A few weeks ago I recieved a comment about a study done about stereotypes. This study is called A Class Divided. In 1968, Jane Elliot, a third grade teacher in Iowa, came up with this experiment. One day after Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered, she knew she had to do something, so she thought she would teach her third graders about discrimination. She started out dividing the class into two groups, one with blue eyes, and one with brown eyes.
The first day of the experiment she convinced the children everyone with blue eyes was superior. She told the class blue eyed people were better and smarter than brown eyes. She gave the blue eyes more time at recess and much more encouragement than the other students. She treated the brown eyes like they were stupid and nobody cared about them. The brown eyed children weren't allowed to use the drinking fountains or to play with the blue eyed children. Jane started noticing the changes of behavior in her students. The great, cooperative children started calling eachother names and fighting.
The second day she did the same thing except, she told the class that she had make a big mistake and really the brown eyes were better. So the children went through the day with opposite treatment as the day before.
Jane talked to her children after the experiment to see what they thought. Those students came into the classroom discriminating people because of color, but after this experiment, they were totally against discrimination. Jane had a reunion with those same students fourteen years later to show how much it affected them all. She went on giving those classes to all age groups.
I found a really good site with a video about the study.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/divided/etc/view.html
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i think your blog posted twice, or it could just be my computer. anyways, nice blog. it shows how one person can make stereotypes. i watched the video and it was very interesting. this woman was a very smart teacher. i think they should do this to a class in elementary school. this is where everything begins. hopefully one day this wont be an issue.
ReplyDeleteGlad you were able to watch it! It's become very controversial, however, because the kids were made to feel inferior. Kids at that age are so impressionable, which is why the experiment worked, but it's also why it affected them beyond those two days. Hatred is taught at an early age. Do you know the song from South Pacific "You've Got to Be Taught" ?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHKzn8aHyXg&feature=fvw
Also check out "Children Will Listen" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=saOVUX6iiRM&feature=related
That's a very wise experiment she made there. Those kids are obviously easy to get attention from it must have been very eye opening to the ones who really didn't understand what was going on. Very good job!
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