January 10, 2011 Question F: A Class Divided

The ethics of Jane Elliot’s ‘experiment’ endures a multitude of criticisms. While supporters contend it’s a lesson learned in understanding empathy and morality, others argue the shame and taunting a child must endure is unethical for any child to undergo, potentially causing damage or harm. Throughout the video, I myself, thought that Elliot seemed a little cruel, but by the end of the video when I saw how all the children came together with laughter, smiles, and arms around one another, I realized I had mistaken her cruelty for enthusiasm towards the value of teaching her students about the issues with racism. I believe this can teach a child something about racism and discrimination. On an academic level, the children who were considered the better eye color that day flourished in their school work, while the other children seemed to fall behind and showed less enthusiasm.

Jane Elliot used the saying, “Oh Great Spirit, keep me from ever judging a man before I have walked in his moccasins.” I think she did just that, she let the children in her classroom view discrimination from each side of the spectrum. I think one of the most important aspects of this experiment, especially when children are involved, is that that are able to experience what it feels like to be on either side of the discrimination scale, both good and bad. In terms of academics, Elliot pointed out that after this experiment was administered, the children’s academic rate went up and stayed at a consistently higher level than before. When she asked some of the children why they thought they were doing so much better than earlier in the week when they were discriminated against, their answers all consisted of things like, ‘because we didn’t feel as good about ourselves’.

After reflecting upon Elliot’s theories behind her experiment, I believe that, if administered appropriately and effectively by an experienced teacher, it can teach a classroom of students more about discrimination that they have ever been able to understand before. While I believe that firsthand experience is the best way to learn and understand something, I think this activity can be very beneficial for a child to understand discrimination more profoundly. Not only in terms of racism, but in other social aspects of morality and friendship.

At the end of the video, Elliot makes several points about why she would not always recommend this experiment because it is a very serious situation and must also be taken extremely seriously. I believe she made a worthy point in saying in must be introduced effectively. Elliot introduced the activity by asking her class if they would like to find out what it was like to be a young negro child, and they responded yes. I do not believe that every person can benefit from this experiment, but if administered in the right way, I believe it could be truly invaluable.