Jane Elliot - Brown Eyed Blue Eyed Experiment
Added: 15 Jul 2016
Contributor:
Scoilnet
Resource type:
Audio / Video
/
Lesson Plan
A daring psychologist experiment performed by Jane Elliot in 1968, days following the assassination of Martin Luther King. Teacher must watch and reflect on this video first to check suitability for class / choose particular scenes as it may raise deep emotions with your students as it deals with the sensitive topic of racism, prejudice and discrimination. Use the video to highlight the history of racism and the progression to where we are today in our society. Jane Elliot sets up a discrimination rule within her class between her pupils based on their eye colour. Blue eyed were seen as inferior and blue eyed viewed as superior. (and vice versa) The pupils were told to discrimination and encouraged by Jane Elliot in this daring experiment. The purpose was for her pupils to realise the impact of discrimination and how people must stand up when they see discrimination happen.
How it maps to the curriculum
- SC
- Politics & Society
Strand: 2. Power & Decision Making: National/EU
Strand unit: 3. Social Class & Gender
Suggestions for use: Recommended use of video is for the teacher to use as a reference in class. The teacher should be aware of the Jane Elliot experiment as she is known world-wide for her activism on dealing with discrimination using psychology. Explain the documentary in your own words to your class. Perhaps, show select clips of the documentary to highlight how the discrimination took off with encouragement of their teacher. The plenary of Jane Elliot's lesson is profoundly moving. Her class know exactly how it feels to be discriminated and promise to never discriminate anyone again. This lesson is not an easy way to learn about discrimination but has a huge impact.
