Jane Elliot: Discrimination In The Classroom

A CLASS DIVIDED Thirty years ago Jane Elliott taught the third grade in the white, Christian community of Riceville, Iowa. The day Martin Luther King Jr. was killed she planned an exercise that wouldn't just show her students what racism is - rather, it would give them first-hand experience of what it felt like to be oppressed for something out of their control. Elliott divided her class by the color of their eyes, marked them with armbands and proceeded to treat one group as if superior in capabilities to the other. The superior students performed better than they ever had before, while the inferior students' performance dropped. The next day, the third graders traded ranks and their performance reversed in accordance to their

B.2.a. Within this video, the teacher took her students on a field trip to observe citizens and gauge how the rights showed individualism in America. It made them aware of stereotyping. This supports students learning about cultural diversity by showing how others were treated in history. In student reflection forms, students wrote about how color should not matter when interacting with others. People can be a good person even if they aren’t religious or believe the same way as themselves. The teacher taught the students that everyone is different and that we need to look for and identify the good qualities of others. This was an effective way to teach the students because they became more aware of the way they acted toward others.

The first and most important thing is that all people are created equal and deserve to be treated with respect. This is something I have always known, but I loved seeing it affirmed in the video. I was also very intrigued by the differences in the scores the children earned when they were the favored group versus when they were discriminated against. I love psychology, and it was fascinating that by simply being told that they were better or that they were worse than the other kids affected their test scores. I also learned that it is easy to say all the right things, but actions speak louder than words. You may say that you believe all people are equal, but it is very important that your actions prove that as well. I am sure that everyone does things, even subconsciously, that are not congruent with what we say we believe. A scene I think I will remember a month from now is the experiment with the adults. It was very interesting to see how the different people responded to the experiment and the thoughts that they expressed

Discrimination is a term that is closely associated with many horrible things such as violence, wars, and (worst of all) politics. Although it can be argued that outright discrimination is slowly being eliminated, a new term has emerged that describes the newer, less direct, form of social inequality that is replacing the usual discrimination. Microaggressions are outlets of showing underlying prejudice without specifically attacking something. By definition, microaggressions are too small to be addressed from a disciplinary point of view, but, by looking at specific examples of microaggressions in higher education, one concludes that microaggressions must be attacked by raising awareness through discussion in academia.

Elliott gave an excellent example of prejudice and discrimination to her 3rd grade pupils. She split her class in two groups according to their eye color. She set up the rules since the beginning, where the blue eyes group was superior to the brown eyes group and uses a color collar to make the inferior team more visible. It is heartbreaking to see little kids discriminating against each other within that little time and being mean to their friends. Also we see that the kids who were appraised performed better on their tests and work in general. Elliott repeated the exercise to the employees of the Iowa prison system. The reaction to the employees was similar to the 3rd grade kids. They started to prejudice and discriminate

How nothing has really changed during the time the video was released in 1991 from today. But most importantly finding out that the dominant race benefits from discrimination, oppression, or prejudice of minority race. That is how white privilege become to be in my opinion. How they don't need to work hard to receive the best benefits or services. For example, on the video, it showed on one hand how John gets a better car deal but on the other hand how Glen is not. It totally stirs up anger in me to see injustice happening. Since john and Glen had the same background. Furthermore, sad to see how just by one's race, they are treated unfairly. It didn't change how I feel or think of the issue the issue since it proves true to the claim that racial bias still exists in U.S.A. The experiment on the video proved if one is white, then they have white privilege and are not likely to face discrimination. Race determines if we are discriminated or oppress in society. Furthermore, aware that there has been no progress of the injustice. Finally, that discrimination or oppression are hard to identify because of freedom of speech, which, therefore, allows people to express their opinion. Learned how society justified's dominant race group negative behavior or attitude toward minority race group with freedom of

This documentary was very informative. One of the several things I learned is how people form perceptions based off what they experience. For example, the children in the third-grade class felt they were more superior than other races because of what they had experienced throughout life. When the teacher asked them how they viewed black people, the children responded with hateful comments, this was a result of something they had heard or seen previously. During the experiment, I noticed how immediately the blue- eyed children felt some sense of power over the brown- eyed people because of what the teacher told them. Then on the next day they brown-eyed people felt superior. Not only did both sides experience discrimination, but collectively they learned that discrimination was not right. This was solely because the teacher taught them about discrimination. The scene that I think will stick with me is the scene after all the children had finished the experiment. In the end, the children experienced first-hand

The video we had watched was really interesting. I really resonated with the idea that no matter how hard Mexican Americans tried, they were never good enough. There are many minority groups that feel this way within the United States, including women. Civil Rights are still something people are fighting for today. This story was unique in the specific group it helped, but it was not unique in what the group was working toward. Discrimination is something that many people face and have faced, but today there are more programs and services in place to ensure that rules and laws are fair. It is important to acknowledge that change has happened because more people of color were allowed to have input in government and areas of society.

In the video, “A Class Divided,” the video shows a teacher from Iowa named, Jane Elliot who wants to teach her students the importance of discrimination. During her experimentation, she starts off her lesson by asking questions such as, “What is brotherhood?” “What is discrimination?” and “How are we supposed to treat people who look different than us?” Elliot then proceeds to ask her class if they would like to know what it feels like to be discriminated. Her emphasis in this experiment is to show how it felt to be discriminated. Elliot was inspired to do this experiment when she was listening to the television the night after they assassinated Martin Luther king. She kept hearing the news reporter say things like: “who will look after your people?” and “How will your people manage?” After this she knew she had to explain to her class in a way they will understand. Elliot decided to divide the class into two categories: the brown eyed kids and the blue eyed kids. At first the blue eyed kids were the superior race while, the brown eyed kids were the lower race. Being the inferior race meant that they had to wear blue collars around their necks in order to differentiate their eye color. Of course, the brown eyed kids had restrictions. They could not play in the playground, they could not befriend nor socialize with the blue eyed kids, and etc. The kids had a chance to walk in

Low income students have been and continue to be oppressed individuals in the school systems in the United States, which is often tied to the behavior to the children in the classroom. The oppression of these students is traced to their communities and their social behavior. As stated by Bruce Marlowe, a Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of South Carolina Beaufort: “This bureaucratic culture fosters the pervasive assumption that when students misbehave or achieve poorly, they must be ‘fixed’ because the problem inheres in the students or their families, not in the social ecology of the school, grade or classroom” (Marlowe 64). The social behavior is seen as negative and teacher do not take the time to understand the problems

I was actually kind of shocked after reading the article. No teacher should actually discriminate between a white student and a black student. Discrimination often leads to a failing performance of the student. I agree with Papageorge when he said, “These low expectations could affect the performance of students, particularly disadvantaged ones who lack access to role models who could counteract a teacher’s low expectation.” This is actually a true fact, a teacher’s support and inspiration can often lead an average student reach the peak of success.

This videos raised my awareness of this problem within our society. I believe having this awareness is important because we all make our own misconceptions and have preconceived notions of certain people and ideas. This video really takes a closer look at something that many of us rarely even considered, which is our own bias and cultural influences. I believe this is important to be mindful of and that it can open the eyes of many people in our society. I believe it is very important to keep this concept in mind during this course and in

As an educator I found the Jane Elliot case study the most interesting. Although pitting children against one another base off eye color is not the best way to convey the issue of racism, it was definitely effective. After reading “Lesson of a Lifetime” as well as the blurb of the case study provided from the link I found several ethical violations.Considering Dr. King’s assassination was just a day before the Blue Eyed VS Brown Eyed exercises Jane did not divulge all the necessary information about the exercise for her students or parents to make an informed decision on whether or not they participate.

Gender inequality continues to be a constant battleground in many societies today. Humanity requires both genders, we are both equal and need each other. Yet women are being constantly being looked down up and treated far less than what they deserve. Discrimination is something many women face and we have all grown accustomed to it and that is where the problem lies. Women do not have equal right in their roles in society and it’s high time that we eliminate discrimination against women.

“Discrimination is treatment or consideration of, or making a distinction in favour of, or against a person or thing based on the group, class, or which that person or thing is perceived to belong to rather than an individual being or object.” (Dictionary.com) Imagine living everyday hiding your true self, disguising the person you actually are and what real emotions you feel. People are shading themselves from the world to this day as society has become very judgmental and has certain expectations and images. Many are still experiencing discrimination in forms of racism, feminism and health conditions such as disorders and illnesses. Although discrimination has improved in the world, it is still prevalent in today 's society and has become worse because of the way society treats people of another colour or gender based on social images and stereotypes.