When I first started watching this I automatically thought back to my 4th-grade classroom where we did a similar thing for social studies, except it was only for one day and we never switched roles as they did in the video. I'm pretty sure the day we did it we talked about how brown eyes were lesser than blue eyes during that class and we had to share chairs and textbooks because we were lesser than. Now as an educator I really don't like how this experience has used in classrooms today. I got a lot out of the video we watched in the module and I loved how the teacher made it as authentic as possible, but also checked in with students and gave explanations as to what they were feeling and experiencing while they wore the collars. She gave the students as much of an authentic experience as possible and even showed how stereotypes are backed by statistics because the information that she presented is selective and supports the evidence she right in front of her to make the children believe that the ones wearing the collars are less superior. I thought all around this experiment is well done and how she wrapped up the lesson by saying while the students tell her no skin color isn't a reason to judge someone that doesn't mean they won't do it when they leave the classroom. I think that was a very important point she made to her students and something that really sticks with me personally because I think no matter how much I learn to try and not engage in racist ideas or behavior that I still might do it anyways. I think if educators do decide to implement this experience in thier classroom then they need to really dedicate the time and energy into doing it properly and not just using it for one small activity you want to do with your students.
I also thought this was an interesting study in bias and prejudice. She did an amazing job. I've seen this before, so it was good to look for specific examples of the subtle ways she led the children into expanding their assumptions beyond what she was saying and beyond the classroom to outdoors, home life, etc. I wish we'd gotten to hear more from the parents.
Thanks for your comment Kimberley, I really liked reading from you about a similar experience and I totally agree with you. I can't imagine the stress and the negative consequences the children might suffer with a partial experiment. I would also add that I noticed she was so careful at the point that she chose first her side (blue eyes) and then the other, so that she could empathize with the students who got the bad experience last. I heard and I tend to agree, that research shows that we remember more strongly and emotionally our more recent experience than the previous. So when we suffer a lot if we then feel relief we will not be traumatized like if we felt a lighter pain but without consequent relief. I think the fact of experiencing the bad part later but with the teacher on their side was so important for them.