A Class Divided, Then and Now, Expanded Edition [Paperback]

William Peters (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 10, 1987

Examines how a "discrimination" exercise in 1970 affected children participants then and in 1984.

Product Details

• Paperback: 172 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press; Expanded edition (September 10, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300040482
• ISBN-13: 978-0300040487
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #535,133 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Watch the video, save yourself the time, October 20, 2002

By 

Bron Mitchell "bronm" (Melbourne, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Class Divided, Then and Now, Expanded Edition (Paperback)

This is the second edition of 'A Class Divided', the first having been published soon after the original documentary 'Eye of the Storm' was made in 1970. It contains the original nine chapters unedited. The new material consists of describing a reunion with 11 of the 16 students from Jane Elliott's 1970 class, and also details the blue eyes-brown eyes experiment as a workshop for adults, this particular one being with people who work in the Iowa Department of Corrections.

Having seen all of the documentaries made on Jane Elliott's famous lesson on discrimination, I found this book very interesting, especially to read excerpts from interviews with her on the inner moral struggle she went through in trying to work out whether she was doing the right thing by these children, and the heartache and stress it caused her knowing that she was lying to them about eye colour being an indicator of superiority. She talks openly about her fears that she could have been doing them more harm than good, and the fact that the children's reactions to the experiment and to one another taught her much more than she was either expecting or wanting to know about discrimination.

However, if you have seen the documentary 'A Class Divided' made for the PBS series 'Frontline' you will realise that the book is almost solely a transcript of the video, doing nothing more than describing exactly what I had already watched. The only thing that came through to me as new was, I believe, more coverage given to interviews with Jane and her honesty and frankness about the experiment. But on balance, it was much more interesting to watch the documentary and to see facial expressions and conversations than have them described to me. The book is useful, but the documentary is better.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful lesson, January 22, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: A Class Divided, Then and Now, Expanded Edition (Paperback)

I found that many children are in need of these experiences, being taught that we are all the same. The teacher shows the reader and students how easily one can be manipulated to believe anything without validating the information. I recommended this book for anyone interested in teaching or a life lesson.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Eye Opening, July 6, 2005

By 

Peaches O'Brien - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Class Divided, Then and Now, Expanded Edition (Paperback)

I agree with the other reviewer that the Frontline video of "A Class Divided" (available on PBS' website) and the original documentary, "Eye of the Storm," are about as informative as this book, if not more so, but I think any exposure to Jane Elliott's work is a positive one. So, if you come across the book first, it wouldn't hurt to check it out.

To really appreciate Elliott's brown-eyed/blue eyed exercise, I think one has to see the students' reactions. Her conviction is so strong I felt as if I was in the classroom (first with the children, later with the prison guards and company employees). Prejudices I wasn't even aware I had were brought into the light. The book does provide some additional insight into Elliot's internal moral conflict, the fear she had of harming her students with her hard-nosed approach, but it wasn't anything that would make me recommend the book instead of the video; and it wasn't anything I didn't find in her other informative video, "Blue Eyed," which documented one of her more recent workshops in greater detail.

Now, if we could just do something about the Mexicans.