Pedagogy
-In 1968, Iowa schoolteacher Jane Elliot conducted a famous experiment on the children in her class. Mrs. Elliot segregated the brown-eyed children from the blue-eyed children and told the class that the blue-eyed children were superior. The blue-eyed children were given privileges, such as increased recess time and extra food at lunch. The brown-eyed children had to wear brown fabric around their necks so they could be easily identified on the playground. The blue-eyed children began treating the brown-eyed children as inferior almost immediately, taunting them and ordering them around. The next day, the roles were reversed and the class was instructed that the brown-eyed children were superior. The brown-eyed children began behaving accordingly. What does this experiment illustrate?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Jane Elliot's experiment is an example of The Pygmalion effect, which describes how a person performs according to expectations placed on them. In this example, Jane Elliot told the children that the blue-eyed children were superior to the brown-eyed children. Immediately, the children of both eye colors behaved as if it were so. The Pygmalion effect is common in education, where children often perform to the expectations of their teacher.

Pedagogy -In 1968, Iowa Schoolteacher Jane Elliot Conducted a Famous Experiment