Eye of the Storm Jane Elliot 1970
Summary
TLDRIn a small Iowan town, teacher Jane Elliot conducts a powerful experiment on her third-grade class to teach them about prejudice. By assigning superiority based on eye color, she simulates discrimination, causing a shift in behavior and attitudes. The exercise, which initially favors blue-eyed children, is reversed the next day, making brown-eyed children superior. This dramatic role reversal helps children understand the pain of being judged and treated unfairly based on superficial differences, highlighting the destructive nature of discrimination.
Takeaways
- 🏫 The setting is a school in Rville, Iowa, where a third-grade teacher, Mrs. Jane Elliot, conducts a lesson on discrimination.
- 👁️ The teacher uses eye color as a basis for discrimination, initially favoring blue-eyed students over brown-eyed ones.
- 👑 Raymond, a blue-eyed student, feels superior and enjoys the privileges given to blue-eyed children.
- 😔 Sandra and other brown-eyed students feel hurt and discriminated against, experiencing the negative effects of prejudice.
- 📺 The experiment is documented by ABC News, highlighting the town's lack of diversity and its impact on understanding broader social issues.
- 🗣️ Mrs. Elliot uses the classroom to teach about prejudice and discrimination, emphasizing the importance of empathy and understanding.
- 🔄 The roles are reversed the next day, with brown-eyed students being favored, demonstrating the arbitrary nature of discrimination.
- 🧠 The children's behavior changes dramatically within the experiment, showing how quickly discrimination can affect social dynamics.
- 📉 The academic performance of the 'inferior' group improves when their status is changed, indicating the power of perception on ability.
- 🤝 The lesson concludes with a discussion on the unfairness of discrimination, aiming to instill values of equality and respect in the students.
- 🌟 The impact of Mrs. Elliot's teaching method is profound, leaving a lasting impression on the students about the nature of prejudice.
Q & A
What was the main purpose of Mrs. Jane Elliot's classroom experiment?
-Mrs. Jane Elliot's experiment aimed to teach her third-grade students about prejudice and discrimination by creating a situation where blue-eyed children were treated as superior to brown-eyed children, and vice versa, to make them understand the feelings of being discriminated against.
How did the students react to the discrimination based on eye color?
-Initially, the blue-eyed students felt superior and enjoyed the privileges, while the brown-eyed students felt inferior and unhappy. However, as the experiment progressed, both groups became uncomfortable and realized the negative effects of discrimination.
What privileges were given to the blue-eyed students during the experiment?
-The blue-eyed students were given extra recess time, allowed to go first for lunch and seconds, permitted to use the drinking fountain directly, and allowed to sit in the front of the classroom.
What were the brown-eyed students required to do as a result of the discrimination?
-The brown-eyed students were required to wear collars to identify them, stay in during recess, use paper cups instead of the drinking fountain, and were not allowed to play with the blue-eyed students on the playground.
How did the students' behavior change during the experiment?
-The students' behavior changed dramatically. Those who were considered superior became more assertive and even aggressive, while those who were considered inferior became more submissive and less confident.
What was the impact of the experiment on the students' academic performance?
-When the brown-eyed students were considered inferior, their performance on a card pack activity was slower. However, when their status was reversed, and they were considered superior, their performance improved significantly, showing that their self-perception affected their learning abilities.
What did Mrs. Elliot reveal to the students at the end of the experiment?
-At the end of the experiment, Mrs. Elliot revealed that she had lied about the superiority of blue-eyed people and that the color of one's eyes does not determine their worth or abilities. The purpose was to teach them that discrimination is unfair and wrong.
How did the students feel after the experiment was over?
-The students felt relieved and some expressed that they felt better, as if they were back home, indicating that the discriminatory environment created during the experiment was uncomfortable and distressing.
What was the overall message that Mrs. Elliot wanted her students to take away from the experiment?
-The overall message was that discrimination based on superficial characteristics like eye color, skin color, or any other physical attribute is unfair and harmful. It is important to treat everyone equally and not judge them based on their appearance.
What was the community's reaction to Mrs. Elliot's experiment?
-The script does not provide explicit details about the community's reaction, but it implies that the experiment was a significant event that provoked thought and discussion about prejudice and discrimination among the students and possibly the community.
Outlines
👀 Discrimination Experiment in a Classroom
The paragraph introduces a classroom setting where two students, Sandra and Raymond, are described by their eye color. The teacher, Mrs. Jane Elliot, makes a discriminatory statement that blue-eyed children are superior to brown-eyed children in intelligence, cleanliness, and civilization. This statement leads to a shift in the classroom dynamics, with blue-eyed children feeling superior and brown-eyed children feeling dejected. The paragraph sets the stage for an experiment in teaching about prejudice, as the town of Rville, Iowa, is described as a predominantly white and Christian community that is geographically and socially distant from the racial tensions seen in larger cities.
📚 Teaching Prejudice and Discrimination
This paragraph delves into Mrs. Elliot's determination to teach her third-grade students about prejudice and discrimination, alongside their regular curriculum. Following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., she uses the opportunity to discuss the concept of prejudice with her students. She decides to conduct an experiment to make the students understand discrimination by using eye color as a basis for division. She assigns blue-eyed children as superior and enforces various discriminatory rules, such as extra recess time and better seating, while brown-eyed children are subjected to restrictions and derogatory labels. This experiment is intended to help the children understand and empathize with the experiences of marginalized groups.
👓 Enforcing Eye Color-Based Discrimination
In this paragraph, the experiment continues with Mrs. Elliot enforcing the discriminatory rules based on eye color. Blue-eyed children are given collars to identify them as superior, and they are tasked with putting collars on brown-eyed children. The seating arrangement in the classroom is changed to favor blue-eyed children, and brown-eyed children are made to wait and are treated with less respect. The paragraph illustrates how quickly the children adopt these roles, with blue-eyed children beginning to act superior and brown-eyed children feeling the effects of discrimination, leading to conflicts and a change in behavior among the students.
🔄 Reversing Roles and Reflecting on Discrimination
The fourth paragraph describes a pivotal moment in the experiment where Mrs. Elliot reverses the roles, declaring that brown-eyed children are now superior. She continues the discriminatory practices but shifts the focus to brown-eyed children, allowing them extra recess time and privileges. The blue-eyed children, now on the receiving end of discrimination, begin to feel the negative effects. The paragraph highlights the emotional and behavioral changes in the children, as they start to understand the implications of discrimination and the unfairness of treating people differently based on superficial characteristics.
🚫 Confronting Discrimination and Learning Empathy
This paragraph concludes the experiment by Mrs. Elliot revealing the truth: that the discrimination based on eye color was unfounded and that all children are equal regardless of their eye color. She removes the collars and ends the discriminatory practices, allowing the children to reflect on their experiences. The children express their discomfort and unhappiness with the treatment they received, recognizing the unfairness of discrimination. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of empathy and understanding, as the children learn valuable lessons about the harm caused by prejudice and discrimination.
🎓 The Impact of the Experiment on the Children
The final paragraph reflects on the potential long-term impact of the experiment on the children. It suggests that while the children may not forget the lessons learned, it is uncertain whether they will retain the understanding of human psychology and the harmful effects of discrimination. The paragraph concludes with a tribute to Mrs. Elliot's courageous and creative teaching method, which, despite causing discomfort for a day, provided the children with a priceless understanding of empathy and equality.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Prejudice
💡Discrimination
💡Anatomy of Prejudice
💡National Brotherhood Week
💡Rville, Iowa
💡Collar
💡Desegregation
💡Civil Rights
💡Martin Luther King Jr.
💡Teaching Methodology
Highlights
Sandra and Raymond's school experiences are highlighted, with Sandra having brown eyes and Raymond having blue eyes.
The teacher's statement that blue-eyed people are smarter, cleaner, and more civilized than brown-eyed people creates a discriminatory environment.
Raymond feels superior and like he rules over the brown-eyed children after the teacher's comments.
The town of Rville, Iowa, is described as an all-white, all-Christian community with no history of racial tension, making it an interesting case study for discrimination.
Mrs. Jane Elliot, a teacher at the community Elementary School, decides to teach her students about prejudice and discrimination through an experiment.
The experiment provokes an incident of discrimination based on eye color, with blue-eyed children being treated as superior.
Children's behavior changes dramatically within 15 minutes of the experiment, demonstrating the power of social conditioning.
The blue-eyed children begin to act out in discriminatory ways towards their brown-eyed peers.
Mrs. Elliot's experiment shows how quickly children internalize and act on discriminatory messages.
The experiment is stopped, and Mrs. Elliot reveals that she lied about blue-eyed people being superior, highlighting the arbitrary nature of the discrimination.
The children's attitudes and behaviors change again when the roles are reversed, and brown-eyed children are declared superior.
The children learn that discrimination is unfair and that they should not judge people by superficial characteristics.
The experiment concludes with a discussion on the importance of treating everyone equally, regardless of eye color or skin color.
The children express relief and a sense of belonging once the discriminatory labels are removed.
The experiment's impact on the children is profound, with many likely to remember the lesson taught by Mrs. Elliot.
The story ends with a reflection on the power of education to combat prejudice and discrimination.
Transcripts
[Music]
this is Sandra's and Raymond's
school this is Sandra at her
desk this is Raymond at his
desk Sandra has brown
eyes Raymond has blue
eyes this is what their teacher said
blueeyed people are smarter than
brown-eyed
people they are cleaner than brown-eyed
people
they are more civilized than brown-eyed
people Sandra and her brown-eyed friends
didn't like that day but Raymond did I
felt like I was a king like I Ruled them
brown eyes like I was better than them
[Music]
happy
now the American Adventure the people
and events shaping our lives and our
times
[Music]
now this week the eye of the storm an
experiment in teaching the anatomy of
prejudice with ABC News correspondent
bill
butell
rville Iowa with a population of a
little less than a thousand people sees
the turmoil and hears the angry voices
of the times only in television it has
no ghetto it has no campus no riots no
demonstrations no Negroes its people are
all white and all Christian it's a
relatively poor town surrounded by large
cornfields and it's so far removed from
the anguish of the cities that it was
often hard for the people here to
understand the forces that are dividing
the United States today until a teacher
at the Town School deliberately provoked
an incident of discrimination based on
color it happened at the community
Elementary School in rville the town's
finest building here nearly 600 Farm
children are educated by 55 teachers and
one of them Mrs Jane Elliot is
determined that along with reading and
writing in the new math her third grade
students will also learn about the
prejudice and discrimination that are
Facts of Life in this
country Goan K
Dam so keep your
high keep your
high keep your high apple pie in
the a problems just ay balloon they'll
be
soon problem Cur there goes another
problem C there go problem Cur
[Applause]
you almost didn't say it at the right
time didn't you okay I'd like to you
roll this right on Monday we had
business as usual we did a regular
school day 18 okay now what
multiplication fact that give
you 6 * 3
right okay how many
sets six six sets of three three okay
what are six sets of three tell me
again 18 right okay now let's put that
down here I'm sorry that the rest of you
have to wait but we wait for you so you
can wait for
him I think part of education is having
a child learn something about living
beyond the textbook good
job good job very
good keep telling you you're the best
there is these are very very
good good job the morning after Martin
Luther their King was killed I a child
came into the room and said um they shot
a king last night why did they shoot a
king and we had to discuss it we
discussed it and I had thought about
this all evening the night before
watching this horror on television and
at the time we were studying an Indian
unit and I was ironing the teepee as I
was listening to this thing and it
became so utterly ridiculous to me this
whole thing is so so senseless
and based on something so
illogical that I thought they had to
find out children have to find out
adults obviously don't care or if they
do care they don't care enough to do
anything or are incapable of doing
something I don't know I think children
have to be told that this is wrong and
telling them they can turn you off I
wanted them to be involved in finding
out what happened I wanted them to know
at least a little bit about how it feels
to be stepped
upon I pledge the Le to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
republ for which it stands one nation
under God indivisible with liberty and
justice for all God Bless
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
America above from the mountain to the
pries to the
[Applause]
[Music]
America godess
America my home sweet
home this is a special week does anybody
know what it is National Brotherhood
National Brotherhood week what's
Brotherhood be kind to your brothers be
kind okay be kind to your brothers like
you would like to be seated treat
everyone the way you would like to be
treated treat everyone as though he was
your brother and is there anyone in this
United States that we do not treat as
our brothers yeah
who the black people who else inan
absolutely the Indians and when you see
when many people see a black person or a
yellow person or a red person what do
they
think
at dumb people and look at the dumb
people what else do they think sometimes
what kinds of things do they say about
black
people negro in the city many
places in the United States how are
black people treated how are Indians
treated how are people who are of a
different color than we are
treated part of this world they don't
get anything in this world why is that
because they're different colors you
think you know how that would feel to be
judged by the color of your skin yeah I
don't do you think you do no I don't
think you would know how that felt
unless you had been through it would
you no is there anything about you
people that is different from one
another that we could
use to make part of
you like the eyes what color the eyes
okay we could use the color of your eyes
how many in you here have blue
eyes okay how many in here have brown
eyes
it might be interesting to judge people
today by the color of their
eyes would you like to try this sounds
like fun doesn't it since I'm the
teacher and I have blue eyes I think
maybe the blue-eyed people should be on
top the first
day up here I mean the blue-eyed
people are the better people in this
room oh yes they
are blueeyed people are Smarter Than
browney
People my dad isn't that is your dad
Browne yeah one day you came to school
and you told us that he kicked you he
did do you think a blue-eyed father
would kick his
son my
dad my dad's blueeyed he's never kicked
me Greg's dad is blueeyed he's never
kicked him's dad is blueeyed he's never
kicked
him what color eyes did George
Washington have blue blue blue
blue this is a this is a fact blue-eyed
people are better than browney
people are you browney or blue-eyed blue
why are you shaking your
[Music]
head are you sure that you're
right why what makes you so sure that
you're
right the blue-eyed people get five
extra minutes of recess while the
browney people have to stay
[Music]
in the browney people do not get to use
the drinking fountain you'll have to use
the paper
cups you brown-eyed people are not to
play with the blue-eyed people on the
playground because you are not as good
as blue-eyed people the brown-eyed
people in this room today are going to
work
collar so that we can tell from a
distance what color your eyes
are now the blueeyed people each of you
can pick out someone on whom to put a
collar so the blue-eyed people each come
up and get a collar you can choose
someone to put this collar
on
where are the most fun seats in the room
at the front or the back back front
front where should who should sit in the
front then the blue I think the bluee
people should
absolutely on
page
127 100
127 everyone
ready everyone but
lri ready lri
she's a
browney you'll begin to notice today
that we spend a great deal of time
waiting for brown-eyed
people the yard stick's gone well okay I
don't see the yard stick you over
there hey M you better keep that on your
desk so if the um brown people brown
people get out of
hand oh you think if the Browne people
get out of hand that would be the thing
to use
who goes first to lunch the blue-eyed
people no browney people go back for
seconds blueeyed people may go back for
seconds browney people do not Browne
don't you know they're not
smart that the only reason take too much
might take too much and tell the person
that goes back to um stay there because
the watch for these little colors so so
if they don't ask you they just might go
back oh you think I should alert the
lunchroom help to know that these people
should be yeah like the woman that you
go back for seconds tell her she'll
know tell her that's probably we should
do that shouldn't we
M okay quietly not a
[Music]
sound and the two black when we were
down on the bottom everything bad was
happening to
us the way they treated you you felt
like you didn't even want to try to do
anything seemed like Mrs Elliot was
taking our best friends away from
[Music]
us what happened at recess were two of
you boys
fighting John what happened John Russ
call me names and I hit him hit him in
the gut what did he call
you brown
eyes you call him brown
eyes they always call us that and all
the um eyes call Brown
Eyes come here brown eyes then they were
call us blue eyes I wasn't s Sandy and
Don were yeah yeah what's wrong with
being called brown
eyes it means that we're stupid we not
that oh that's just the same way as
other people call uh black people
ners yeah that the reason you hit him
John did it
help did it stop
him did it make you feel better
inside make you feel better
inside it make you feel better to call
him brown
eyes why do you suppose you call him
brown
eyes prob because he has brown eyes
that's the only reason he didn't call
him brown eyes yesterday and he had
brown eyes yesterday didn't he because
we get start yeah since you put those
blue things on there tease them tease
them oh is this teasing
no well he did it were you doing it for
fun to be funny or were you doing it to
be
[Applause]
mean I don't know don't ask me did
anyone laugh at you when you did I
watched what had been
marvelous Cooperative wonderful
thoughtful children turn
into nasty
vicious
discriminating little third graders in a
space of 15 minutes I think
I learned more from the superior
children than I did from the children
who were considered Superior than I did
from the children who were considered
inferior because their personalities
changed even more than the others did
whether they are this whether this is
what they would like to be inside but uh
Society inhibits them I don't know but
for one day we removed their inhibitions
and they were
ghastly we didn't like one another very
well by the end of the day that first
time yester day I told you that
brown-eyed people aren't as good as
blue-eyed people that wasn't true I lied
to you
yesterday the truth
is that brown-eyed people are better
than blue-eyed
[Music]
people Russell where are your
glasses I forgot them you forgot them
and what color are your eyes
blue Susan G
has brown eyes she didn't forget her
glasses Russell ring has blue eyes and
what about his glasses he forgot them he
forgot them all these browney people are
listening to what we're saying look at
Brian are blue-eyed people good
listeners
no Brian will you put that down
please thank
you yesterday we were visiting and Greg
said boy I like to hit my little sister
as hard as I can that's
fun what does that tell you about
blue-eyed people they're nauy they F A
Lot the brown eyed people may take off
their
collars and each of you may put your
collar on a blue-eyed
person put your
[Music]
hand I'll wa for you day you
were the browney people get five extra
minutes of
recess you blue-eyed people are not
allowed to be on the playground
equipment at any
time you blue-eyed people are not to
play with the browney people blue-eyed
people go to the back the browney people
come to the
[Applause]
[Music]
front
[Music]
okay brown-eyed people are better than
blue-eyed people they're smarter than
blue-eyed people and if you don't
believe it look at
Brian do blue-eyed people know how to
sit in a
chair very sad very very
[Music]
sad who can tell me what contraction
should be in the first sentence let's go
to the board and write it John come on
loosen up here we
go that's better let's do it
again oh there's nothing like a double
thank heaven for the
blessing here we
go come on let's do it again loosen up
up up up come on that's better now do
you know how to make a w okay write the
contraction for we
are now that's beautiful
writing is that better yes browney
people learn fast don't they boy do
brown-eyed people learn fast very
[Music]
good Greg what did you do with that
cup will you please go
and get that cup and put your name on it
and keep it at your desk blue-eyed
people are
wasteful okay you want to be time this
morning
[Applause]
yeah now use ort gingham phonics we used
the card pack and the children the
browney children were in the low class
the first day and it took them 5 and A2
minutes to get through the card pack the
second day it took them 2 and 1/2
minutes the only thing that had changed
was the fact that now they were Superior
people I thought you going to you went
faster than I ever had anyone go through
the card
pack why why couldn't you get them
yesterday we were C on you think the CT
thinking about those
car my eyes get rolling
around oh and you couldn't think as well
with the collars on 4 minutes and 18
seconds
I knew we weren't going to make
it how long did it take you
yesterday minutes 3 minutes how long did
it take you today 4 minutes and 18
seconds what happened one
down
why what were you thinking of
this I hate
today how you do I hate
too
because I'm
blueeyed see I am
too there nothing it's not funny it's
not fun it's not pleasant this is a
filthy nasty word called discrimination
we're treating people a certain way
because they are different from the rest
of us is that fair no no nothing fair
about it we didn't say this was going to
be a fair day did we no and it isn't
it's a horrid
day
okay you ready what did you blue people
who are wearing blue collars Now find
out today oh you I know what they felt
like yesterday I did too how did they
feel
yesterday down like a dog on a Le yeah
it feels like where you go into prison
like you cheat them up into prison and
you're throwing the key away should the
color of some other person's eyes have
anything to do with how you treat them
no all right then should the color of
their skin
no should you judge people no by the
color of their skin
no you're going to say that
today and this week and probably all the
time you're in this
room you'll say no Mrs
ell every time I ask that question no
then
when you
see a black man or an Indian or someone
walking down the street are you going to
say look at that silly looking thing
no does it make any difference whether
their skin is black or white or
yellow or
red is that how you decide whether
people are good or bad is that what
makes people good or bad
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Applause]
oh you bu your friend
huh
friend
get okay you ready to listen now okay
now are you
back that feel
better do a color of eyes that you have
make any difference in the kind of
person you
are does that feel like being home again
girls oh
[Applause]
stop okay who knows the song
Anybody okay who can sing what's the
matter
Sheila
cry Sheil I mean feel better now
miserable situation isn't it okay who
knows
[Music]
[Applause]
what
Jane Elliot's third graders have learned
something of what it is to be isolated
and separated from other people not
because of what you are but because of
the color of your eyes or the color of a
piece of cloth around your neck or the
color of your skin we don't know if
these children will remember what
they've learned but it's not likely that
they'll forget their courageous and
creative teacher who made their lives
wretched for one day and at the same
time gave them the Priceless
understanding of human
psychology this is Bill Bell in rville
[Music]
[Applause]
Iowa he had
high he had high apple pie in the sky
hope so anytime you're feeling sadad of
feeling bad just remember that
whoops billion
K billion K
whoops K
Dam so keep your high hes keep your High
Hopes your high p in
the hopes of problems just to balloon
they'll be
soon John speaking this has been a
presentation of ABC
[Applause]
News
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