Though Jane's actions were justifiable because she was not a psychologist, her experiment cannot be replicated in the present society. (2022, Apr 06). We use them to divide and destroy people., White peoples number one freedom, in the United States of America, is the freedom to be totally ignorant of those who are other than white. Exploring your mind Blog about psychology and philosophy. The three outcomes are: (1) virtually all of the subjects reported that the experience was At this point you may wish to tell the pupils that you are conducting an "experiment" to look at what prejudice is. Why was the Blue Eyes and Brown Eyes Experiment considered unethical in psychology? "That's what I tried to teach, and that's what drove the other teachers crazy. Hundreds of viewers wrote letters saying Elliott's work appalled them. The results showed a . Blue Eyes vs. Brown Eyes Experiment. Let's just move on. 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. These differences lead to war and hate. 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. 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. Its not true and its not fair no matter what you say! he responded. SYNOPSIS OF BLUE EYED. . They also harassed them constantly. Elliott shared the essays with her mother, who showed them to the editor of the weekly Riceville Recorder. 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. One student answers, since the day I was born. Throughout the entire experiment, Elliott leads frank conversations about race and discrimination. Its not surprising to anyone that some social groups discriminate against others due to ethnicity, religion, or culture. The Blue Eyes and Brown Eyes Experiment. One of the ways Hitler decided who went into the gas chamber was eye color, Elliott said in a later speech. Within a few hours of starting the exercise, Elliott noticed big differences in the childrens behavior and how they treated each other. Why Did Jane Elliott Choose Eye Color To Divide Her Students? Nevertheless, Elliott became as famous as a teacher could become in America. 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. ( 1985-03-26) " A Class Divided " is a 1985 episode of the PBS series Frontline. Sign up for Politics Weekly.]. "It's Riceville 30 years ago. It is a must . The students were surprised, but they didnt argue. Elliott split her students into two groups, based on eye color. Now, almost four decades later, Elliott's experiment still mattersto the grown children with whom she experimented, to the people of Riceville, population 840, who all but ran her out of town, and to thousands of people around the world who have also participated in an exercise based on the experiment. The more melanin, the darker the person's eyesand the smarter the person. The blue-eyed participants faced discrimination for two and a half hours. The Blue-Eyed/Brown-Eyed Experiment: Investigation. Open Document. The brown-eyed children felt suddenly that they were discriminated, while the blue eyed started seeing them as inferior. The "invisible knapsack" is an analogy for a set of invisible and not widely talked about privileges that white people possess in the society. The Blue Eyes & Brown Eyes Exercise. The Associated Press followed up, quoting Elliott as saying she was "dumbfounded" by the exercise's effectiveness. On the second day of the experiment, Elliott switched the childrens roles. A columnist at a Denver newspaper called it "evil. 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. Thousands of educators across the United States folded the experiment into their curriculums. Elliott separated her all-white class of students into two groups: blue-eyed children and brown-eyed children. 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. The fact that children are easy to manipulate into acting in a particular manner explains Jane's choice of sample. The next day when the tables were turned, "I felt like quitting school. The study also violates the American Principles of Psychologist codes of conduct making its replication or further investigation unethical. Racism is not genetical. The smell of the crops and loam and topsoil and manure wafted though the open door. 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." "We'll just be a couple of minutes. Jane Elliot's experiment involves cheating and intentional misinterpretation of facts. "The browneyed people are the better people in this room," Elliott began. This technique allows researchers to show how many different traits are necessary to create defined groups, and then analyze the subjects behavior within their groups. "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 arbitrary division among the students intensified over the course of the experiment, so much so that it actually ended in physical violence. The brown-eyed children began to act aggressive and mean towards the blue-eyed children. For many, the experiment went horribly awry. ", 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 Blue Eyes Brown Eyes exercise received national attention shortly after it ended. The results were the same. She asked the other teachers what they were doing to bring news of the King assassination into their classrooms. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. 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. Thats what it feels like when youre discriminated against., -A child participant in the Blue Eyes-Brown Eyes experiment-. "She was an excellent school teacher, but she has a way about her," says 90-year-old Riceville native Patricia Bodenham, who has known Elliott since Jane was a baby. She chatted about the experiment, and before she knew it was whisked off the stage. They wouldnt be allowed second helpings for lunch. The experiment is to help the children to understand about prejudice and discrimination. "On an airplane, it is," Elliott said to appreciative laughter from the studio audience. At recess, three brown-eyed girls ganged up on her. It brings up immediate anger and hatred. The experiment, known as Blue Eyes Brown Eyes experiment, is regarded as an eye-opening way for children to learn about racism and discrimination. Written and verified by the psychologist Francisco Roballo. "We just want to peek in," I volunteered. Elliott said that blue-eyed people were less intelligent and less clean. Additionally, the brown-eyed students got to sit in the front of the class, while the blue-eyed kids . With over 2 million YouTube subscribers, over 500 articles, and an annual reach of almost 12 million students, it has become one of the most popular sources of psychological information. 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. Jane Elliott's Blue-Eyed versus Brown-Eyed Students experiment was conducted to determine whether racism was a learned characteristic. ISBN 9780520382268. The subjects were 164 students enrolled in eight sections of an introductory elementary education course at a state university. All rights reserved. In present society, psychological experiments are guided by honesty, truthfulness, and accuracy. "I think third grade was too young for what she did. March 26, 1985. Elliott's friends and family say she's tenacious, and has always had a reformer's zeal. It has since evolved into an online blog and YouTube channel providing mental health advice, tools, and academic support to individuals from all backgrounds. She was a standing-room-only speaker at hundreds of colleges and universities. She also made the brown-eyed students put construction paper armbands on the blue-eyed students. It makes you proud. Jane Elliott's Blue Eyes and Brown Eyes experiment was a turning point in social psychology. It is sometimes cited as a landmark of social science. She wanted them to understand what discrimination felt like. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. 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. One of the most famous experiments in education Jane Elliott's "blue eyes, brown eyes" separation of her third grade students to teach them about prejudice was very different from what the public was told, as revealed in this excerpt from the in-depth story about what really happened in that classroom. "Not one of them reprimanded her for that or even corrected her. 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. Not a day goes by without me thinking about it, Ms. Elliott. "You have to put the exercise in the context of the rest of the year. "Mention two wordsJane Elliottand you get a flood of emotions from people," says Jim Cross, the Riceville Recorder's editor these days. The test also included violation of consent in which participation of the children was made involuntarily. The same experiment was also used a couple of years later with adults. Perhaps because the outcome seemed so optimistic and comforting, coverage of Elliott and the experiments alleged curative powers cropped up everywhere. It has everything to do with power.. 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. Is your time best spent reading someone elses essay? Elliott and I were sitting at her dining room table. Traditionally, society has always treated leadership as a male issue. 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. She continued to conduct the exercise with her third graders. ", Steve Harnack, 62, served as the elementary school principal beginning in 1977. 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. She would conduct the exercise for the nine more years she taught the third grade, and the next eight years she taught seventh and eighth graders before giving up teaching in Riceville, in 1985, largely to conduct the eye-color exercise for groups outside the school. In explaining the experiment rules to the brown-eyed contestants, she addresses the people of color in the room. The brown-eyed children didnt want to play with the blue-eyes during recess. Jane Elliot and the Blue-Eyed Children Experiment. The Blue Eyes Brown Eyes exercise is now known as the inspiration for diversity training in the workplace, making Jane Elliott one of the most influential educators in recent American history. Elliott? Today, she says, it's still playing out as the U.S. reckons with racial injustice. 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. 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 this 1998 photograph, former Iowa teacher Jane Elliott, center, speaks with two Augsburg University . 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. 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. In the early morning, dew and fog cover the acres of gently swaying stalks that surround Riceville the way water surrounds an island. She traveled to corporations, banks, prisons, schools and military bases. Danko, M. (2013). Jane Elliott's experiment of dividing an otherwise homogenous group of school kids by their eye color. Website. This way, she successfully created two distinct groups in her classroom: The consequences of the minimal group became evident very quickly. Elliott asked. "It would be hard to know, wouldn't it, unless we actually experienced discrimination ourselves. When you read about this experiment, its hard not to question labels. "Black children grow up accustomed to such behavior, but white children, there's no way they could possibly understand it. Introduction. She has since refused to answer any of my inquiries. When some of the . One example that has been in place for many years is the blue-eyed/brown-eyed experiment. Jane Elliot's 'The Blue Eyes and Brown Eyes Experiment' was unethical in that she created a segregated environment in a third grade classroom. "She taught in this school for 18 years." Even though the response to the Blue Eyes Brown Eyes exercise was initially negative, it made Jane Elliott a leading figure in diversity training. . 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 . 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). On Monday, Elliott reversed the exercise, and the brown-eyed kids were told how shifty, dumb and lazy theywere. But the protests happening now have given her hope. ", "I've never forgotten the exercise," Whisenhunt volunteered. I felt mad. She learned that the responses from the children were negative and more generalized about what they thought about black people. She asked them if they would like to experience what it felt like to be in a person of colors shoes. Essay Sample: Ethical Concerns in Jane Elliot's Experiment. I felt like hitting them if I wanted to. She began this work in The idea was simple but profound. Brown-eyed people. She has appeared on the "Oprah Winfrey Show" five times. The experiment known as Blue Eyes Brown Eyes experiment is regarded as an eye-opening way for children to learn about racism and discrimination. One key assumption is that the sample population represents an actual society. hide caption. All the work should be used in accordance with the appropriate policies and applicable laws. Disclaimer: SpeedyPaper.com is a custom writing service that provides online on-demand writing work for assistance purposes. The basic idea was to separate the class into two halves - those with blue eyes and those with brown. 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. Carson asked, grinning. This meeting, along with other clips of the exercises impact on education, is featured in a PBS documentary called A Class Divided. Its goal was to demonstrate what prejudice was to her third grade class. Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER! Would you? Blue Eyed versus Brown Eyed Students Jane Elliott was not a psychologist, but she developed one of the most famously controversial exercises in 1968 by dividing students into a blue-eyed group and . SpeedyPaper website, please click below to request its removal: Liked this essay sample but need an original one? Her class, When she separated the class by eye color and announced that blue-eyed children were superior, Paul Bodensteiner objected at every turn. 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. 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. Need an original essay on Essay Sample: Ethical Concerns in Jane Elliot's Experiment? Facilitators should be aware that Jane Elliott's focus on white people can lead viewers to the wrong impression that people of color are passively molded by white people's behavior when, in actuality, people of color can and do respond to racism in a variety of ways. After recess that day, the brown-eyed children complained that they were . But not Elliott. The basic idea was to separate the class into two halves, students with blue eyes and those with brown. Unfortunately, you cant copy samples. ABC broadcast a documentary about her work.