Description
Directions: After watching the film A Class Divided, please create a journal (private) that reflects on the questions below (It is unnecessary to answer all of the questions).
In your journal entry, consider the following questions:
General Reactions:
What did you learn?
What scene or scenes do you think you’ll remember a month from now, and why those scenes?
Did any part of the film surprise you? Do you think someone of a different race, ethnicity, or religion would also find it surprising?
What are the academic implications of the film?
Could any teacher employ this experiment/activity?
How was the exercise that Elliot designed a response to the children’s question, “Why would anyone want to murder Martin Luther King?” Did the film provide an answer to the question? Can you answer the question?
Census categories have changed to reflect the complexities of American demographics and identities. Consider how some of the following groups experience racism differently:
People who are bi- or multiracial
People with black skin but are from very different places (e.g., a 13th-generation descendent of enslaved Africans, a recent immigrant from Jamaica, a 3rd-generation Cuban, a political refugee from Somalia, etc.)
People “of color” who are not black (e.g., Asians, Pacific Islanders, Latinos/as, etc.)
Elliot and her former students discuss whether this exercise should be done with all children. What do you think? If the activity could harm children, as Elliot suggests, what do you think actual discrimination might do?
It’s easy to understand why third graders might not refuse to obey their teacher, but when the exercise is done with the correctional officers, why don’t any of the adults object?
At recess, two of the boys from different groups get into a fight. Elliot asks the teased one if responding violently made him feel better or stopped the teasing. What does the answer suggest about using violence as a political strategy? At the time, who was using violence for political purposes and why?
How are the blue eyes/brown eyes exercise related to the Sioux prayer, “Help me not judge a person until I have walked in his moccasins.”
Please make sure to elaborate on any points made. The minimum word requirement is 1,000 words. Word count does not include re-stating the questions.
