The people and cultures already present in a place often feel threatened by new immigrants. 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." Ethical issues were 1/3 of the participants refused to take the head off the rat . When Differences Matter | Facing History and Ourselves Strong, Effective and Ethical Lessons | Applied Social Psychology (ASP) Sign up for Politics Weekly.]. 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). Elliott asked her students to write about their experiences for the local newspaper. 5/21/2020 Topic: Module 2 Discussion: She nodded. All rights reserved. "We are repeating the blue-eyed/brown-eyed exercise on a daily basis.". How can we teach kids to be more like him? "If this ugly change, if this negative change can happen this quickly, why can't positive change happen that quickly? She told them brown-eyed . Her bold experiment to teach Iowa third graders about racial prejudice divided townspeople and thrust her onto the national stage. Folks leave their cars unlocked, keys in the ignition. To most people, it seemed to suggest that racism could be reduced, even eliminated, by a one- or two-day exercise. They wouldnt be allowed second helpings for lunch. 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." Why do researchers use correlational studies? They are more civilized than blue-eyed people. "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. This way, she successfully created two distinct groups in her classroom: The consequences of the minimal group became evident very quickly. "Mention two wordsJane Elliottand you get a flood of emotions from people," says Jim Cross, the Riceville Recorder's editor these days. Danko, M. (2013). The Hangout Bar & Grill, the Riceville Pharmacy and ATouch of Dutch, a restaurant owned by Mennonites, line Main Street. They are steeped in centuries of economic deprivation and cultural appropriation. 9 Unethical Psychological Experiments That Actually Happened "A Class Divided": How We Learn to Discriminate - Psychology Today The minimal group paradigm has shaped an entire methodology in social psychology. The students who had blue eyes were told that they were better and smarter than their inferior brown-eyed peers. When she separated the class by eye color and announced that blue-eyed children were superior, Paul Bodensteiner objected at every turn. Weve been here before, with unsettling and disturbing results. ", We backed out. Select from the 0 categories from which you would like to receive articles. He printed them under the headline "How Discrimination Feels." In explaining the experiment rules to the brown-eyed contestants, she addresses the people of color in the room. Junior high, maybe. To this day, at the age of 86, Jane Elliott continues this work. You should be happy! Elliot wanted to show that the same thing happens in real life with brown eyed people (minority). One student answers, since the day I was born. Throughout the entire experiment, Elliott leads frank conversations about race and discrimination. The Daring Racism Experiment That People Still Talk About 20 - HuffPost "I know who she is. (2022, Apr 06). More than 50 years after her famous exercise, Elliott is still fighting. [online] Today I Found Out. Their response is to create dichotomies of inferiority and superiority. Disclaimer: SpeedyPaper.com is a custom writing service that provides online on-demand writing work for assistance purposes. The demonstration has since been taught by generations of teachers to millions of kids across the country. 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 . SpeedyPaper.com 2023 All rights reserved. She also made the brown-eyed students put construction paper armbands on the blue-eyed students. The results are mixed. "Malinda? The secretary on duty looked up, startled, as if she had just seen a ghost. American Psychological Association, 4. "She stirs people up. The Associated Press followed up, quoting Elliott as saying she was "dumbfounded" by the exercise's effectiveness. She was 10 before the farmhouse had running water and electricity. It's the Jane Elliott machine. The blue-eyed participants faced discrimination for two and a half hours. While controversial, the Blue Eyes Brown Eyes exercise continues to be one of the most well-known and praised learning exercises in the world of educational psychology. ", We stopped on Woodlawn Avenue, and a woman in her mid-40s approached us on the sidewalk. 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." One example that has been in place for many years is the blue-eyed/brown-eyed experiment. The next day when the tables were turned, "I felt like quitting school. Many critics that the children were too young to understand the exercise. . Elliot's approach to the experiment involved creativity in which the pupils' age and ability to comprehend discrimination was taken into account. Blue-eyed students slumped in their chairs, as though . She decided to continue the exercise with her students after lunch. Little children don't like uproar in the classroom. The study also violates the American Principles of Psychologist codes of conduct making its replication or further investigation unethical. Before she could answer, another boy piped up: "If she didn't have blue eyes, she'd be the principal or the superintendent.". In the most uncomfortable moments, Elliott reminds the students of violent acts caused by racism or homophobia. In the brown eyed/blue eyed experiment Jane Elliot told her third graders with blue eyes that they were better than the brown-eyed children. A Review of Jane Elliott's Experiment In, a Class Divided To back up my statement Bloom (2005) says Jane Elliott's blue-eyes brown-eyes exercise encouraged children to mistrust authority figures. Elliott pulled out green construction paper armbands and asked each of the blue-eyed kids to wear one. This paradigm helps understand the current problems related to discrimination. It has since evolved into an online blog and YouTube channel providing mental health advice, tools, and academic support to individuals from all backgrounds. ", 2023 Smithsonian Magazine Elliott went after Ken and Barbie all day long, drilling, accusing, ridiculing them, to make the point that whites make baseless judgments about Blacks all the time, Pasicznyk said. She told them that people with brown eyes were superior to those with blue eyes, for reasons she made up. They didnt need to engage with a single Black person. Professor of Journalism, University of Iowa. She has since refused to answer any of my inquiries. I want to know why youre so willing to accept it or to allow it to happen for others., The first reaction I get from teachers, who see this film or from hearing, hear me discuss what I do say to me How can you do that to these little children? The Blue-Eyed/Brown-Eyed Experiment: Investigation. Even though the response to the Blue Eyes Brown Eyes exercise was initially negative, it made Jane Elliott a leading figure in diversity training. 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. Would you like to get this essay by email? 10 Psychological Experiments That Could Never Happen Today - Mental Floss "We'll just be a couple of minutes. That says very plainly that you know whats happening, you know you dont want it for you. With a couple of basic and arbitrary examples, Elliott made the case that brown-eyed people were better. Elliott turned into Americas mother of diversity training. See Page 1. The test violated the principle of respect for people's rights and dignity. She then made the blue-eyed students believe that they were better and smarter than their counterparts. One caller complained that white children would not be able to handle . Back in the classroom, Elliott's experiment had taken on a life of its own. She asked her students, who were all white, whether or not they knew what it felt like to be judged by the color of their skin. Essay Sample: Ethical Concerns in Jane Elliot's Experiment. Jane Elliott on The Tonight Show on May 31, 1968. I often think about Paul Bodensteiner. Jane Elliott ", Elliott says the role of a teacher is to enhance students' moral development. ", Elliott defends her work as a mother defends her child. Kellen Castineiras PSY Dr. Gail C. Flanagan February 6, 2022. . Still, Elliott said the last few years have brought out America's worst racist tendencies. Did We Fail the Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes ExperimentOr Did It Fail Us? Normally, blue-eyes isnt an insult. The kids in the bottom group became timider and kept to themselves. "You can see the look on their faces. 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. ", Absolutely not. Blue eyes, brown eyes: Jane Elliott's race experiment 50 years later On Thursday, April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, TN. (PDF) A Class Divided - ResearchGate Blue Eye / Brown Eye experiment - Everything2.com Jane Elliot's experiment explains the reasons for discrimination to a small extent. 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. 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. 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. Fourteen years later, the students featured in The Eye of the Storm reunited and discussed their experiences with Elliott. ", Others have praised Elliott's exercise. Nobodys standing here. Nevertheless, Elliott became as famous as a teacher could become in America. The brown-eyed students also exercised a certain level of power over the blue-eyed students when they put the armbands on them. I was stunned. 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. Days after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Focusing on ethics the experiment violated some of the principles and codes of conduct established by the American Psychological Association. 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. The goal of the minimal group paradigm is to establish subjective differences and create a climate of favoritism. "How do you think it would feel to be a Negro boy or girl?" "Your son got what he deserved," the woman said. Racism is not genetical. If you white folks want to be treated the way blacks are in this society, stand. Though Jane's actions were justifiable because she was not a psychologist, her experiment cannot be replicated in the present society. ", The two hugged, and Whisenhunt had tears streaming down her cheeks. PDF A Guide to THE ANGRY EYE - 016e880.netsolhost.com "Do blue-eyed people remember what they've been taught?" The blue-eyed girl apologized. Jane Elliott, a teacher and anti-racism activist, performed a direct experiment with the students in her classroom. Today, increased migration means more opportunities for people from different backgrounds to interact with each other, which is often a source of conflict. ", Steve Harnack, 62, served as the elementary school principal beginning in 1977. It brings up immediate anger and hatred. But Paul, one of eight siblings and the son of a dairy farmer, didnt buy Elliotts mollification. And what she did caused an uproar. There are risks to those inoculations, too, but we determine that those risks are worth taking. Lesson of a Lifetime | Science| Smithsonian Magazine The day after Martin Luther King Jr. was shot, Elliott had a talk with her students about diversity and racism. Copyright 20102023, The Conversation Media Group Ltd. 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. The Blue Eyes Brown Eyes exercise received national attention shortly after it ended. But the protests happening now have given her hope. The nonstop parade of sickening events such as the murder of George Floyd surely is not going to be abated by a quickie experiment led by a white person for the alleged benefit of other whites as was the case with the blue-eyed, brown eyed experiment. Below, . The next day, Elliott reversed the roles. Stripping away the veneer of the experiment, what was left had nothing to do with race. The textbook publisher McGraw-Hill has listed her on a timeline of key educators, along with Confucius, Plato, Aristotle, Horace Mann, Booker T. Washington, Maria Montessori and 23 others. The episode features with new footage of the students, who are now adults. Her class, A difference as simple as eye color, defined and established by the authority figure, created a rift between the students. "People of other color groups seem to understand," she said. In 1970, Elliott would come to national attention when ABC broadcast their Eye of the Storm documentary which filmed the experiment in action. Terms of Use I have brown eyes. Many critics that the children were too young to understand the exercise. Words are the most powerful weapon devised by humankind. "They are cleaner and they are smarter.". This time, the participants werent a bunch of elementary school children they were young adults. In the 60s, the United States was in the midst of a social race crisis. But Elliotts experiment had a more sinister impact. Some people feel we can't move on when you have her out there hawking her 30-year-old experiment. She says its because racism, sexism, homophobia, ageism, and ethnocentrism are mean and nasty. 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. Let's just move on. ", A chorus of "Yeahs" went up, and so began one of the most astonishing exercises ever conducted in an American classroom. The people of riceville did not exactly welcome Elliott home from New York with a hayride. At the time, she was a third-grade . Yes, the children felt angry, hurt, betrayed. "I don't think this community was ready for what she did," he said. It is sometimes cited as a landmark of social science. ( 1985-03-26) " A Class Divided " is a 1985 episode of the PBS series Frontline. If you have ever heard of the self-fulfilling prophecy, these results may not come as a surprise. Two years later, a BBC documentary captured the experiment in Elliott's classroom. "Maybe the way to sell the exercise would have been to invite the parents in, to talk about what she'd be doing. There is a way to avoid editing or writing from scratch! ABC broadcast a documentary about her work. New York: Elsevier Science. The secretary said the south side of the building was closed, something about waxing the hallways. She told the kids that blue-eyed children weren't as good as brown-eyed or green-eyed ones. In 1968, schoolteacher Jane Elliott decided to divide her classroom into students with blue eyes and students with brown eyes. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. At recess, three brown-eyed girls ganged up on her. We dont have to learn about those who are other than white. "Brown eyes and Blue eyes" Study | sabbaila To get her points across, Elliott hurled insults at workshop participants, particularly those who were white and had blue eyes. Articles and opinions on happiness, fear and other aspects of human psychology. 2012 2023 . In 1968 after Martin Luther King was assassinated the United States was in turmoil. 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. Elliott said that blue-eyed people were less intelligent and less clean. The first thing that Jane Elliott did was divide the children into groups: those with blue eyes and those with brown eyes. One key assumption is that the sample population represents an actual society. At lunchtime, Elliott hurried to the teachers' lounge. In this article, we'll explain what happened during the experiment and discuss its consequences. If this arbitrary division that Elliott enforced for a few hours created so many problems in this classroom, whats happening on a larger scale? If brown-eyed children made a mistake, Elliott would call out the mistake and attribute it to the students brown eyes. one girl asked. Elliott shared the essays with her mother, who showed them to the editor of the weekly Riceville Recorder. Blue Eyes vs. Brown Eyes Experiment. . The May 25 killing of George Floyd set off weeks of nationwide protests over the police abuse and racism against black people, plunging the U.S. into a reckoning of racial inequality. 4. "They can't forget me," she said, "and because of who they are, they can't forgive me. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Having in mind that it would be difficult to explain to third graders about discrimination, she needed to be more practical so that her student could understand how discrimination and prejudice felt. Amitai Etzioni, a sociologist at George WashingtonUniversity, says the exercise helps develop character and empathy. In this 1998 photograph, former Iowa teacher Jane Elliott, center, speaks with two Augsburg University . . 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. We use them to divide and destroy people., On Understanding The Different Ways We Treat Other Races, Philip Zimbardo (Biography + Experiments). Biddle, B. J. Role Theory: Expectations, Identities, and Behaviors. Did they know what it was like to be discriminated against? Even family members can turn against each other if some authority suddenly decides that those differences are a problem. One of the blue eyed even went to hit a brown eyed just for the fact that he was brown eyed. This procedure is sometimes so subtle that no one notices it happening. And our number two freedom is the freedom to deny that were ignorant., I want every white person in this room who would be happy to be treated as this society in general treats our citizens, our black citizens, if you, as a white person, would be happy to receive the same treatment that our black citizens do in this society, please stand. Youve probably heard different versions of it. The students started to internalize, and accept, the characteristics they'd been arbitrarily assigned based on the color of their eyes. Elliott instructed the blue-eyed kids not to play on the jungle gym or swings. Undeterred, Elliott tried to appeal to Pauls self-interest. Practical Psychology began as a collection of study material for psychology students in 2016, created by a student in the field. "That's what I tried to teach, and that's what drove the other teachers crazy. Elliott championed the experiment as an inoculation against racism., [The Conversations Politics + Society editors pick need-to-know stories. In her article, Peggy McIntosh compares the "white privilege" to an invisible set of unearned rewards and . 4 Pages. She pointed out flaws in a student and associated it with . Not a day goes by without me thinking about it, Ms. Elliott. 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." "It changed my life. Evaluation of Jane Elliott's "Blue-Eyed Brown-Eyes" Jane Elliott's blue eye brown eye case study is/isn't more ethical than We Are Repeating The Discrimination Experiment Every Day, Says - NPR . 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. I felt mad. [White people] on the other hand, don't have to understand them. Essay Sample: Ethical Concerns in Jane Elliot's Experiment - SpeedyPaper However, both Mary and Zeke have brown eyes. Was The Blue Eyes Brown Eyes Experiment Ethical? he asked. Module 2 Discussion_ Are We Still Divided_ Blue Eyes_Brown Eyes_ A 3rd Decent Essays. "It's Riceville 30 years ago. According to the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, 2010 the experiment also violates the principle of Integrity. She slumped. Cookie Policy In a grassy front yard down the block is a hand-lettered sign: "Glads for Sale, 3 for $1." "I think third grade was too young for what she did. You must get the parents first. Three sections were selected to be administered the simulation . They don't replace the diagnosis, advice, or treatment of a professional. Order from one of our vetted writers instead. Hire a professional with VAST experience! The blue-eyed brown-eyed experiment was conducted by Jane Elliott, a school teacher from Iowa, in which she separated blue eyed children from brown eyed children and took turns making one of the "superior" to the other. Students in the inferior groups were more likely to get a worse score. PDF Blue eye Brown eye activity - The Classroom Exercise or Experiment-- An Account of Jane Elliott's Tenacity: A These initial criticisms didnt stop Elliott. 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. ", Then, the inevitable: "Hey, Mrs. Elliott, how come you're the teacher if you've got blue eyes?" She said she watched and was horrified at what she saw. 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 .