blue eyes brown eyes experiment ethical issues blue eyes brown eyes experiment ethical issues

In 2001, she was still trying to make a change. The basic idea was to separate the class into two halves, students with blue eyes and those with brown. "Probably because they have been taught how they're treated in this country that they have to understand us. "People of other color groups seem to understand," she said. Elliott is nothing if not stubborn. 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 test violated the principle of respect for people's rights and dignity. More than 50 years after her famous exercise, Elliott is still fighting. When she separated the class by eye color and announced that blue-eyed children were superior, Paul Bodensteiner objected at every turn. ", Elliott says the role of a teacher is to enhance students' moral development. Consequently, the brown-eyed children started using blue-eyes as an insult. Words are the most powerful weapon devised by humankind. 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. It's the Jane Elliott machine. Copyright 20102023, The Conversation Media Group Ltd. Why are we still talking about this experiment over 50 years later? It brings up immediate anger and hatred. "How do you think it would feel to be a Negro boy or girl?" 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. She gave the blue-eyed students an armband so other students could more easily identify them, and then she told her class that it was a scientific fact that people with brown eyes are smarter than those with blue because their bodies had more . With this experiment she wanted to let the blue-eyed people (white people) feel how it is to be in low power position. Elliott pulled out green construction paper armbands and asked each of the blue-eyed kids to wear one. 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. 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. 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. Provide your email for sample delivery, You agree to receive our emails and consent to our Terms & Conditions, Order an essay on this subject and get a 100% original paper. . Elliott's friends and family say she's tenacious, and has always had a reformer's zeal. Thats how it started, and thats how it went all day long. "You better apologize to us for getting in our way because we're better than you are," one of the brownies said. Blue-eyed children got five extra minutes of recess. The experiment is to help the children to understand about prejudice and discrimination. But the protests happening now have given her hope. Why'd they shoot that King?" Everyone looked at Mrs. Elliott. On the first day, she told the children with blue eyes they were superior: smarter and more well-behaved than the children with brown eyes. "It's the same thing over and over again," Cross says. When she went downtown to do errands, she heard whispers. Stripping away the veneer of the experiment, what was left had nothing to do with race. The brown-eyed children began to act aggressive and mean towards the blue-eyed children. The results are mixed. She traveled to corporations, banks, prisons, schools and military bases. Classroom experiment. It's cruel to white children and will cause them great psychological damage. 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. Little children don't like uproar in the classroom. In the 60s, the United States was in the midst of a social race crisis. When the exercise ended, some of the kids hugged, some cried. Danko, M. (2013). Hundreds of viewers wrote letters saying Elliott's work appalled them. She then told them that the children with blue eyes were inherently inferior to the children with brown . And the exercise continued in a similar fashion to how it was executed the day before. What Was the Purpose of the Blue Eyes Brown Eyes Experiment? one girl asked. 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 . But Paul, one of eight siblings and the son of a dairy farmer, didnt buy Elliotts mollification. The day after Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination in 1968, Jane Elliott, a schoolteacher in rural Iowa, introduced to her all-white third-grade class a shocking . Proceeding with the experiment, Elliot divided the children into two groups each with nine pupils. 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. Blue-eyed people would get 5 extra minutes on the playground and blue-eyed people could not talk to brown-eyed people. "I know who she is. ", Steve Harnack, 62, served as the elementary school principal beginning in 1977. 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. 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. It makes you proud. The more melanin, the darker the person's eyesand the smarter the person. What Lies Behind Your Urgent Need to Answer Work E Mails? 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. 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. Some guidelines for avoiding or reducing this effect are: In conclusion, Jane Elliotts experiment demonstrates the fragility of coexistence and cooperation. [online] Today I Found Out. ", Vision and tenacity may get results, but they don't always endear a person to her neighbors. It was typical of Elliott's blunt styleno "Good morning," no small talk. One example that has been in place for many years is the blue-eyed/brown-eyed experiment. Professor of Journalism, University of Iowa. In her article, Peggy McIntosh compares the "white privilege" to an invisible set of unearned rewards and . "Eye color, hair color and skin color are caused by a chemical," Elliott went on, writing MELANIN on the blackboard. Mental Floss, 4. We use them to divide and destroy people., On Understanding The Different Ways We Treat Other Races, Philip Zimbardo (Biography + Experiments). Jane Elliott's Blue-Eyed versus Brown-Eyed Students experiment was conducted to determine whether racism was a learned characteristic. I got to have five minutes extra of recess." The video . "We are repeating the blue-eyed/brown-eyed exercise on a daily basis.". 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. From Elliot's highly controversial experiment it is clear that prejudice and discrimination can only be understood through experience. They embraced the experiments reductive message, as well as its promised potential, thereby keeping the implausible rationale of Elliotts crusade alive and well for decades, however flawed and racist it really was. Within a few hours of starting the exercise, Elliott noticed big differences in the childrens behavior and how they treated each other. 5/21/2020 Topic: Module 2 Discussion: "I think these children walked in a colored child's moccasins for a day," she was quoted as saying. Elliott championed the experiment as an inoculation against racism., [The Conversations Politics + Society editors pick need-to-know stories. In 2001, Jane Elliott recordedThe Angry Eye,in which she revised and updated her experiment. She continued to conduct the exercise with her third graders. A difference as simple as eye color, defined and established by the authority figure, created a rift between the students. Jane Elliot's experiment involves cheating and intentional misinterpretation of facts. In the documentary, she said that she conducted the original blue-eyes, brown-eyes experiment to make a positive change. Elliott was not. Ms. Elliott, now 87, said she started teaching about racism on April 5, 1968 the day after the Rev. 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. It didnt take long for the children to turn on each other. Things even got violent at recess. 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. "It's happening every day in this country, right now," she said in an interview with Morning Edition. "I don't think this community was ready for what she did," he said. Her class, The students were surprised, but they didnt argue. Open Document. She pointed out flaws in a student and associated it with . Kellen Castineiras PSY Dr. Gail C. Flanagan February 6, 2022. . 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 . Blue-eyed students suggested that the teacher use a yardstick to discipline brown-eyed students that misbehaved. The blue-eyed participants faced discrimination for two and a half hours. One even wrote a lipstick message with racial slurs. Jane Elliott was a third grade teacher in Riceville, Iowa when she developed the Blue Eyed/ Brown Eyed exercise to teach the effects of 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. Mary and Zeke have three children, all of whom have blue eyes. 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. In this 1998 photograph, former Iowa teacher Jane Elliott, center, speaks with two Augsburg University . The day after Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination in 1968, Jane Elliott, a schoolteacher in rural Iowa, introduced to her all-white third-grade class a shocking experiment to demonstrate . It also documents small-town White America's reflex reaction to the . Right off the bat, she picked me out of the room and called me Barbie, Pasicznyk told me. 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. They don't replace the diagnosis, advice, or treatment of a professional. Would you like to find out? Nevertheless, Elliott became as famous as a teacher could become in America. She was a standing-room-only speaker at hundreds of colleges and universities. In 1970, she demonstrated it for educators at a White House Conference on Children and Youth. The Brown Eyed / Blue Eyed Experiment. Or alternatively you may decide to keep them in ignorance of what is happening. 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. ", That spring morning 37 years ago, the blue-eyed children were set apart from the children with brown or green eyes. 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. They were forced to sit on the back rows and had to use a . Elliott split her students into two groups, based on eye color. The demonstration has since been taught by generations of teachers to millions of kids across the country. Focusing on ethics the experiment violated some of the principles and codes of conduct established by the American Psychological Association. Brian, the Elliotts' oldest son, got beaten up at school, and Jane called the ringleader's, mother. There were more brown-eyed students in the room. He printed them under the headline "How Discrimination Feels." . I felt mad. In 1970, a documentary about the exercise was released. 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." Many critics that the children were too young to understand the exercise. Unfortunately, you cant copy samples. She was hesitant to enroll in Elliotts workshop but was told that if she wanted to succeed as a manager, shed have to attend. I want to know why youre so willing to accept it or to allow it to happen for others., The first reaction I get from teachers, who see this film or from hearing, hear me discuss what I do say to me How can you do that to these little children? ", A former teacher, Ruth Setka, 79, said she was perhaps the only teacher who would still talk to Elliott. Alan Charles Kors, a professor of history at the University of Pennsylvania, says Elliott's diversity training is "Orwellian" and singled her out as "the Torquemada of thought reform." 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. Even though the response to the Blue Eyes Brown Eyes exercise was initially negative, it made Jane Elliott a leading figure in diversity training. Elliott? Exploring your mind Blog about psychology and philosophy. 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. APA principles acknowledge that individuals rights to privacy, self-determination, and confidentiality is paramount to all psychological activities. The blue eyes/brown eyes experiment, which could last one to three days, was at a glance similar to other human-potential-movement workshops of the era, including Werner Erhard's est training . This time, the participants werent a bunch of elementary school children they were young adults. In the most uncomfortable moments, Elliott reminds the students of violent acts caused by racism or homophobia. THE ANGRY EYE , a 35-minute video, features Jane Elliott conducting her Blue Eyed/Brown Eyed exercise with college students. 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. 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. This way, she successfully created two distinct groups in her classroom: The consequences of the minimal group became evident very quickly. One of the main ones was the fact that their right to withdraw was taken away from them. She has made statements about the increase in hate crimes and racism in recent years. Although Jane Elliot's intentions were to teach the youngsters about racism, ethical issues related to the simulation were raised. 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). But in reality, I found in researching for my book Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes that the experiment was a sadistic exhibition of power and authority levers controlled by Elliott. On Friday, April 5, 1968, in Riceville, IA, a third-grade student walked . In this scenario, students are told brown-eyed people . It is quite powerful to watch. The students initially involved wished that everyone could participate in an exercise like this. "They can't forget me," she said, "and because of who they are, they can't forgive me. "Black children grow up accustomed to such behavior, but white children, there's no way they could possibly understand it. Was The Blue Eyes Brown Eyes Experiment Ethical? And what she did caused an uproar. Is your time best spent reading someone elses essay? As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. She has . Why was the Blue Eyes and Brown Eyes Experiment considered unethical in psychology? 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 . Jane Elliott's brown eye/blue eye experiment starts at 03:10 of A Class Divided. 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 . ", Others have praised Elliott's exercise. Not a day goes by without me thinking about it, Ms. Elliott. 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. Basically, you establish differences between a set of subjects in order to divide them into separate groups. The Blue Eyes & Brown Eyes Exercise. Normally, blue-eyes isnt an insult. At this point you may wish to tell the pupils that you are conducting an "experiment" to look at what prejudice is. A smart blue-eyed girl who had never had problems with multiplication tables started making mistakes. ISBN 9780520382268. She has appeared on the "Oprah Winfrey Show" five times. The idea of white privilege is closely tied to Elliotts initial question to her students. We walked into the principal's office at RicevilleElementary School, Elliott's old haunt. "Your son got what he deserved," the woman said. The following are some of her most insightful quotes on these issues. Disclaimer: SpeedyPaper.com is a custom writing service that provides online on-demand writing work for assistance purposes. Elliott was featured on nearly every national news show in America for decades. Jane Elliott, a teacher and anti-racism activist, performed a direct experiment with the students in her classroom. How do you think the world would change if everyone experienced the perils and setbacks that come with prejudice and discrimination? Elliott created the blue-eyes/brown-eyes classroom exercise in 1968 to teach students about racism. Elliott said that blue-eyed people were less intelligent and less clean. hide caption. a brown-eyed boy asked. Amitai Etzioni, a sociologist at George WashingtonUniversity, says the exercise helps develop character and empathy. "It's Riceville 30 years ago. In 1968, schoolteacher Jane Elliott decided to divide her classroom into students with blue eyes and students with brown eyes. For many, the experiment went horribly awry. 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. Privacy Statement The Associated Press followed up, quoting Elliott as saying she was "dumbfounded" by the exercise's effectiveness. Folks leave their cars unlocked, keys in the ignition. Regardless of age, gender, race, ethnicity or socioeconomic status, decision making in psychology should protect individual rights and welfare to eliminate potential biases. The subjects were 164 students enrolled in eight sections of an introductory elementary education course at a state university. Solve your problem differently! They needed not acknowledge their privilege or reflect on it. I'm tired of hearing about her and her experiment and how everyone here is a racist. "If this ugly change, if this negative change can happen this quickly, why can't positive change happen that quickly? 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. The idea was simple but profound. We dont have to learn about those who are other than white. The students started to internalize, and accept, the characteristics they'd been arbitrarily assigned based on the color of their eyes. 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. This bibliography was generated on Cite This For Me on Monday, March 7, 2016. I think it can. The brown-eyed children could take off their armbands and give them to the blue-eyed children, who were now taught that they were inferior to the brown-eyed children. Considering all the stereotypes and prejudices that exist, what kind of damage is being done? Perhaps because the outcome seemed so optimistic and comforting, coverage of Elliott and the experiments alleged curative powers cropped up everywhere. Jane Elliott on The Tonight Show on May 31, 1968. Advertising Notice 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. They wouldnt be allowed second helpings for lunch. Scores of others did participate. It is a must . "Not one of them reprimanded her for that or even corrected her. Sadly, these conversations are still relevant today. They gossiped about her in the hallway. The Blue-Eyes, Brown-Eyes Experiment. The experiment, known as Blue Eyes Brown Eyes experiment, is regarded as an eye-opening way for children to learn about racism and discrimination. Pasicznyk joined 75 other employees for a training session in the companys suburban Denver headquarters in the late 1980s. Fourteen years later, the students featured in The Eye of the Storm reunited and discussed their experiences with Elliott. The Hangout Bar & Grill, the Riceville Pharmacy and ATouch of Dutch, a restaurant owned by Mennonites, line Main Street. "It would be hard to know, wouldn't it, unless we actually experienced discrimination ourselves. And our number two freedom is the freedom to deny that were ignorant., I want every white person in this room who would be happy to be treated as this society in general treats our citizens, our black citizens, if you, as a white person, would be happy to receive the same treatment that our black citizens do in this society, please stand. How can we teach kids to be more like him? Even though some of the children said yes, Elliott pushed back. "They shot that King yesterday. "It changed my life. "Let me look at you," Elliott said. The secretary said the south side of the building was closed, something about waxing the hallways. 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. Today, increased migration means more opportunities for people from different backgrounds to interact with each other, which is often a source of conflict. To most people, it seemed to suggest that racism could be reduced, even eliminated, by a one- or two-day exercise.