The anti-racism sessions Elliott led were intense. I interviewed Julie Pasicznyk, who had been working for US West, a giant telecommunications company in Minneapolis. She traveled to corporations, banks, prisons, schools and military bases. Two years later, a BBC documentary captured the experiment in Elliott's classroom. That might have been the end of it, but a month later, Elliott says, Johnny Carson called her. 10," Elliott said. Unfortunately, you cant copy samples. 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. 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. She was a local girl and the other teachers were intimidated by her success. See Page 1. 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. ", "I've never forgotten the exercise," Whisenhunt volunteered. I'm tired of hearing about her and her experiment and how everyone here is a racist. In the documentary, she said that she conducted the original blue-eyes, brown-eyes experiment to make a positive change. She repeated the abuse with subsequent classes, and finally turned it into a fully commercial enterprise. ISBN 9780520382268. However, in this classroom, having blue-eyes had become a condition of inferiority. The Associated Press followed up, quoting Elliott as saying she was "dumbfounded" by the exercise's effectiveness. Select from the 0 categories from which you would like to receive articles. She asked the other teachers what they were doing to bring news of the King assassination into their classrooms. (2010). This was intentional. "I understand this is the first time you've flown?" The story was then picked up by the Associated Press. "It's the same thing over and over again," Cross says. Order from one of our vetted writers instead. The Blue Eyes Brown Eyes exercise received national attention shortly after it ended. 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. She and her husband, Darald Elliott, then a grocer, have four children, and they, too, felt a backlash. 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 . In explaining the experiment rules to the brown-eyed contestants, she addresses the people of color in the room. And what she did caused an uproar. 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. Withdrawn brown-eyed kids were suddenly outgoing, some beaming with the widest smiles she had ever seen on them. "Malinda? Theyd have to use paper cups if they drank from the water fountain. One of the main ones was the fact that their right to withdraw was taken away from them. 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. Proceeding with the experiment, Elliot divided the children into two groups each with nine pupils. "Eye color, hair color and skin color are caused by a chemical," Elliott went on, writing MELANIN on the blackboard. On the second day of the experiment, Elliott switched the childrens roles. Right off the bat, she picked me out of the room and called me Barbie, Pasicznyk told me. I was stunned. The students started to internalize, and accept, the characteristics they'd been arbitrarily assigned based on the color of their eyes. 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. Ethics + Religion; Health; Politics + Society; . In 1968, schoolteacher Jane Elliott decided to divide her classroom into students with blue eyes and students with brown eyes. She split the class in two categories, according to eye color, and told the children that one group was superior to the others. Blue-eyed students suggested that the teacher use a yardstick to discipline brown-eyed students that misbehaved. 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. You've still got that same sweet smile. ", Jane shielded her eyes from the morning sun. On the first day of the two-day experiment, Elliott told the . Knowing that her experiment would have consequences, Jane remained committed to her course. "Brown-eyed people have more of that chemical in their eyes, so brown-eyed people are better than those with blue eyes," Elliott said. The Hangout Bar & Grill, the Riceville Pharmacy and ATouch of Dutch, a restaurant owned by Mennonites, line Main Street. The exercise is "an inoculation against racism," she says. ", We backed out. hide caption. 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. If this arbitrary division that Elliott enforced for a few hours created so many problems in this classroom, whats happening on a larger scale? When she separated the class by eye color and announced that blue-eyed children were superior, Paul Bodensteiner objected at every turn. Cookie Settings, Kids Start Forgetting Early Childhood Around Age 7, Archaeologists Discover Wooden Spikes Described by Julius Caesar, Artificial Sweetener Tied to Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke, Study Finds, Rare Jurassic-Era Insect Discovered at Arkansas Walmart. ", Elliott says the role of a teacher is to enhance students' moral development. [online] Today I Found Out. On the "Tonight Show" Carson broke the ice by spoofing Elliott's rural roots. After the exercise white college students in . 1. This time, the participants werent a bunch of elementary school children they were young adults. Jane Elliott's experiment of dividing an otherwise homogenous group of school kids by their eye color. Keep me from judging a man until I have walked a mile in his moccasins. This is a Sioux saying. The Blue Eye/Brown Eye was an experiment performed by Jane Elliot in 1968 on the day after Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. They were forced to sit on the back rows and had to use a . From Elliot's highly controversial experiment it is clear that prejudice and discrimination can only be understood through experience. Then tell them that . Back in the classroom, Elliott's experiment had taken on a life of its own. It has since evolved into an online blog and YouTube channel providing mental health advice, tools, and academic support to individuals from all backgrounds. "How do you think it would feel to be a Negro boy or girl?" Jane Elliots work and experiences have made her an authority on education and anti-racism. Her bold experiment to teach Iowa third graders about racial prejudice divided townspeople and thrust her onto the national stage. 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 . I often think about Paul Bodensteiner. Pasicznyk joined 75 other employees for a training session in the companys suburban Denver headquarters in the late 1980s. When you read about this experiment, its hard not to question labels. The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 prompted educator Jane Elliott to create the now-famous "blue eyes/brown eyes exercise.". 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. "It's happening every day in this country, right now," she said in an interview with Morning Edition. She has . 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. When my grandchildren are old enough, I'd give anything if you'd try the exercise out on them. In this photograph from Sept. 13, 1965, Black children on their way to school in New York City pass by segregationists protesting integrated busing. Elliott was shocked by the results and decided to switch the roles the following day. It's the Jane Elliott machine. She told them that people with brown eyes were superior to those with blue eyes, for reasons she made up. "You better apologize to us for getting in our way because we're better than you are," one of the brownies said. Three sections were selected to be administered the simulation . 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. He printed them under the headline "How Discrimination Feels." Elliott reminded them that the reason for the lesson was the King assassination, and she asked them to write down what they had learned. Jane Elliott, an educator and anti-racism activist, first conducted her blue eyes/brown eyes exercise in her third-grade classroom in Iowa in 1968. Elliott flew to the NBC studio in New York City. She also made the brown-eyed students put construction paper armbands on the blue-eyed students. The brown-eyed children didnt want to play with the blue-eyes during recess. Its not true and its not fair no matter what you say! he responded. At recess, three brown-eyed girls ganged up on her. She told her students that she had made a mistake the previous day and that brown-eyed students . The ethical concerns arising from the experiment are consent and deception. Answer (1 of 3): My guess is that is doesn't really represent racism but classism. The results showed a reversal effect in which the blue-eyed students showed signs of inferiority and low self-esteem. After recess that day, the brown-eyed children complained that they were . One group consisted pupils with brown eye while the other group consisted of those with blue eyes. Privacy Statement Essay Sample: Ethical Concerns in Jane Elliot's Experiment. "You have to put the exercise in the context of the rest of the year. Thousands of educators across the United States folded the experiment into their curriculums. Although Jane Elliot's intentions were to teach the youngsters about racism, ethical issues related to the simulation were raised. Elliott pulled out green construction paper armbands and asked each of the blue-eyed kids to wear one. One scholar asserts that it is "Orwellian" and teaches whites "self-contempt." "Probably because they have been taught how they're treated in this country that they have to understand us. 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. Elliott pulled out green construction paper armbands and asked each of the blue . In the 60s, the United States was in the midst of a social race crisis. What Was The Blue Eyes Brown Eyes Experiment? Cookie Policy Ethical & Pedagogical Issues 2. 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. Elliott and I were sitting at her dining room table. Elliott created the blue-eyes/brown-eyes classroom exercise in 1968 to teach students about racism. The searing story is a cautionary tale that examines power and privilege in and out of the classroom. Society made them believe they were better than other people for arbitrary reasons such as skin color or gender. That got the other teachers angry. . "She stirs people up. The people of riceville did not exactly welcome Elliott home from New York with a hayride. For many, the experiment went horribly awry. Open Document. But Elliotts experiment had a more sinister impact. 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. When Elliott walked into the teachers' lounge the next Monday, several teachers got up and walked out. Blue eyes, brown eyes: What Jane Elliott's famous experiment says about race 50 years on. She said she watched and was horrified at what she saw. At points, you are likely to feel uncomfortable. The Brown Eyed / Blue Eyed Experiment. "You can see the look on their faces. This was the smaller group. Or alternatively you may decide to keep them in ignorance of what is happening. When Elliott first conducted the exercise in 1968, brown-eyed students were given special privileges. Elliott started to see her own white privilege, even her own ignorance. Kellen Castineiras PSY Dr. Gail C. Flanagan February 6, 2022. . Charity is humiliating because its exercised vertically and from above; solidarity is horizontal and implies mutual respect.. 5/21/2020 Topic: Module 2 Discussion: It didnt take long for the children to turn on each other. Despite the adaptation of the experiment in psychological studies, Jane has been widely criticized for her unethical conduct and promotion of discrimination among children. If you white folks want to be treated the way blacks are in this society, stand. Issues such as the right to know, the right to privacy, and informed consent. This meeting, along with other clips of the exercises impact on education, is featured in a PBS documentary called A Class Divided. Sign up for Politics Weekly.]. 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. She wanted them to understand what discrimination felt like. Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER! 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 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. The brown-eyed people were told to step to the front of the line. ", Walt Gabelmann, 83, was Riceville's mayor for 18 years beginning in 1966. The minimal group paradigm has shaped an entire methodology in social psychology. She nodded. . From the University of California Press website: 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. Much like the Zimbardo's Stanford Prison experiment where students were divided by either being the jailer or the jailed. Before she could answer, another boy piped up: "If she didn't have blue eyes, she'd be the principal or the superintendent.". 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. Delivery in 6+ hours! A columnist at a Denver newspaper called it "evil. On Thursday, April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, TN. One student answers, since the day I was born. Throughout the entire experiment, Elliott leads frank conversations about race and discrimination. I felt mad. The results were the same. Ms. Elliott, now 87, said she started teaching about racism on April 5, 1968 the day after the Rev. ", 2023 Smithsonian Magazine ABC broadcast a documentary about her work. She asked them if they would like to experience what it felt like to be in a person of colors shoes. Sadly, these conversations are still relevant today. When some of the . 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. Focusing on ethics the experiment violated some of the principles and codes of conduct established by the American Psychological Association. Though Jane's actions were justifiable because she was not a psychologist, her experiment cannot be replicated in the present society. Elliott asked. She was hesitant to enroll in Elliotts workshop but was told that if she wanted to succeed as a manager, shed have to attend. She left teaching in the mid-80s to speak publicly about the experience and the impact of prejudice and racism. In this documentary, Jane Elliott, a third grade teacher divided her class into two groups based on their eye color; one group had blue eyes and the other had brown eyes. 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. They needed not acknowledge their privilege or reflect on it. In Jane Elliott's experiment she made the third graders believe that the blue eyed people were better,than the brown eyed people. She and Darald split their time between a converted schoolhouse in Osage, Iowa, a town 18 miles from Riceville, and a home near Riverside, California. It was typical of Elliott's blunt styleno "Good morning," no small talk. She slumped. 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. In the case of any doubt, it's best to consult a trusted specialist. ", 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. ", The two hugged, and Whisenhunt had tears streaming down her cheeks. Elliot said that when the children were given the test on the same day that they were in the superior group, they tended to get the highest scores. Dick DeMarsico/New York World-Telegram & the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection/PhotoQuest/Getty Images, Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images, Committee Member - MNF Research Advisory Committee, PhD Scholarship - Uncle Isaac Brown Indigenous Scholarship. Why do researchers use correlational studies? 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. Melanin, she said, is what causes intelligence. In 1970, a documentary about the exercise was released. Elliott shared the essays with her mother, who showed them to the editor of the weekly Riceville Recorder. Thats what it feels like when youre discriminated against., -A child participant in the Blue Eyes-Brown Eyes experiment-. Zimbardocreator of the also controversial 1971 Stanford Prisoner Experiment, which was stopped after college student volunteers acting as "guards" humiliated students acting as "prisoners"says Elliott's exercise is "more compelling than many done by professional psychologists. The subjects were 164 students enrolled in eight sections of an introductory elementary education course at a state university. The smell of the crops and loam and topsoil and manure wafted though the open door. The publication of compositions which the children had written about the experience in the local . Elliott? Articles and opinions on happiness, fear and other aspects of human psychology. 2012 2023 . Her class, "It would be hard to know, wouldn't it, unless we actually experienced discrimination ourselves. Grey eyes are also a rare eye color. "The racists carry on, so I carry on." The lives and legacies of Dr. Jane Elliott and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. are inextricably linked. The corn grows so fast in northern Iowafrom seedling to seven-foot-high stalk in 12 weeksthat it crackles. The episode features with new footage of the students, who are now adults. Given the ethical concerns, will you still rely on a quasi-experimental research design as a source of information in counselling psychology? Elliott was even brought on The Tonight Show to talk about her experiences. 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. That spring morning 37 years ago, the blue-eyed children were set apart from the children with brown or green eyes. The students initially involved wished that everyone could participate in an exercise like this. 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. "You know, sweetheart, you haven't changed one bit. She began this work in In this article, we'll explain what happened during the experiment and discuss its consequences. How do you think the world would change if everyone experienced the perils and setbacks that come with prejudice and discrimination? Why Did Jane Elliott Choose Eye Color To Divide Her Students? The Blue-Eyed/Brown-Eyed Experiment: Investigation. Scores of others did participate. ", Then, the inevitable: "Hey, Mrs. Elliott, how come you're the teacher if you've got blue eyes?" In fact, most of the initial response was negative. When the blue-eyed group saw that the brown-eyed group was going to be seated first, some became upset. She had never met me, and she accused me in front of everyone of using my sexuality to get ahead.. 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. "If this ugly change, if this negative change can happen this quickly, why can't positive change happen that quickly? Blue-eyed students slumped in their chairs, as though . Tears formed in the corners of Elliott's eyes. ( 1985-03-26) " A Class Divided " is a 1985 episode of the PBS series Frontline. (Byrnes & Kiger, 1992). These initial criticisms didnt stop Elliott. Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER! PracticalPie.com is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program. Junior high, maybe. Jane Elliot's 'The Blue Eyes and Brown Eyes Experiment' was unethical in that she created a segregated environment in a third grade classroom. We use them to divide and destroy people., On Understanding The Different Ways We Treat Other Races, Philip Zimbardo (Biography + Experiments). Students in the inferior groups were more likely to get a worse score. 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 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. "We give our children shots to inoculate them against polio and smallpox, to protect them against the realities in the future. Elliott was not. 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." The brown-eyed students also exercised a certain level of power over the blue-eyed students when they put the armbands on them. 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. It is quite powerful to watch. What Was the Purpose of the Blue Eyes Brown Eyes Experiment? Jane Elliott, shown here in 2009, remains an outspoken advocate against racism. The nearest traffic light is 20 miles away. You didnt understand the directions. How can we teach kids to be more like him? (2022, Apr 06). They all either smiled or laughed and nodded.". There were more brown-eyed students in the room. "This here is Jane Elliott," I said. Elliott was featured on nearly every national news show in America for decades. Practical Psychology began as a collection of study material for psychology students in 2016, created by a student in the field. 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. Brown-eyed people, she told the students, are smarter, more civilized and better than blue-eyed people. Jane Elliott's experiment. 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. As the morning wore on, brown-eyed kids berated their blue-eyed classmates. Why was the Blue Eyes and Brown Eyes Experiment considered unethical in psychology? "She taught in this school for 18 years." According to the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, 2010 the experiment also violates the principle of Integrity. All rights reserved. In this scenario, students are told brown-eyed people . "They can't forget me," she said, "and because of who they are, they can't forgive me. Role Theory: Expectations, Identities, and Behaviors. Stephen G. Bloom does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. ", Vision and tenacity may get results, but they don't always endear a person to her neighbors. It makes you proud. "She could get kids to do anything she wanted them to," he says of Elliott. They felt superior and had the support of the authority figure (the teacher). She appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show five times. But Paul, one of eight siblings and the son of a dairy farmer, didnt buy Elliotts mollification. Would you like to find out? Professor Jane Elliott performed a group experiment with her students that they would never forget. Jane Elliott's Blue-Eyed versus Brown-Eyed Students experiment was conducted to determine whether racism was a learned characteristic. Perhaps because the outcome seemed so optimistic and comforting, coverage of Elliott and the experiments alleged curative powers cropped up everywhere. Your Privacy Rights one girl asked. The results are mixed. Traditionally, society has always treated leadership as a male issue. Regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity or socioeconomic status, decision making in psychology should protect individual rights and welfare to eliminate potential biases. A difference as simple as eye color, defined and established by the authority figure, created a rift between the students. While Jane Elliot's experiment makes several assumptions, it also has some ethical concerns. The basic idea was to separate the class into two halves - those with blue eyes and those with brown. The experiment is to help the children to understand about prejudice and discrimination.
Storm Titan Wizard101, Talking Works Orewa, Articles B