Is it even possible today? Jane Elliott's experiment. She told them that people with brown eyes were superior to those with blue eyes, for reasons she made up. I felt mad. Though Jane's actions were justifiable because she was not a psychologist, her experiment cannot be replicated in the present society. 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." She repeated the abuse with subsequent classes, and finally turned it into a fully commercial enterprise. Or alternatively you may decide to keep them in ignorance of what is happening. 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. Brown-eyed people. The video . 1. After recess that day, the brown-eyed children complained that they were . ", Walt Gabelmann, 83, was Riceville's mayor for 18 years beginning in 1966. Grey eyes are also a rare eye color. 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 . ", Dean Weaver, 70, superintendent of Riceville schools from 1972 to 1979, said, "She'd just go ahead and do things. Outside, rows of corn stretched to the horizon. Your Privacy Rights It brings up immediate anger and hatred. 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. PracticalPsychology. The day after Martin Luther King Jr. was shot, Elliott had a talk with her students about diversity and racism. Jane Elliott, shown here in 2009, remains an outspoken advocate against racism. The following are some of her most insightful quotes on these issues. "You have to put the exercise in the context of the rest of the year. 4. Would you like to get this essay by email? The never-before-told true story of Jane Elliott and the "Blue-Eyes, Brown-Eyes Experiment" she made world-famous, using eye color to simulate racism. Jane Elliot's experiment explains the reasons for discrimination to a small extent. 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. They are more civilized than blue-eyed people. School ought to be about developing character, but most teachers won't touch that with a ten-foot pole.". I often think about Paul Bodensteiner. Jane Elliott's Blue-Eyed versus Brown-Eyed Students experiment was conducted to determine whether racism was a learned characteristic. Society made them believe they were better than other people for arbitrary reasons such as skin color or gender. 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. She has . (She prefers the term "exercise.") After the local newspaper published a story on Elliott and the experiment, she was flown to New York to appear on May 31, 1968, on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, where she extolled the experiments effectiveness in cluing in her 8-year-old white students on what it was like to be Black in America. (2022, Apr 06). 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. 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 . Elliott flew to the NBC studio in New York City. The latter felt discriminated against by the other brown-eyed children. She was 10 before the farmhouse had running water and electricity. Some residents were furious. At her lunch break that day in the teacher's lounge, she told her colleagues about the exercise. 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. 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. Did they know what it was like to be discriminated against? In 1968, schoolteacher Jane Elliott decided to divide her classroom into students with blue eyes and students with brown eyes. Racism is not genetical. Sorry, but it's not possible to copy the text due to security reasons. Is your time best spent reading someone elses essay? 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." She told them brown-eyed . Not a day goes by without me thinking about it, Ms. Elliott. "Mention two wordsJane Elliottand you get a flood of emotions from people," says Jim Cross, the Riceville Recorder's editor these days. Thats how it started, and thats how it went all day long. Consequently, the brown-eyed children started using blue-eyes as an insult. She pointed out flaws in a student and associated it with . The people and cultures already present in a place often feel threatened by new immigrants. ", The two hugged, and Whisenhunt had tears streaming down her cheeks. I'm tired of hearing about her and her experiment and how everyone here is a racist. Jane Elliott's Blue Eyes and Brown Eyes experiment was a turning point in social psychology. "That you, Ms. Articles and opinions on happiness, fear and other aspects of human psychology. 2012 2023 . They also harassed them constantly. The brown-eyed children felt suddenly that they were discriminated, while the blue eyed started seeing them as inferior. The results showed a . The secretary said the south side of the building was closed, something about waxing the hallways. She chatted about the experiment, and before she knew it was whisked off the stage. The story was then picked up by the Associated Press. She has spoken at more than 350 colleges and universities. They were also relevant in the 1950s when Elliott first began this work. ", We backed out. 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. At recess, three brown-eyed girls ganged up on her. 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. "No person of any age [was] going to leave my presence with those attitudes unchallenged," Elliott said. And Im only doing this as an exercise that every child knows is an exercise and every child knows is going to end at the end of the day., We learn to be racist, therefore we can learn not to be racist. Jane Elliot's 'The Blue Eyes and Brown Eyes Experiment' was unethical in that she created a segregated environment in a third grade classroom. The blue-eyed children were told not to do their homework because, even if they answered all the questions, theyd probably forget to bring the assignment back to class. . Little children don't like uproar in the classroom. Today, she says, it's still playing out as the U.S. reckons with racial injustice. ", A former teacher, Ruth Setka, 79, said she was perhaps the only teacher who would still talk to Elliott. In the 60th year beyond Brown vs. Board of Education, Frontline is making available their classic 1985 documentary, " A Class Divided ," about the experiment and what happened later. The interaction only strengthened Elliott's resolve. Two students even got into a physical altercation. Practical Psychology began as a collection of study material for psychology students in 2016, created by a student in the field. Part of the problem is that the blue-eyed group is exclusively white, while the brown-eyed group is predominantly non-white, so that eye colour is no longer an analogue or metaphor for race but a . For many, the experiment went horribly awry. 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. Before she could answer, another boy piped up: "If she didn't have blue eyes, she'd be the principal or the superintendent.". In her article, Peggy McIntosh compares the "white privilege" to an invisible set of unearned rewards and . 5/21/2020 Topic: Module 2 Discussion: The experiment, known as Blue Eyes Brown Eyes experiment, is regarded as an eye-opening way for children to learn about racism and discrimination. You should be happy! In 2001, she was still trying to make a change. They are cleaner than blue-eyed people. 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. Blue-eyed children got five extra minutes of recess. 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. Jane Elliott, one of the most controversial figures in U.S. education and diversity training, began her journey to international acclaim in Riceville, Iowa. Back in the classroom, Elliott's experiment had taken on a life of its own. March 26, 1985. Yes, that day was tough. They didnt need to engage with a single Black person. She wanted them to understand what discrimination felt like. She nodded. Elliott rattled off the rules for the day, saying blue-eyed kids had to use paper cups if they drank from the water fountain. 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. To back up my statement Bloom (2005) says Jane Elliott's blue-eyes brown-eyes exercise encouraged children to mistrust authority figures. In this article, we'll explain what happened during the experiment and discuss its consequences. 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 blue-eyed participants faced discrimination for two and a half hours. Nevertheless, Elliott became as famous as a teacher could become in America. The secretary on duty looked up, startled, as if she had just seen a ghost. Would you like to find out? We dont have to learn about those who are other than white. 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. In Jane Elliott's experiment she made the third graders believe that the blue eyed people were better,than the brown eyed people. The children were not aware of the experiment, and therefore they could not give their permission of involvement.

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