One group consisted pupils with brown eye while the other group consisted of those with blue eyes. Before she could answer, another boy piped up: "If she didn't have blue eyes, she'd be the principal or the superintendent.". She has since refused to answer any of my inquiries. 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. Subsequent research designed to gauge the efficacy of Elliotts attempt at reducing prejudice showed that many participants were shocked by the experiment, but it did nothing to address or explain the root causes of racism. [White people] on the other hand, don't have to understand them. They gossiped about her in the hallway. Elliott asked her students to write about their experiences for the local newspaper. One of the main ones was the fact that their right to withdraw was taken away from them. Decent Essays. It was typical of Elliott's blunt styleno "Good morning," no small talk. 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. I have brown eyes. Charity is humiliating because its exercised vertically and from above; solidarity is horizontal and implies mutual respect.. Retrieved from https://speedypaper.com/essays/ethical-concerns-in-jane-elliots-experiment, Free essays can be submitted by anyone, so we do not vouch for their quality. In the early morning, dew and fog cover the acres of gently swaying stalks that surround Riceville the way water surrounds an island. The Blue Eyes Brown Eyes exercise continues to be relevant. This time, the participants werent a bunch of elementary school children they were young adults. Practical Psychology began as a collection of study material for psychology students in 2016, created by a student in the field. Elliott pulled out green construction paper armbands and asked each of the blue . In the case of any doubt, it's best to consult a trusted specialist. 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 . Outside, rows of corn stretched to the horizon. Blue-eyed students suggested that the teacher use a yardstick to discipline brown-eyed students that misbehaved. However, in this classroom, having blue-eyes had become a condition of inferiority. 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." In her article, Peggy McIntosh compares the "white privilege" to an invisible set of unearned rewards and . 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. Kids on top would tease the children who were deemed as the inferior group. Could you?". On Friday, April 5, 1968, in Riceville, IA, a third-grade student walked . Researchers later concluded that there was evidence that the students became less prejudiced after the study and that it was inconclusive as to whether or not the potential harm outweighed the benefits of the exercise. At recess, three brown-eyed girls ganged up on her. I got to have five minutes extra of recess." Ethical issues were 1/3 of the participants refused to take the head off the rat . "How dare you try this cruel experiment out on white children," one said. This procedure is sometimes so subtle that no one notices it happening. In 1970, a documentary about the exercise was released. The following are some of her most insightful quotes on these issues. In this article, we talk about leadership and female discrimination.. A second look at the blue-eyes, brown-eyes experiment that taught third-graders about racism. Elliott continues, "Just when you think that the fertile soil can sprout no more, another season comes round, and you see another year of bountiful crops, tall and straight. 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 . Two students even got into a physical altercation. The next day when the tables were turned, "I felt like quitting school. The subjects were 164 students enrolled in eight sections of an introductory elementary education course at a state university. "It's happening every day in this country, right now," she said in an interview with Morning Edition. Elliott flew to the NBC studio in New York City. Keep me from judging a man until I have walked a mile in his moccasins. This is a Sioux saying. Why Did Jane Elliott Choose Eye Color To Divide Her Students? Elliott and I were sitting at her dining room table. 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. Typical of their responses was that of Debbie Hughes, who reported that "the people in Mrs. Elliott's room who had brown eyes got to discriminate against the people who had blue eyes. The students initially involved wished that everyone could participate in an exercise like this. ", That spring morning 37 years ago, the blue-eyed children were set apart from the children with brown or green eyes. "You can see the look on their faces. The more melanin, the darker the person's eyesand the smarter the person. In this article, we'll explain what happened during the experiment and discuss its consequences. Initial Reaction to the Blue Eyes Brown Eyes Exercise. In the 60s, the United States was in the midst of a social race crisis. She chatted about the experiment, and before she knew it was whisked off the stage. You can contribute to that positive change by watching the documentary. They all either smiled or laughed and nodded.". See Page 1. She slumped. They needed not acknowledge their privilege or reflect on it. Elliott split her students into two groups, based on eye color. What can be changed to make the blue eyes and brown eyes experiment The kids in the bottom group became timider and kept to themselves. Below, . Ethical Issues With Jane Elliott's Experiment Scores of others did participate. The blue eyes brown eyes study was a study on group prejudice and discrimination conducted by Jane Elliot. Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER! "They shot that King yesterday. Elliott is nothing if not stubborn. Jane Elliott, one of the most controversial figures in U.S. education and diversity training, began her journey to international acclaim in Riceville, Iowa. While Jane Elliot's experiment makes several assumptions, it also has some ethical concerns. How can we teach kids to be more like him? Today, increased migration means more opportunities for people from different backgrounds to interact with each other, which is often a source of conflict. 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. In this photograph from Sept. 13, 1965, Black children on their way to school in New York City pass by segregationists protesting integrated busing. The searing story is a cautionary tale that examines power and privilege in and out of the classroom. A columnist at a Denver newspaper called it "evil. She told them that people with brown eyes were better than people with blue eyes. The second day, Elliott reversed the groups. ", Steve Harnack, 62, served as the elementary school principal beginning in 1977. . They felt superior and had the support of the authority figure (the teacher). Is your time best spent reading someone elses essay? he asked. Separate the class into two halves - those with blue eyes and those with brown. 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. Blue or Brown; A Classroom Divided | Applied Social Psychology (ASP) They wouldnt be allowed second helpings for lunch. The blue eye brown eye experiment. Blue Eyes and Brown Eyes: The Jane I felt mad. BLUE EYED - Faciliator Guide - Newsreel And they are smarter than blue-eyed people." The brown-eyed children got to sit in the front of the room, to go to lunch first, and to have more time at recess. 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 . When Elliott walked into the teachers' lounge the next Monday, several teachers got up and walked out. She repeated the abuse with subsequent classes, and finally turned it into a fully commercial enterprise. The smell of the crops and loam and topsoil and manure wafted though the open door. Classroom experiment. "Your son got what he deserved," the woman said. Terms of Use I felt like hitting them if I wanted to. In 1970, Elliott would come to national attention when ABC broadcast their Eye of the Storm documentary which filmed the experiment in action. When you read about this experiment, its hard not to question labels. Now 45, she had been in Elliott's third grade class in 1969. Elliott? Sorry, but it's not possible to copy the text due to security reasons. Mental Sandboxes and Their Usefulness in Today's World, The Law of Reversed Effort: When Taking Action Isn't the Best Option. Delivery in 6+ hours! That same year, Elliott was invited to the White House Conference on Children and Youth to conduct an exercise on adult educators. Why was the Blue Eyes and Brown Eyes Experiment considered - Study When Differences Matter | Facing History and Ourselves The children were not aware of the experiment, and therefore they could not give their permission of involvement. I felt mad. Fourteen years later, the students featured in The Eye of the Storm reunited and discussed their experiences with Elliott. Group Prejudice | Jane Elliott's Brown Eyes vs. Blue Eyes Experiment All rights reserved. She told the kids that blue-eyed children weren't as good as brown-eyed or green-eyed ones. She pointed out flaws in a student and associated it with . The experiment is to help the children to understand about prejudice and discrimination. And the exercise continued in a similar fashion to how it was executed the day before. The brown-eyed students also exercised a certain level of power over the blue-eyed students when they put the armbands on them. On April 4 1968, King was killed by the single . The answer, in a word, was nothing. Brown-eyed people. Nevertheless, Elliott became as famous as a teacher could become in America. That says very plainly that you know whats happening, you know you dont want it for you. They don't replace the diagnosis, advice, or treatment of a professional. Traditionally, society has always treated leadership as a male issue. She split the class in two categories, according to eye color, and told the children that one group was superior to the others. Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. One caller complained that white children would not be able to handle . ", 2023 Smithsonian Magazine To understand racism, kids must empathise with its impact and 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. Blue eyes, brown eyes: What Jane Elliott's famous experiment says about race 50 years on. Words are the most powerful weapon devised by humankind. 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. 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 . It's cruel to white children and will cause them great psychological damage. Everyone's tired of her. 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. Jane Elliott's Blue-Eyed versus Brown-Eyed Students experiment was conducted to determine whether racism was a learned characteristic. Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes: A Cautionary Tale of Race and Brutality 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. 1. It is sometimes cited as a landmark of social science. More than 50 years after her famous exercise, Elliott is still fighting. Perhaps because the outcome seemed so optimistic and comforting, coverage of Elliott and the experiments alleged curative powers cropped up everywhere. The killing of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, was a seismic event, a turning point that compelled many Americans to do something and do it with urgency. More than 50 years after she first tried that exercise in her classroom, Elliott, now 87, said she sees much more work left to do to change racist attitudes. Knowing that her experiment would have consequences, Jane remained committed to her course. Her class, The experiment, known as Blue Eyes Brown Eyes experiment, is regarded as an eye-opening way for children to learn about racism and discrimination. 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 Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes: Jane Elliott's controversial classroom experiment a brown-eyed boy asked. "A Class Divided": How We Learn to Discriminate - Psychology Today Why is Jane Elliot's exercise problematic for some people? The roots of racism and why it continues unabated in America and other nations are complicated and gnarled. Copyright 20102023, The Conversation Media Group Ltd. ", 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 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 video . Malinda Whisenhunt? Not a day goes by without me thinking about it, Ms. Elliott. School ought to be about developing character, but most teachers won't touch that with a ten-foot pole.".

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