Initial Reaction to the Blue Eyes Brown Eyes Exercise. I interviewed Julie Pasicznyk, who had been working for US West, a giant telecommunications company in Minneapolis. As a school teacher in the small town of Riceville, Iowa, Elliott first conducted the anti-racism experiment on her all-white third-grade classroom, the day after the civil rights leader was killed. Children with brown eyes were forced to wear armbands that made it easy for people to see that they had brown eyes. 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. The students were surprised, but they didnt argue. She traveled to corporations, banks, prisons, schools and military bases. Or alternatively you may decide to keep them in ignorance of what is happening. Elliott pulled out green construction paper armbands and asked each of the blue . You have the right color eyes!. Elliott began the exercise by dividing her students by eye color. That's not true. In this photograph from Sept. 13, 1965, Black children on their way to school in New York City pass by segregationists protesting integrated busing. She has since refused to answer any of my inquiries. 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. Elliott said that blue-eyed people were less intelligent and less clean. At this point you may wish to tell the pupils that you are conducting an "experiment" to look at what prejudice is. The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 prompted educator Jane Elliott to create the now-famous "blue eyes/brown eyes exercise ." As a school teacher in the small town of Riceville, Iowa, Elliott first conducted the anti-racism experiment on her all-white third-grade classroom, the day after the civil rights leader was killed. The subjects were 164 students enrolled in eight sections of an introductory elementary education course at a state university. "That's what I tried to teach, and that's what drove the other teachers crazy. For many, the experiment went horribly awry. 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. ISBN 9780520382268. Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images The results were the same. In the case of any doubt, it's best to consult a trusted specialist. Elliott split her students into two groups, based on eye color. She wanted them to understand what discrimination felt like. Normally, blue-eyes isnt an insult. And you'll always have it. "It's the same thing over and over again," Cross says. ", Walt Gabelmann, 83, was Riceville's mayor for 18 years beginning in 1966. Scores of others did participate. She slumped. Is it even possible today? Before proceeding with the test, she began with random questions to fully understand the children's perception of Negroes. How can put those little children through that exercise for a day? And they seem unable to relate the sympathy that theyre feeling for these little white children for a day to what happens to children of color in this society for a lifetime or to the fact that they are doing this to children based on skin color every day. Youve probably heard different versions of it. On Friday, April 5, 1968, in Riceville, IA, a third-grade student walked . When the blue-eyed group saw that the brown-eyed group was going to be seated first, some became upset. ", 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. 5/21/2020 Topic: Module 2 Discussion: Charity is humiliating because its exercised vertically and from above; solidarity is horizontal and implies mutual respect.. Elliott championed the experiment as an inoculation against racism., [The Conversations Politics + Society editors pick need-to-know stories. You've still got that same sweet smile. Ethical & Pedagogical Issues 2. "Eye color, hair color and skin color are caused by a chemical," Elliott went on, writing MELANIN on the blackboard. SpeedyPaper.com 2023 All rights reserved. Now 45, she had been in Elliott's third grade class in 1969. 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. 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. Not a day goes by without me thinking about it, Ms. Elliott. Consequently, the brown-eyed children started using blue-eyes as an insult. One scholar asserts that it is "Orwellian" and teaches whites "self-contempt." 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 . "There's a sense of renewal here that I've never seen anywhere else," Elliott says. [online] Today I Found Out. . 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. 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. She told them that people with brown eyes were better than people with blue eyes. The "invisible knapsack" is an analogy for a set of invisible and not widely talked about privileges that white people possess in the society. Your Privacy Rights (2022, Apr 06). In the early morning, dew and fog cover the acres of gently swaying stalks that surround Riceville the way water surrounds an island. Jane Elliot's experiment explains the reasons for discrimination to a small extent. Blue-eyed children got five extra minutes of recess. How can we teach kids to be more like him? The idea was simple but profound. Elliott asked her students to write about their experiences for the local newspaper. You can contribute to that positive change by watching the documentary. The episode features with new footage of the students, who are now adults. 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 ethical concerns arising from the experiment are consent and deception. hide caption. . The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 prompted educator Jane Elliott to create the now-famous "blue eyes/brown eyes exercise.". Elliott reminded them that the reason for the lesson was the King assassination, and she asked them to write down what they had learned. The Blue Eyes Brown Eyes exercise received national attention shortly after it ended. To begin with, Jane Elliot's experiment involved deception in which the children were made in believing that change in eye color influence intelligence. 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. "How do you think it would feel to be a Negro boy or girl?" This meeting, along with other clips of the exercises impact on education, is featured in a PBS documentary called A Class Divided. SYNOPSIS OF BLUE EYED. "I think third grade was too young for what she did. But Elliotts experiment had a more sinister impact. Regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity or socioeconomic status, decision making in psychology should protect individual rights and welfare to eliminate potential biases. The children were not aware of the experiment, and therefore they could not give their permission of involvement. Right off the bat, she picked me out of the room and called me Barbie, Pasicznyk told me. 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 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. Days after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. On the "Tonight Show" Carson broke the ice by spoofing Elliott's rural roots. On April 4 1968, King was killed by the single . 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. Basically, you establish differences between a set of subjects in order to divide them into separate groups. The video . Elliott was featured on nearly every national news show in America for decades. Nobodys standing here. Racism is not genetical. Lasting Impact of Blue Eyes Brown Eyes Experiment, Words are the most powerful weapon devised by humankind. The interaction only strengthened Elliott's resolve. To back up my statement Bloom (2005) says Jane Elliott's blue-eyes brown-eyes exercise encouraged children to mistrust authority figures. Weve been here before, with unsettling and disturbing results. Essay Sample: Ethical Concerns in Jane Elliot's Experiment. Answer (1 of 3): My guess is that is doesn't really represent racism but classism. They were forced to sit on the back rows and had to use a . And the exercise continued in a similar fashion to how it was executed the day before. Questioning authority The mainstream media were complicit in advancing such a simplistic narrative. As for the criticism that the exercise encourages children to distrust authority figuresthe teacher lies, then recants the lies and maintains they were justified because of a greater goodshe says she worked hard to rebuild her students' trust. What Lies Behind Your Urgent Need to Answer Work E Mails? 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. On Monday, Elliott reversed the exercise, and the brown-eyed kids were told how shifty, dumb and lazy theywere. Brian, the Elliotts' oldest son, got beaten up at school, and Jane called the ringleader's, mother. 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. 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. This is the phrase that inspired one of the most well-known experiments in education. And what she did caused an uproar. Junior high, maybe. Need an original essay on Essay Sample: Ethical Concerns in Jane Elliot's Experiment? "You know, sweetheart, you haven't changed one bit. "She got carried away by this possession she developed over human beings. 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. They gossiped about her in the hallway. She asked them if they would like to experience what it felt like to be in a person of colors shoes. . Blue-eyed students slumped in their chairs, as though . Hundreds of viewers wrote letters saying Elliott's work appalled them. Outside, rows of corn stretched to the horizon. ", Elliott defends her work as a mother defends her child. Privacy Statement I have brown eyes. 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." 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. This was the smaller group. Is your time best spent reading someone elses essay? I often think about Paul Bodensteiner. She told her students that she had made a mistake the previous day and that brown-eyed students . The brown-eyed students also exercised a certain level of power over the blue-eyed students when they put the armbands on them. Ethical issues were 1/3 of the participants refused to take the head off the rat . Why are we still talking about this experiment over 50 years later? Students in the inferior groups were more likely to get a worse score. The basic idea was to separate the class into two halves, students with blue eyes and those with brown. The musical is about romance, but it integrates issues of race and discrimination (Norris, 2014), and the song is about how discrimination is taught carefully, in long term. The three outcomes are: (1) virtually all of the subjects reported that the experience was Even though some of the children said yes, Elliott pushed back. He printed them under the headline "How Discrimination Feels." Select from the 0 categories from which you would like to receive articles. 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. They are more civilized than blue-eyed people. The act of treating students differently was obviously a metaphor for the social decisions made on a larger level. 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). When she went downtown to do errands, she heard whispers. On the morning of april 5, 1968, a Friday, Steven Armstrong stepped into Jane Elliott's third-grade classroom in Riceville, Iowa. The experiment known as Blue Eyes Brown Eyes experiment is regarded as an eye-opening way for children to learn about racism and discrimination. Why was the Blue Eyes and Brown Eyes Experiment considered unethical in psychology? Jane Elliott's Blue-Eyed versus Brown-Eyed Students experiment was conducted to determine whether racism was a learned characteristic. I think it can. "She stirs people up. These initial criticisms didnt stop Elliott. Sign up for Politics Weekly.]. She also assumed that none of the children had interacted with black people and that the only place they could have seen them is on television. She told them brown-eyed . "Malinda? Its goal was to demonstrate what prejudice was to her third grade class. 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. 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. That's what it feels like when you're discriminated against.". Given the ethical concerns, will you still rely on a quasi-experimental research design as a source of information in counselling psychology? Written and verified by the psychologist Francisco Roballo. This bibliography was generated on Cite This For Me on Monday, March 7, 2016. ", Steve Harnack, 62, served as the elementary school principal beginning in 1977. . 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. She says its because racism, sexism, homophobia, ageism, and ethnocentrism are mean and nasty. 980 Words. "That you, Ms. "You can see the look on their faces. The publication of compositions which the children had written about the experience in the local . Solve your problem differently! Melanin, she said, is what causes intelligence. Ethics + Religion; Health; Politics + Society; . Problems with this research were that it went against a lot of ethical issues. "Maybe the way to sell the exercise would have been to invite the parents in, to talk about what she'd be doing. That got the other teachers angry. When Elliott first conducted the exercise in 1968, brown-eyed students were given special privileges. She chatted about the experiment, and before she knew it was whisked off the stage. Fourteen years later, the students featured in The Eye of the Storm reunited and discussed their experiences with Elliott. With this experiment she wanted to let the blue-eyed people (white people) feel how it is to be in low power position. "You have to put the exercise in the context of the rest of the year. Thats how it started, and thats how it went all day long. At the time, she was a third-grade . Considering all the stereotypes and prejudices that exist, what kind of damage is being done? Subsequently the brown-eyed children stopped objecting, even when Miss Elliott and the blue-eyed kids chastised and bullied them. Traditionally, society has always treated leadership as a male issue. Jane Elliots work and experiences have made her an authority on education and anti-racism. 4. January 1, 2003. "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. 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 Brown Eyed / Blue Eyed Experiment. She also made the brown-eyed students put construction paper armbands on the blue-eyed students. Elliott started to see her own white privilege, even her own ignorance. Its not surprising to anyone that some social groups discriminate against others due to ethnicity, religion, or culture. Would you like to find out? The experiment was to be a division of eye colour starting with blue eyed student having superiority and then the following day, the roles would be reversed. Elliott was even brought on The Tonight Show to talk about her experiences. Exploring your mind Blog about psychology and philosophy. One teacher ended up displaying the same bigotry Elliott had spent the morning trying to fight. Even though the response to the Blue Eyes Brown Eyes exercise was initially negative, it made Jane Elliott a leading figure in diversity training. The experiment, known as Blue Eyes Brown Eyes experiment, is regarded as an eye-opening way for children to learn about racism and discrimination. Her bold experiment to teach Iowa third graders about racial prejudice divided townspeople and thrust her onto the national stage. "Your son got what he deserved," the woman said. I felt like hitting them if I wanted to. Role Theory: Expectations, Identities, and Behaviors. "Things are changing, and they're going to change rapidly if we're very, very fortunate," she said. She was a standing-room-only speaker at hundreds of colleges and universities. "Well, what do you expect from him, Mrs. Elliott," a brown-eyed student said as a blue-eyed student got an arithmetic problem wrong. 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. 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 . As the morning wore on, brown-eyed kids berated their blue-eyed classmates. 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. 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. 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. "They shot that King yesterday. 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 then told them that the children with blue eyes were inherently inferior to the children with brown . 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 . . Practical Psychology began as a collection of study material for psychology students in 2016, created by a student in the field. Keep me from judging a man until I have walked a mile in his moccasins. This is a Sioux saying. She asked the other teachers what they were doing to bring news of the King assassination into their classrooms. Let's just move on. The American Psychologists Principles and code of conduct state that in cases of deception, experimenters should take into consideration the potential harmful effects to participants. At first, she cooperated with me. But the protests happening now have given her hope. Jane Elliott, one of the most controversial figures in U.S. education and diversity training, began her journey to international acclaim in Riceville, Iowa. School ought to be about developing character, but most teachers won't touch that with a ten-foot pole.". 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 instructed the blue-eyed kids not to play on the jungle gym or swings. Elliott separated her all-white class of students into two groups: blue-eyed children and brown-eyed children. She left teaching in the mid-80s to speak publicly about the experience and the impact of prejudice and racism. 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. Elliott rattled off the rules for the day, saying blue-eyed kids had to use paper cups if they drank from the water fountain. Unfortunately, you cant copy samples. When the exercise ended, some of the kids hugged, some cried. Order original essays online. PracticalPie.com is a participant in the Amazon Associates Program. Then a picture was taken to remember. This way, she successfully created two distinct groups in her classroom: The consequences of the minimal group became evident very quickly. A smart blue-eyed girl who had never had problems with multiplication tables started making mistakes. It brings up immediate anger and hatred. We dont have to learn about those who are other than white. As a journalism professor and author of a book on race that spans more than 50 years, Ive watched these developments with great concern. In her article, Peggy McIntosh compares the "white privilege" to an invisible set of unearned rewards and . A columnist at a Denver newspaper called it "evil. (Byrnes & Kiger, 1992). Is your time best spent reading someone elses essay? 4 Pages. Jane Elliott's experiment. 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. 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. Jane Elliott's brown eye/blue eye experiment starts at 03:10 of A Class Divided. While Jane Elliot's experiment makes several assumptions, it also has some ethical concerns. A second look at the blue-eyes, brown-eyes experiment that taught third-graders about racism. These are the sources and citations used to research Jane Elliott's blue eye brown eye case study is/isn't more ethical than Zimbardo's Stanford prison experiment. The people of riceville did not exactly welcome Elliott home from New York with a hayride. They wouldnt be allowed second helpings for lunch. With a couple of basic and arbitrary examples, Elliott made the case that brown-eyed people were better. "I know who she is. In 2001, Jane Elliott recordedThe Angry Eye,in which she revised and updated her experiment. 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. She has led training sessions at General Electric, Exxon, AT&T, IBM and other corporations, and has lectured to the IRS, the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Department of Education and the Postal Service. 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. 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.
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