ringleader's, mother. From Elliot's highly controversial experiment it is clear that prejudice and discrimination can only be understood through experience. Through this study, Elliot demonstrated how easy it is for prejudice and discrimination to emerge from just a simple message that people with one eye color are superior to people with another eye color. 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. Written and verified by the psychologist Francisco Roballo. She would conduct the exercise for the nine more years she taught the third grade, and the next eight years she taught seventh and eighth graders before giving up teaching in Riceville, in 1985, largely to conduct the eye-color exercise for groups outside the school. Jane Elliott on The Tonight Show on May 31, 1968. "We just want to peek in," I volunteered. Despite the adaptation of the experiment in psychological studies, Jane has been widely criticized for her unethical conduct and promotion of discrimination among children. She has made statements about the increase in hate crimes and racism in recent years. Children often fight, argue, and sometimes hit each other, but this time they were motivated by eye color. And you'll always have it. "I think third grade was too young for what she did. According to the article is Jane Elliot's experiment to small degree effective. "We want to see Room No. Its goal was to demonstrate what prejudice was to her third grade class. Almost immediately, it was apparent that she had created segregation and prejudice given that the blue-eyed students began exhibiting signs of dominion and superiority. And StanfordUniversity psychologist Philip G. Zimbardo writes in his 1979 textbook, Psychology and Life, that Elliott's "remarkable" experiment tried to show "how easily prejudiced attitudes may be formed and how arbitrary and illogical they can be." The exercise is "an inoculation against racism," she says. That's what it feels like when you're discriminated against.". Separate the class into two halves - those with blue eyes and those with brown. Basically, you establish differences between a set of subjects in order to divide them into separate groups. To most people, it seemed to suggest that racism could be reduced, even eliminated, by a one- or two-day exercise. "I know who she is. The blue-eyed participants faced discrimination for two and a half hours. What Lies Behind Your Urgent Need to Answer Work E Mails? The Blue Eyes Brown Eyes exercise received national attention shortly after it ended. There were more brown-eyed students in the room. Before she could answer, another boy piped up: "If she didn't have blue eyes, she'd be the principal or the superintendent.". She wanted to show her students that an arbitrarily established difference could separate them and pit them against each other. The Associated Press followed up, quoting Elliott as saying she was "dumbfounded" by the exercise's effectiveness. Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER! 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. On Monday, Elliott reversed the exercise, and the brown-eyed kids were told how shifty, dumb and lazy theywere. They all either smiled or laughed and nodded.". A columnist at a Denver newspaper called it "evil. On the day after Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered in April 1968, Jane Elliott's third graders from the small, all-white town of Riceville, Iowa, came to class . You give them something nice and they just wreck it." "They shot that King yesterday. 5/21/2020 Topic: Module 2 Discussion: Website. They also harassed them constantly. Withdrawn brown-eyed kids were suddenly outgoing, some beaming with the widest smiles she had ever seen on them. Would you like to get this essay by email? Some guidelines for avoiding or reducing this effect are: In conclusion, Jane Elliotts experiment demonstrates the fragility of coexistence and cooperation. Elliotts coworkers avoided her after her appearance on The Tonight Show. She was hesitant to enroll in Elliotts workshop but was told that if she wanted to succeed as a manager, shed have to attend. Then tell them that . "Your son got what he deserved," the woman said. "Hey, Mrs. Elliott," Steven yelled as he slung his books on his desk. "We give our children shots to inoculate them against polio and smallpox, to protect them against the realities in the future. Two students even got into a physical altercation. Though Jane's actions were justifiable because she was not a psychologist, her experiment cannot be replicated in the present society. Thats how it started, and thats how it went all day long. 1. Danko, M. (2013). In doing the research for my book with scores of peoples who were participants in the experiment, I reached out to Elliott. (In later versions of the exercise, children in the inferior group were given collars to wear.). ", That spring morning 37 years ago, the blue-eyed children were set apart from the children with brown or green eyes. Thousands of educators across the United States folded the experiment into their curriculums. 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. We dont have to learn about those who are other than white. She has . 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. Her bold experiment to teach Iowa third graders about racial prejudice divided townspeople and thrust her onto the national stage. Once indoors, the brown-eyed group was then treated to coffee and doughnuts, while the blue-eyed group could only stand around and wait. The results showed a . Cookie Policy The roots of racism and why it continues unabated in America and other nations are complicated and gnarled. Could you?". Elliott was shocked by the results and decided to switch the roles the following day. Blue eyes, brown eyes: What Jane Elliott's famous experiment says about race 50 years on. Although actions from the experiment show lack of respect towards subjects it has widely been recognized in the study of human behavior in social and cultural context. She told her students that she had made a mistake the previous day and that brown-eyed students . Today, she says, it's still playing out as the U.S. reckons with racial injustice. Keep me from judging a man until I have walked a mile in his moccasins. This is a Sioux saying. 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 a picture was taken to remember. In 1970, a documentary about the exercise was released. The searing story is a cautionary tale that examines power and privilege in and out of the classroom. The publication of compositions which the children had written about the experience in the local . The selection was based on the color of the eye for each group. The blue eyes brown eyes study was a study on group prejudice and discrimination conducted by Jane Elliot. That phrase came to my mind when I watched the video, A Class Divided, about education experiment to teach stereotyping, prejudice and discrimination (Frontline, 1985 . They gossiped about her in the hallway. This paradigm helps understand the current problems related to discrimination. She told them that people with brown eyes were better than people with blue eyes. Elliott pulled out green construction paper armbands and asked each of the blue-eyed kids to wear one. "She got carried away by this possession she developed over human beings. A smart blue-eyed girl who had never had problems with multiplication tables started making mistakes. 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. "They can't forget me," she said, "and because of who they are, they can't forgive me. One teacher ended up displaying the same bigotry Elliott had spent the morning trying to fight. That says very plainly that you know whats happening, you know you dont want it for you. In the most uncomfortable moments, Elliott reminds the students of violent acts caused by racism or homophobia. Not a day goes by without me thinking about it, Ms. Elliott. Jane Elliott's experiment of dividing an otherwise homogenous group of school kids by their eye color. Focusing on ethics the experiment violated some of the principles and codes of conduct established by the American Psychological Association. . As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. All 28 children found their desks, and Elliott said she had something special for them to do, to begin to understand the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. the day before. 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. It is sometimes cited as a landmark of social science. Jane Elliot, a third-grade teacher from Lowa town, became troubled with the turn of events and knew that something had to be done about racial discrimination (Danko, 2013). Nevertheless, Elliott became as famous as a teacher could become in America. The experiment is to help the children to understand about prejudice and discrimination. They were also relevant in the 1950s when Elliott first began this work. "We'll just be a couple of minutes. Jane Elliott's experiment. Things even got violent at recess. The Hangout Bar & Grill, the Riceville Pharmacy and ATouch of Dutch, a restaurant owned by Mennonites, line Main Street. Looking back, I think part of the problem was that, like the residents of other small midwestern towns I've covered, many in Riceville felt that calling attention to oneself was poor manners, and that Elliott had shone a bright light not just on herself but on Riceville; people all over the United States would think Riceville was full of bigots. They embraced the experiments reductive message, as well as its promised potential, thereby keeping the implausible rationale of Elliotts crusade alive and well for decades, however flawed and racist it really was. Elliott started to see her own white privilege, even her own ignorance. If brown-eyed children made a mistake, Elliott would call out the mistake and attribute it to the students brown eyes. The "invisible knapsack" is an analogy for a set of invisible and not widely talked about privileges that white people possess in the society. The more melanin, the darker the person's eyesand the smarter the person. New York: Elsevier Science. Her class, After recess that day, the brown-eyed children complained that they were . This was the smaller group. The brown-eyed people were told to step to the front of the line. (Byrnes & Kiger, 1992). "You can see the look on their faces. In the case of any doubt, it's best to consult a trusted specialist. One of the blue eyed even went to hit a brown eyed just for the fact that he was brown eyed. Charity is humiliating because its exercised vertically and from above; solidarity is horizontal and implies mutual respect.. She traveled to corporations, banks, prisons, schools and military bases. For many, the experiment went horribly awry. These differences lead to war and hate. Perhaps because the outcome seemed so optimistic and comforting, coverage of Elliott and the experiments alleged curative powers cropped up everywhere. The three outcomes are: (1) virtually all of the subjects reported that the experience was The secretary said the south side of the building was closed, something about waxing the hallways. 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 . "It would be hard to know, wouldn't it, unless we actually experienced discrimination ourselves. Elliott had hoped that this experiment would help the children to better understand the feelings of discrimination that certain groups feel on a daily basis, but what she didn . "No person of any age [was] going to leave my presence with those attitudes unchallenged," Elliott said. Everyone looked at Mrs. Elliott. Kids on top would tease the children who were deemed as the inferior group. "There's a sense of renewal here that I've never seen anywhere else," Elliott says. Many critics that the children were too young to understand the exercise. She and her husband, Darald Elliott, then a grocer, have four children, and they, too, felt a backlash. The Blue-Eyes, Brown-Eyes Experiment. Outside, rows of corn stretched to the horizon. Privacy Statement Select from the 0 categories from which you would like to receive articles. She compromised the APA's Code of Conduct and Ethical Standard because she lied, after that she recanted the lies and kept as they were justified because of her greater purpose. Subsequently the brown-eyed children stopped objecting, even when Miss Elliott and the blue-eyed kids chastised and bullied them. Articles and opinions on happiness, fear and other aspects of human psychology. 2012 2023 . While Jane Elliot's experiment makes several assumptions, it also has some ethical concerns. From the moment the experiment begins, Jane Elliott uses a mean tone to speak to the participants. Many of them noted that when they hear prejudice and discrimination from others, they wish they could whip out those collars and give them the experience they had as third graders. Barbie had to have a Ken, so Elliott picked from the audience a tall, handsome man and accused him of doing the same things with his female subordinates, Pasicznyk said. In Building Moral Intelligence: The Seven Essential Virtues That Teach Kids to Do the Right Things, educational psychologist Michele Borda says it "teaches our children to counter stereotypes before they become full-fledged, lasting prejudices and to recognize that every human being has the right to be treated with respect." Jane Elliot's experiment explains the reasons for discrimination to a small extent. Order from one of our vetted writers instead. PracticalPsychology. This bibliography was generated on Cite This For Me on Monday, March 7, 2016. This way, she successfully created two distinct groups in her classroom: The consequences of the minimal group became evident very quickly. "Things are changing, and they're going to change rapidly if we're very, very fortunate," she said. ", We backed out. As the morning wore on, brown-eyed kids berated their blue-eyed classmates. Two education professors in England, Ivor F. Goodson and Pat Sikes, suggest that Elliott's experiment was unethical because the participants weren't informed of its real purpose beforehand. The blue eyes and brown eyes experiment According to supporters of Elliott's approach, the goal is to reach people's sense of empathy and morality. 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. Thus, the dominant group, supported by the authorities, will always have the upper hand. ( 1985-03-26) " A Class Divided " is a 1985 episode of the PBS series Frontline. She pointed out flaws in a student and associated it with . I got to have five minutes extra of recess." Elliott said that blue-eyed people were less intelligent and less clean. 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. On the first day of the experiment, Elliott told the children who had blue eyes that they were superior to the children with brown eyes; that they were better, nicer and smarter. All rights reserved. You have the right color eyes!. Elliott separated her all-white class of students into two groups: blue-eyed children and brown-eyed children. She had never met me, and she accused me in front of everyone of using my sexuality to get ahead.. . Answer (1 of 3): My guess is that is doesn't really represent racism but classism. We use them to divide and destroy people., White peoples number one freedom, in the United States of America, is the freedom to be totally ignorant of those who are other than white. (2013). The following are some of her most insightful quotes on these issues. ", Elliott says the role of a teacher is to enhance students' moral development. Jane Elliott is 84 years old, a tiny woman with white hair, wire-rim glasses and little patience. "She taught in this school for 18 years." Immediately after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., Professor Jane Elliott used the minimal group paradigm to perform an experiment that would teach her students about race discrimination. We have to let people find out how it feels to be on the receiving end of that which we dish out so readily.". Provide your email for sample delivery, You agree to receive our emails and consent to our Terms & Conditions, Order an essay on this subject and get a 100% original paper. The Blue Eyes Brown Eyes exercise continues to be relevant. a brown-eyed boy asked. School ought to be about developing character, but most teachers won't touch that with a ten-foot pole.". "Blue-eyed people sit around and do nothing. Your Privacy Rights March 26, 1985. 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. These initial criticisms didnt stop Elliott. It is a must . 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. "Malinda? These are the sources and citations used to research Jane Elliott's blue eye brown eye case study is/isn't more ethical than Zimbardo's Stanford prison experiment. It seemed to evince that all white people had to do to learn about racism was restrain themselves from an impulse to engage in made-up cruelty. Jane Elliot's experiment involves cheating and intentional misinterpretation of facts. "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. January 1, 2003. The interaction only strengthened Elliott's resolve. In 1968, schoolteacher Jane Elliott decided to divide her classroom into students with blue eyes and students with brown eyes. The Blue Eyes & Brown Eyes Exercise. When the blue-eyed group saw that the brown-eyed group was going to be seated first, some became upset. Jane divided the class into 9 brown eyes and 9 blue eyes. Elliotts bullying rejoinder to any nonbeliever was to say that however much pain a white person felt after one or two days of made-up discrimination was nothing when compared to what Blacks endure daily. 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. Weve been here before, with unsettling and disturbing results. See Page 1. 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. APA principles acknowledge that individuals rights to privacy, self-determination, and confidentiality is paramount to all psychological activities. 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. Days after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., she pioneered an experiment to show her all-white class of third graders what it was like to be Black in America. Youve probably heard different versions of it. "It changed my life. You've still got that same sweet smile. In this 1998 photograph, former Iowa teacher Jane Elliott, center, speaks with two Augsburg University . Jane Elliott, one of the most controversial figures in U.S. education and diversity training, began her journey to international acclaim in Riceville, Iowa. To begin with, Jane Elliot's experiment involved deception in which the children were made in believing that change in eye color influence intelligence. Sign up for Politics Weekly.]. ", Vision and tenacity may get results, but they don't always endear a person to her neighbors. ", A former teacher, Ruth Setka, 79, said she was perhaps the only teacher who would still talk to Elliott. Before proceeding with the test, she began with random questions to fully understand the children's perception of Negroes. Hundreds of viewers wrote letters saying Elliott's work appalled them. More than 50 years after her famous exercise, Elliott is still fighting. That's not true. Watch it online right now! 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." There are risks to those inoculations, too, but we determine that those risks are worth taking. "How dare you try this cruel experiment out on white children," one said. . "We are repeating the blue-eyed/brown-eyed exercise on a daily basis.". 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." When the exercise ended, some of the kids hugged, some cried. In explaining the experiment rules to the brown-eyed contestants, she addresses the people of color in the room. "How do you think it would feel to be a Negro boy or girl?" In the documentary, she said that she conducted the original blue-eyes, brown-eyes experiment to make a positive change. Ethical & Pedagogical Issues 2. Two years later, a BBC documentary captured the experiment in Elliott's classroom. Elliott championed the experiment as an inoculation against racism., [The Conversations Politics + Society editors pick need-to-know stories. It makes you proud. Words are the most powerful weapon devised by humankind. She nodded. Junior high, maybe. Unfortunately, you cant copy samples. 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). Even though the response to the Blue Eyes Brown Eyes exercise was initially negative, it made Jane Elliott a leading figure in diversity training. The next day, Elliott reversed the roles. SpeedyPaper.com 2023 All rights reserved.