Customer Reviews

A Class Divided, Then and Now, Expanded Edition

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Although the main point of the book is the battle against racism, the message doesn't stop there. The difference in academic performance of the children between "superior" days and "inferior" days is dramatic. When children truly believe they can excel, they do. When children truly believe they are worthless, the behave accordingly. Teachers wield an amazing amount of power in the class room -- for better or for worse.

Wow! I was astounded by this experiment and by the fact that this teacher was brave enough at that time to teach this lesson in racial prejudice. I was amazed at the reactions of the children. We should all take this lesson to heart and make sure we don't pass on prejudice.