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Terms of Use Elliott instructed the blue-eyed kids not to play on the jungle gym or swings. It also documents small-town White America's reflex reaction to the . Elliott separated her all-white class of students into two groups: blue-eyed children and brown-eyed children. Decent Essays. ", Elliott defends her work as a mother defends her child. 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." Elliott shared the essays with her mother, who showed them to the editor of the weekly Riceville Recorder. She split the class in two categories, according to eye color, and told the children that one group was superior to the others. The secretary on duty looked up, startled, as if she had just seen a ghost. (In later versions of the exercise, children in the inferior group were given collars to wear.). Ethical & Pedagogical Issues 2. Undeterred, Elliott tried to appeal to Pauls self-interest. Though Jane's actions were justifiable because she was not a psychologist, her experiment cannot be replicated in the present society. Essay Sample: Ethical Concerns in Jane Elliot's Experiment - SpeedyPaper "I think third grade was too young for what she did. Jane Elliott was a third grade teacher in Riceville, Iowa when she developed the Blue Eyed/ Brown Eyed exercise to teach the effects of racism. The first thing that Jane Elliott did was divide the children into groups: those with blue eyes and those with brown eyes. It occurs to me that for a teacher, the arrival of new students at the start of each school year has a lot in common with the return of crops each summer. Knowing that her experiment would have consequences, Jane remained committed to her course. Blue-eyed students slumped in their chairs, as though . In 1968 after Martin Luther King was assassinated the United States was in turmoil. Answer (1 of 3): My guess is that is doesn't really represent racism but classism. Jane elliots the blue eyes and brown eyes experiment - Course Hero Scores of others did participate. The video . That says very plainly that you know whats happening, you know you dont want it for you. In her article, Peggy McIntosh compares the "white privilege" to an invisible set of unearned rewards and . Its not surprising to anyone that some social groups discriminate against others due to ethnicity, religion, or culture. The three outcomes are: (1) virtually all of the subjects reported that the experience was 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. Disclaimer: SpeedyPaper.com is a custom writing service that provides online on-demand writing work for assistance purposes. ", Dean Weaver, 70, superintendent of Riceville schools from 1972 to 1979, said, "She'd just go ahead and do things. Jane Elliott has done a lot of reflection about the consequences of the minimal group experiment. She described to her colleagues what she'd done, remarking how several of her slower kids with brown eyes had transformed themselves into confident leaders of the class. 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. A smart blue-eyed girl who had never had problems with multiplication tables started making mistakes. Once indoors, the brown-eyed group was then treated to coffee and doughnuts, while the blue-eyed group could only stand around and wait. Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER! APA principles acknowledge that individuals rights to privacy, self-determination, and confidentiality is paramount to all psychological activities. "Would you like to come on the show?" . The empathy she works to inspire in students with the experiment, which has been modified over the years, is necessary, she said. The day after Martin Luther King Jr. was shot, Elliott had a talk with her students about diversity and racism. 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 experiment to demonstrate . A Class Divided | FRONTLINE - PBS I interviewed Julie Pasicznyk, who had been working for US West, a giant telecommunications company in Minneapolis. I often think about Paul Bodensteiner. 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. one girl asked. The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 prompted educator Jane Elliott to create the now-famous "blue eyes/brown eyes exercise.". "It's the same thing over and over again," Cross says. The arbitrary division among the students intensified over the course of the experiment, so much so that it actually ended in physical violence. The study also violates the American Principles of Psychologist codes of conduct making its replication or further investigation unethical. "Well, what do you expect from him, Mrs. Elliott," a brown-eyed student said as a blue-eyed student got an arithmetic problem wrong. Therefore when she gave the blue eyed people more freedom than the brown eyed people, the blue eyed people started feeling like kings because they thought they were better, and were treated better. In a grassy front yard down the block is a hand-lettered sign: "Glads for Sale, 3 for $1." I got to have five minutes extra of recess." Much like the Zimbardo's Stanford Prison experiment where students were divided by either being the jailer or the jailed. For many, the experiment went horribly awry. The Daring Racism Experiment That People Still Talk About 20 - HuffPost In doing the research for my book with scores of peoples who were participants in the experiment, I reached out to Elliott. When the blue-eyed group saw that the brown-eyed group was going to be seated first, some became upset. The idea of white privilege is closely tied to Elliotts initial question to her students. Still, Elliott said the last few years have brought out America's worst racist tendencies. She told them that people with brown eyes were superior to those with blue eyes, for reasons she made up. The Blue Eyes and Brown Eyes Experiment. Malinda Whisenhunt? ", We backed out. In this article, we'll explain what happened during the experiment and discuss its consequences. 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." "There's a sense of renewal here that I've never seen anywhere else," Elliott says. "We give our children shots to inoculate them against polio and smallpox, to protect them against the realities in the future. . 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. When Differences Matter | Facing History and Ourselves Shermer and Bloom discuss: "Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes" Jane Elliott famous racism experiment reactions to it (in the classroom, locally, nationally, internationally) whether the "experiment" was really more of a demonstration public interest, from Johnny Carson to Oprah Winfrey the questionable ethics of the experiment what it reveals about tribalism, 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. Two years later, a BBC documentary captured the experiment in Elliott's classroom. Regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity or socioeconomic status, decision making in psychology should protect individual rights and welfare to eliminate potential biases. If you are the original author of this essay and no longer wish to have it published on the The roots of racism and why it continues unabated in America and other nations are complicated and gnarled. They were forced to sit on the back rows and had to use a . Elliott turned into Americas mother of diversity training. 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. The brown-eyed children didnt want to play with the blue-eyes during recess. That got the other teachers angry. Copyright 20102023, The Conversation Media Group Ltd. Elliott championed the experiment as an inoculation against racism., [The Conversations Politics + Society editors pick need-to-know stories. 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 are repeating the blue-eyed/brown-eyed exercise on a daily basis.". One group consisted pupils with brown eye while the other group consisted of those with blue eyes. Junior high, maybe. ", 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. View Module 2 Discussion_ Are We Still Divided_ Blue Eyes_Brown Eyes_ A 3rd Grade Lesson for Us All.pdf from HUMN 330 at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. On the second day of the experiment, Elliott switched the childrens roles. She slumped. 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. Withdrawn brown-eyed kids were suddenly outgoing, some beaming with the widest smiles she had ever seen on them. BLUE EYED - Faciliator Guide - Newsreel Jane Elliott, the American schoolmarm who would rid us of our racism "You have to put the exercise in the context of the rest of the year. Mental Floss, 4. 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). In 2001, Jane Elliott recordedThe Angry Eye,in which she revised and updated her experiment. In the early morning, dew and fog cover the acres of gently swaying stalks that surround Riceville the way water surrounds an island. ", "I've never forgotten the exercise," Whisenhunt volunteered. They didnt need to engage with a single Black person. 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. Its goal was to demonstrate what prejudice was to her third grade class. 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 . In present society, psychological experiments are guided by honesty, truthfulness, and accuracy. Blue Eye/Brown Eye is an experiment performed by Jane Elliot in 1968 on the day after Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated to demonstrate what prejudice was to her third grade class. The students who had blue eyes were told that they were better and smarter than their inferior brown-eyed peers. They wouldnt be allowed second helpings for lunch. When Sarah, the Elliotts' oldest daughter, went to the girls' bathroom in junior high, she came out of a stall to see a message scrawled in red lipstick on the mirror: "Nigger lover.". Order from one of our vetted writers instead, First name should have at least 2 letters, Phone number should have at least 10 digits, Free Essay with a Response to Cross Words by UIW President Louis Agnese, How Does Donald Duk View His Chinese Heritage? The blue-eyed students, when told they were superior and offered privileges such as extra recess time, changed their behavior dramatically and their attitudes toward the children with brown eyes. This was intentional. Blue Eyes and Brown Eyes: The Jane Elliott Experiment - Exploring Your Mind The latter felt discriminated against by the other brown-eyed children. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. ", A former teacher, Ruth Setka, 79, said she was perhaps the only teacher who would still talk to Elliott. Articles and opinions on happiness, fear and other aspects of human psychology. 2012 2023 . ", Steve Harnack, 62, served as the elementary school principal beginning in 1977. Jane Elliott | Psychology Wiki | Fandom She was a standing-room-only speaker at hundreds of colleges and universities. The experiment, known as Blue Eyes Brown Eyes experiment, is regarded as an eye-opening way for children to learn about racism and discrimination. Blue-eyed students suggested that the teacher use a yardstick to discipline brown-eyed students that misbehaved. Why do researchers use correlational studies? 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. While Jane Elliot's experiment makes several assumptions, it also has some ethical concerns. As a journalism professor and author of a book on race that spans more than 50 years, Ive watched these developments with great concern. Practical Psychology began as a collection of study material for psychology students in 2016, created by a student in the field. Did We Fail the Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes ExperimentOr Did It Fail Us? On the "Tonight Show" Carson broke the ice by spoofing Elliott's rural roots. Tears formed in the corners of Elliott's eyes. Is it even possible today? 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. You have the right color eyes!. A class divided: lessons learned - Times Bulletin The first day of the experiment she convinced the children that blue-eyed people were smarter, better and would have more priorities. "It would be hard to know, wouldn't it, unless we actually experienced discrimination ourselves. 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." hide caption. At lunchtime, Elliott hurried to the teachers' lounge. The anti-racism sessions Elliott led were intense. The students started to internalize, and accept, the characteristics they'd been arbitrarily assigned based on the color of their eyes. She told them that people with brown eyes were better than people with blue eyes. Two Important Psychological Experiments: The Blue Eye/Brown Eye and Jane Elliot's experiment explains the reasons for discrimination to a small extent. Elliott reminded them that the reason for the lesson was the King assassination, and she asked them to write down what they had learned. Youve probably heard different versions of it. 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. Melanin, she said, is what causes intelligence. ", Elliott says the role of a teacher is to enhance students' moral development. "You know, sweetheart, you haven't changed one bit. The blue eyes brown eyes study was a study on group prejudice and discrimination conducted by Jane Elliot. Elliott? She also made the brown-eyed students put construction paper armbands on the blue-eyed students. The episode features with new footage of the students, who are now adults. "The browneyed people are the better people in this room," Elliott began. 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. 10," Elliott said. Let's just move on. New York: Elsevier Science. ", 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?". Open Document. she asked the children, who were white. Weve been here before, with unsettling and disturbing results. Elliott rattled off the rules for the day, saying blue-eyed kids had to use paper cups if they drank from the water fountain. She left teaching in the mid-80s to speak publicly about the experience and the impact of prejudice and racism. In 1970, a documentary about the exercise was released. Elliott was featured on nearly every national news show in America for decades. "We just want to peek in," I volunteered. Charity is humiliating because its exercised vertically and from above; solidarity is horizontal and implies mutual respect.. The experiment known as Blue Eyes Brown Eyes experiment is regarded as an eye-opening way for children to learn about racism and discrimination. 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. 10 Psychological Experiments That Could Never Happen Today. This is the phrase that inspired one of the most well-known experiments in education. One key assumption is that the sample population represents an actual society. On the first day, the blue-eyed students were informed that they were genetically inferior to the brown-eyed students. Select from the 0 categories from which you would like to receive articles. More than 50 years after her famous exercise, Elliott is still fighting. In Jane Elliott's experiment she made the third graders believe that the blue eyed people were better,than the brown eyed people. 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. In 1968, schoolteacher Jane Elliott decided to divide her classroom into students with blue eyes and students with brown eyes. Jane Elliott at Riceville, Iowa, Elementary School in 1968. 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. ABC broadcast a documentary about her work. Jane Elliott is 84 years old, a tiny woman with white hair, wire-rim glasses and little patience. 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. ", Others have praised Elliott's exercise. Brown Eyes or Blue: A Social Experiment - Soapboxie ", 2023 Smithsonian Magazine Jane Elliott's Blue Eyes and Brown Eyes experiment was a turning point in social psychology. Why'd they shoot that King?" We dont have to learn about those who are other than white. "People of other color groups seem to understand," she said. "On an airplane, it is," Elliott said to appreciative laughter from the studio audience. The publication of compositions which the children had written about the experience in the local . Considering all the stereotypes and prejudices that exist, what kind of damage is being done? She chatted about the experiment, and before she knew it was whisked off the stage. ", Walt Gabelmann, 83, was Riceville's mayor for 18 years beginning in 1966. One even wrote a lipstick message with racial slurs. Not a day goes by without me thinking about it, Ms. Elliott. According to the article is Jane Elliot's experiment to small degree effective. Elliott's friends and family say she's tenacious, and has always had a reformer's zeal. 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. 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. Blue-eyed people would get 5 extra minutes on the playground and blue-eyed people could not talk to brown-eyed people. Focusing on ethics the experiment violated some of the principles and codes of conduct established by the American Psychological Association. "Why?" The test also included violation of consent in which participation of the children was made involuntarily. This way, she successfully created two distinct groups in her classroom: The consequences of the minimal group became evident very quickly. A columnist at a Denver newspaper called it "evil. She asks them if they have ever faced treatment like the type that blue-eyed people would experience in the following two and a half hours. The brown-eyed students also exercised a certain level of power over the blue-eyed students when they put the armbands on them. "Brown-eyed people have more of that chemical in their eyes, so brown-eyed people are better than those with blue eyes," Elliott said. 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. She told her students that she had made a mistake the previous day and that brown-eyed students . The Blue Eyes Brown Eyes exercise received national attention shortly after it ended. 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. Jane Elliott's brown eye/blue eye experiment starts at 03:10 of A Class Divided. 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. . She nodded. 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. She told them that people with brown eyes were superior to those with blue eyes, for reasons she made up. She believed that experience was the only way her students could understand how it felt like to be discriminated. 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. She was a local girl and the other teachers were intimidated by her success. Kellen Castineiras PSY Dr. Gail C. Flanagan February 6, 2022. . But the protests happening now have given her hope. I felt mad. What Was The Blue Eyes Brown Eyes Experiment? Stripping away the veneer of the experiment, what was left had nothing to do with race. 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? When Elliott first conducted the exercise in 1968, brown-eyed students were given special privileges. 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. Blue-eyed children got five extra minutes of recess. When Elliott walked into the teachers' lounge the next Monday, several teachers got up and walked out. "It's Riceville 30 years ago. They gossiped about her in the hallway.