A Class Divided Film Discussion

In 250 – 300 words, consider and discuss the following after watching the Frontline video The Daring Lesson:

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What did you learn about racism, prejudice, discrimination and segregation from watching this video? Recognizing that cultural awareness is a lifelong process, describe how this newer awareness will assist you in becoming a more culturally sensitive and competent human service worker. Support your comments with two references and respond to at least two of your classmates.

**Please respond to the classmates below***

D1 W2 Responses

Student #1

Christiane Zame

After watching a class divided, I learned that racism, prejudice, discrimination and segregation is taught to people. In the video, the brief demonstration was administered by the teacher and based on what she told her students about each eye group on the particular day they were on top or below is what they believed . One particular thing about this whole demonstration that really surprised me was the success of the children’s academics, which varied depending on whether they were in the group that was in favor or not. When the kids with blue eyes felt they were in power, they did well in there class card game compared to when they were in the group being discriminated against and vice versa for the kids with brown eyes when it was there turn. When you are made to feel less confident based on the color of your skin or any other feature, it can hinder your success ( ray & Cassandra , 2017). Now that I am more culturally aware, I can be more culturally sensitive to others by understanding that even though I don’t share the same culture as them I can still be respectful of others. There is no better way to become more culturally aware then using knowledge, if you come across someone who has a different culture then you , you can do some research to gain more knowledge and even ask questions , rather then making false statements based on your ignorance. Another way to become culturally aware according to wiesendanger & Tarpley (2010), is “ to effectively incorporate multicultural literature into the curriculum” (pg. 111) . I feel if schools taught us more about cultural awareness, it would give students the opportunity to be more grounded about different people around them.

Reference

Ray Von Robertson, & Cassandra Chaney. (2017). “I Know it [Racism] Still Exists Here:”: African American Males at a Predominantly White Institution. Humboldt Journal of Social Relations, 39, 260-282. Retrieved from https://www-jstor-org.proxy-library.ashford.edu/stable/90007884

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Wiesendanger, K., & Tarpley, P. (2010). Developing Cultural Awareness through Implementing Literature Circles in the Classroom. Race, Gender & Class, 17(1/2), 110-113. Retrieved from www.jstor.org.proxy-library.ashford.edu/stable/41674729

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Student #2

Heather Knight

Oct 30 at 11:11pm

Manage Discussion Entry

Week 1 Discussion

After watching the film “A class divided”, I felt a lot of different emotions and thoughts. I found the video very interesting and informative. I also commend the teacher, Mrs. Elliott for teaching children about discrimination in a time where racism was so dominant.

I found it very interesting that the teacher used a way to teach the children about racism by using the color of their eyes. She separated them into groups, blue-eyed and brown-eyed. She then told the children that the kids with the blue eyes were superior to the kids with brown eyes. Blue-eyed children got more time at recess, they could drink out of the water fountain, and they were not allowed to play or interact with the children who were brown-eyed. The brown eyes children had to wear a collar on to be able to tell quickly that they had brown eyes. The next day, she reversed the roles, and the children who had brown eyes were superior, and the children with blue eyes were inferior and had to wear the collar. The children’s demeanor changed quite a bit when they were segregated. Their attitudes were different, there was fighting, and the children became quite mean at times. When Mrs. Elliott took the restrictions away and deemed everyone equal, the children were quite happy. They were very excited to throw away those collars. She then had some of those children come back years later to see if what they had learned in her class stayed with them or not. The children seemed to take what they learned from Mrs. Elliott with them and are very open-minded and open-hearted people towards others of different races. I also found it very interesting that “ A class Divided” was used in a correctional facility in New York. It was interesting to hear the feedback from the inmates. Mrs. Elliott did this again with adults of the correction department employees. She really gives it to them ( the blue eyes employees), she doesn’t break character. The one lady who did not put her name on her paper gets very angry and talks back very aggressively towards Mrs. Elliott. After a lunch break, they talked about what they had learned in the morning. A lot of the employees were very upset about being treated so poorly.

I feel that this video was very eye-opening. Mrs. Elliott is amazing. She did a great job of teaching about discrimination. Children are sponges they absorb what they see, and hear. They learn from others. Sadly, I do not feel that we have done her justice by not needing this anymore because we do need this kind of eye-opening learning experience. I do not think that we have come as far as we should have as a society. There is still lots of racism and discrimination in this world today in 2020.

References:

PBS. (1985, March 26). A Class Divided (Season 1985, Episode 9)[TV series episode]. Peters, W (Producer), Frontline. WGBH Educational Foundation

Schmidt, J. (2006) Social and Cultural Foundations of Counseling and Human Services: Multiple Influences on Self-Concept Development. Retrieved from https://ashfordcollege.vitalsource.com /#/books/9780558705879/