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Jane Elliott Kenzie Rzonca Edel 310 TuTh 9:30
"It won't help much to be prepared to face Jane Elliott. This elderly woman will tear down any shield. Even we, the spectators in BLUE EYED, can't get rid of this feeling of uneasiness, embarrassment, anxiety and utterly helpless hatred when she starts keeping people down, humiliating them, deriding them, incapacitating them. No doubt about this: for three quarters of the time in this documentation Jane Elliott is the meanest, the lowest, the most detestful, the most hypocritical human being hell has ever spit back on earth. But she should be an example for all of us." - StuttgarterZeitung
Born in Riceville, IA in 1933 • Was teaching 3rd grade in the 1960’s, taught at the school for 18 years • Performed the “Blue Eyes Brown Eyes Exercise” for 9 years there with 3rd graders, 8 years with 6th and 7th graders • Now a diversity trainer, received the National Mental Health Association Award for Excellence in Education Interesting Facts
Performed first experiment April 5, ‘68 the day after MLK was assassinated • “Empathy building” • “Cruel experiment” • Children taunted by others, she was shunned by colleagues and parents • “Nig*** lover” Impact on Education During Her Time "Why are we so worried about the fragile egos of white children who experience a couple of hours of made-up racism one day when blacks experience real racism every day of their lives?”
Psychology of Bigotry: A Class Divided 14 years later • 1:27-2:10 • 2:42-3:08 • 4:37-4:54 • 6:37-6:52 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no1F-AMTnGg&list=PL17F4D0FA76F8AC84&index=3
Today she instructs diversity trainings, mainly with adults in the workplace • Has done trainings at the White House and around the world • People are hesitant to repeat her experiment with children • Because of this experiment, people teach more about racism in the schools and take it a lot more seriously in the classroom Impact on Education Today
Admiration. Been doing this since 1968, 80 years old. • Impressed. She did the first experiment in the 60’s, perhaps when it was the most dangerous. • Disbelief. The reaction others have had to it. My Reaction
Guiding Questions • Education, not schooling • Making “good” citizens (engaged, not duty-bound) • Teacher’s role: “Enhance students’ moral development, developing character” Synthesis
Bloom, Stephen G. "Lesson of a Lifetime." Smithsonian.com. N.p., Sept. 2005. Web. 19 Feb. 2013. <http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/lesson_lifetime.html >. • Horowitz, Carl F. "Jane Elliott and Her Blue-Eyed Devil Children." FrontPageMagazine.com. N.p., 8 Jan. 2007. Web. 19 Feb. 2012. <http://archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=1019>. • "Jane Elliott's Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes Exercise." Jane Elliott, 2003. Web. 19 Feb. 2013. <http://www.janeelliott.com/>. • Levy, Mike. "Jane Elliott: The Constant Challenger." Training Journal (2002): 18. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 19 Feb. 2013. Mirza, Munira. "Ticking All the Boxes." BBC News. N.p., 12 Dec. 2005. Web. 19 Feb. 2013. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/4521244.stm>. • "Psycology of Bigotry 3." YouTube. YouTube, 24 Sept. 2009. Web. 19 Feb. 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=no1F-AMTnGg>. Resources