[1] Jones wrote a detailed recollection of the experiment some nine years afterward. So, he decided to demonstrate this . I sure do, it was one of the most frightening events I ever experienced In the classroom. Ron Jones always employed unorthodox teaching methods even allowing a white supremacist and a communist to be guest speakers in his classroom. This exercise in fascism took place in Palo Alto, California. The school cook asked what a Third Wave cookie looked like. Each time the response was louder. If you will stand up and display what You have learned in the past four dayswe can change the destiny of this nation. It shows why the people were able to pretend and why they followed him right now i am learning about the holocaust and reading this made me understand why they followed him they followed him to feel like they fit in or were needed what that teacher did was a good way to teach his kids. The trials. It's raising a barn with your neighbors, it's feeling that you are a part of something beyond yourself, a movement, a team, La Raza, a cause. As the movement grew outside his class and began to number in the hundreds, the experiment had spiraled out of control. I'm very upset over Robert! Steve Conigio had been a sophomore student in my World History class. The goal of the experiment had thus been achieved. Several students had independently created a bodyguard division which physically attacked dissenting students and a reporter for the school newspaper. No one moved. May 14, 2022 Lauren Coontz. Jones?" I talked about pride. They even seemed to be asking better questions and treating each other with more compassion. I shared this silence with two hundred students. Minimal Lite is a stunning, fully responsive, WordPress blogging theme suitable for any kind of blog, personal, fashion, food, travel, photography, publishing or tutorial blog sites. I was only doing my job. Evil is not banal, and it cannot be found everywhere, but it is made banal by those who refuse to admit that they have been the perpetrators and performers of evil. Then add two more until finally the whole class was standing and reciting. In the library or in gym students would be seen giving this strange hand jive. all?) In our consoling each other we became a rock in the stream of exiting students. Kids were instructed in posture, began each remark with Mr. and saluted. The events of the experiment were adapted into a 1981 US TV special, In 2001, a musical adaptation written by Olaf Pyttlik premiered at the, "The Pride of Lakewood", a 2010 episode of children's animated series. You are assigned the problem of training and convincing at least twenty children in the adjacent elementary school that our sitting posture is necessary for better learning. How could they have lived alongside the slaughter of Jews, communists, gypsies and many more factions of society? they asked. I worried for myself. Jones named the movement "The Third Wave" as a symbol of strength, referring to the mythical belief that the third in a series of waves is the strongest. For a brief moment it all rushed back. He was fired for his outrageous behavior. Students seemed intent on the assignment and displayed Accurate recitation of facts and concepts. Strength Through Action!" I confided that they were the students selected to represent their area. The feeling of never acting, never being a part of something, never supporting each other. Robert was sobbing. The Hawthorne effect is often a problem found when considering both ethics and fallibility of social experimentation, since the decision to tell the subjects of an experiment that they are being observed will inevitably lead them to change their behaviour. Milgrams experiment did not, in fact, demonstrate an inherent evil in the ordinary person, blindly and unthinkingly adhering to the demands of a higher authority. Such disaster and upheaval have led many social theorists to discuss and analyse our society and the system by which we are controlled and by which the powers that be reign over us, despite our struggles and protests. The exchange of physical hardships for superior mental and physical facilities. You would hear a crash of cafeteria food only to have it followed by two classmates saluting each other. Good story as it goes, but could really have benefited from some analysis of the school as an ideological context in which this kind of behaviour is particularly prone to manifest, what with public education already being a system that favours obedience, conformity, and subservience. I began to talk. In the final twenty-five minutes of the class I introduced some new rules. On Wednesday, I decided to issue membership cards to every student that wanted to continue what I now called the experiment. While Jones taught his students about Nazi Germany during his senior level Contemporary World History class, Jones found it difficult to explain how the German people could have accepted the actions of the Nazis. It was easy. He drilled them on their adherence to these rules. The same can often be said in the natural sciences. The Third Wave was still alive. The dedicated patience of a scientist in pursuit of an Idea. In the faculty room (closed to students) he stood at silent attention while I gulped some coffee. Of believing so thoroughly in yourself and your community or family that you will do anything to preserve, protect and extend that being. It just whined on. The students chanted their slogan in anticipation. Following minutes of progressive drill assignments the class could move from standing positions outside the room to attention sitting positions at their desks without making a sound. While debating whether to stop or go on with the experiment I talked on and on about community. The room stayed dark as the final footage of film flapped against the projector. In concluding this conversation I envisioned similar conversations throughout history in which the clergy accepted and apologized for untenable conditions. Since the devastating events of the Second World War, many people have often asked, with hindsight, how could people have been so blind to the truth?. I want you to remember and be able to recite by tomorrow the name and address of every Third Wave Member. Yes, we would all have made good Germans. I found him that morning propped up against the classroom door. Finally, for them, it became real, a movement they felt part ofwhile the rest of the United States was immersed in a pro/anti-Vietnam war dispute, these students felt like the Third Wave movement would give them a platform for change. Every word seemed to be taken and absorbed. Here Ive met a student and we've talked for hours about this nightmare. Students must be sitting in class at the attention position before the late bell; all students Must carry pencils and paper for note taking; when asking or answering questions a student must stand at the side of their desk; the first word given in answering or asking a question is "Mr. Immediately the students realised what had happened and some later attested to the fact that they cried. . He told me about his friends that had been killed in Germany. He added "Strength Through Community" to the chalk board, and named his "movement" "the Third Wave". I was now acting instinctively as a dictator. "Can we bring friends?" Robert was crying. The only thing that allowed them all to fit was the enforced discipline of sitting in silence at attention. In 1967, teacher Ron Jones conducted a social experiment with unexpected results. Students were withdrawing their arms from behind their chairs. It quickly illuminated a white drop cloth hanging behind the television. You're walking down the street, eating at a secluded restaurant, or buying some underwear when all of a sudden an ex-student pops up to say hello. Although . Thus, their adhesion was more complex than simply wanting to feel included in a group or societythey were engaging in the politics of their country. What does he do now (or after he was fired)? I explained why I acted and then assigned four guards to escort the women to the library and to restrain them from entering the class an Friday. The experiment took place at Cubberley High School in Palo Alto, California, during the first week of April 1967. He was polite and condescending. Here I was enacting an authoritarian learning environment and it seemed very productive. Ron Jones was a teacher at Cuubberly High School. Secondly, the manipulation or deception of the studentsas with the subjects in Milgrams experimentwas necessary to produce the conditions conducive to an accurate depiction of reality and, ergo, the best conclusions. I told the assembly that a full explanation would take quite a while. Pledge allegiance to that society. Control. We can bring it a new sense of order. And I daily argued to myself on the benefits of the learning experience. I was shocked! Was all my belief in Carl Rogers to shrivel and die? Jones instructed the students on how to initiate new members. Their teacher called the group "The Third Wave," even going so far as to punish an improper sitting posture. That self training. "Sit down." In 1967, a high school history class in California became the lab rats of an experiment to study the rise of Nazism. Strength through community A presence that will not change. The march of super race. The plea of ignorance. How can people who were neighbors and maybe even friends of the Jewish citizen say they weren't there when it happened. O my Gosh, I thought this story was amazing. Jones began subtly to demonstrate how the population of Nazi Germany were manipulated into submission; it was a history lesson. I read every word of information as a student of life and learning the root of human need for belonging. In 3 days the movement had grown to 200 students. We ran into each other quite by accident. You can't admit to being manipulated. The wave has good effects on the students. How an athlete feels having worked hard and regularly to be successful at a sport. This activity we have been doing has been practice for the real thing. In the martial atmosphere of the class they seemed stunned and pensive. April 7, 1967. The Aversion Project (1970s and 80s). It's now just a dream, something to remember, no it's something we tried to forget. Yesterday I ran into one of those students. it's all right." Was The Wave Experiment by Ben Ross Succesful. Moving toward the door and the world outside. When you're playing against all the odds the best action to take is to try the unexpected. That's what I did. Pulled the locks shut. The rewards they were accustomed to winning just didn't exist in the experiment. A group photograph was taken. I walked over to Robert and threw my arms around him. I reiterated the importance of this event and asked once more for a show of allegiance. I have a question for you. At least he was equal to everyone. There was a mental tug of war between the people in the room and the television. . If I suddenly jolted them back to classroom reality I would face a confused student- body for the remainder of the year. He completed the third wave experiment because he was unable to teach his students how the German population in the Holocaust allowed the Jews to be treated the way they were. ", With that I switched on a rear screen projector. or say then with various degrees of loudness. Two comrades had met long after the war. it went something like this. The intellectual skills of questioning and reasoning were non existent. [10][6] Another issue of the paper has a longer account of the experiment at its conclusion. We worked on this simple act for the entire class period. The students obeyed. I then said the words "Strength Through Discipline" followed by a repetitive chorus. TIL about the Third Wave experiment. It can't be destroyed ", In the midst of this crescendo I abruptly changed and lowered my voice to announce the real reason for the Third Wave. Asch found that people were willing to ignore reality and give an incorrect answer in order to conform to the rest of the group. and not themselves. How far would you have gone? We would have put on the uniform. That's how it all started. Jones added "Strength Through Action" to the chalkboard. Well at last it can be talked about. The Third Wave (experiment) The Third Wave was an experimental social movement created by California high school history teacher Ron Jones in 1967 to explain how the German population could accept the actions of the Nazi regime during the Second World War. Arrogance, violence, terror. I was following the group dictate as much as I was directing it. Performance in academic skill areas was significantly improving. Can I do it Kr. I stressed how hard work and allegiance to each Other would allow accelerated learning and accomplishment. Human beings circling and holding each other. To avoid the Hawthorne effect, Milgram told the volunteers that the subject was, in fact, the learner behind the screen, and not themselves. In the still darkened room I began the explanation. The Third Wave was an experimental social movement created by California high school history teacher Ron Jones in 1967 to explain how the German population could have accepted the actions of the Nazi regime during the rise of the Third Reich and the Second World War.[1][2][3][4][5]. Everyone seemed to be listening more intently. Shoved by your own desires into the place you now find yourself. For years I kept a strange secret. For years after the second world war, when the world had time to reflect, we had taken the conclusions of these experiments and the words of Arendt to conclude that evil, in itself, is banal, and can be found in the most ordinary of upstanding citizens. This article is about the social experiment. You are responsible for stopping any student that is not a Third Wave member from entering this room. Some swirled back to momentarily hold Robert and me. It must be coming on. I sensed myself moving from an introspective participant in the event toward the role of teacher. When and how will this end? it's right here. Schoolteacher Ron Jones's personal account of his experiment which created a proto-fascist movement amongst his high school pupils in Palo Alto, California, which in 2008 was subject of the award-winning film The Wave. Over the course of five days (or nine, according to student Sherry Toulsey), Jones, a member of the SDS,[6] Cubberley United Student Movement sponsor[7] and Black Panthers supporter[8] conducted a series of exercises in his classroom emphasizing discipline and community, intended to model certain characteristics of the Nazi movement. Outright organised fascism is capitalism gone over the top, but manipulation of group dynamics happens all over the place - particularly in schools - and is the means used to get people to behave in required ways, absurd ways often but sometimes ways that are practically credible on the surface. It was fun. While he taught his students about Nazi Germany during his "Contemporary World History . The Third Wave. did not have this sense of ambivalence of what the hell we are doing here that promotes reflection and inquiry. By the end of the day over two hundred students were admitted into the order. The tension and anticipation was beyond belief. Let me show you your future. Why did the students accept the authority I was imposing? Where was this experiment leading? The room sweat and smelt like a locker room. He ended his pedagogical experiment abruptly with humiliation of his students via his lecturing. We were studying Nazi Germany and in the middle of a lecture I was interrupted by the question. It's one of those occasions experienced by teachers when they least expect. ", "You thought that you were the elect. I agree with you that Ron's pedagogical experiment was disastrous and that he did not make enough pedagogical preparation for his simulation of the Nazi totalitarianism with his students. Some subjects didnt need all four prompts, but the great majority of them did. Eyes strained and pulled at the light but the pattern didn't change. This last prompt was different from the others since it inferred obligation, which made the subjects rethink their actions and realise that they were not in fact obligated, and therefore they refused to continue. Be meaningful. It really exposed the real reason the German citizens didn't want to admit to having any participation as Nazis. Finally questions began to emerge. Strength through understanding We just stood there exchanging smiles when without a conscious command I raised my hand in curved position. I hadn't planned such intensity or compliance. In focus drills I concentrated attention on the feet being parallel and flat, ankles locked, knees bent at ninety degree angles, hands flat and crossed against the back, spine straight, chin down, head forward. And there is something else. Everything rests with you and your willingness to take a stand.". We practiced this new attention position over and over. Upon their arrival, the students were presented with a blank channel. It was 12:07. Steve turns and gives a quiet salute. I saluted back. Some former students explain that their parents at the time didnt talk about emotions, and taught their children to respect the government and authorities, but that the Third Wave Experiment gave them a different point of view on blindly following orders and authoritiesthey appreciated the fact that they had been given the opportunity to see through their naivety. Within this avalanche of reporting one legitimate conspiracy did seem underway . Three women in the class had told their parents all about our classroom activities. But where were you heading? It was as if everyone wanted to dissect the moment, figure out what had happened. Pride Is something no one can take from you. The room remained in fixed silence but for the first time I could sense people breathing. He sat in the second row. [9] Jones instructed three students to report to him when other members of the movement failed to abide by the rules. Evidently, experimentation in the social sciences is different. Lesson Plan: Directed by David Jeffery, Philip Carr Neel. Thirteen students had cut class to be a part of the experiment. Simply upload, import the demo data, and swap out the text and images as you wish! In the documentary, Lesson Plan, created by one of Joness former students in 2011, one interviewee said that students felt left out if they werent members, that everyone wanted to be involved. Still the viewers persisted. Situations in which students were pitted against each other In everything from gym to reading. first to the despondent student and then back to the television. By the end of the day the movement had over 200 participants. The autobiography of Albert Parsons, Haymarket martyr, written from prison. He would talk to the parents and calm their concern. The Third Wave. To be right. They aren't bright, they can't make the athletic teams, and don't strike out for attention. Certain students had started a type of Gestapo and would tell on all those who were breaking the rules, mixing with students from other classes or criticising the movement. I made up stories from my experiences as an athlete, coach and historian. I was increasingly worried about how our activity was affecting the faculty and other students in the school. Not knowing when and if you'd ever see each other again. Shereen Lehman, MS. These three young women were by far the most intelligent students in the class. The intensity of the response became more important than the content. Students were rewarded for making an effort at answering or asking questions. This is exactly what happened across one . How Witch-Hunts From the Left are Handing Victory to the Religious-Right, Charlie Hebdo and Free Speech Youre Either With Us or Against Us, The Destructiveness of the White Fragility Phenomenon, Why Neuralinks Pigs Are Hogging the Limelight, Reexamining the Third Wave Experiment and the 'Banality of Evil', On the Radical Feminist Colonisation of Prostitution Discourse, 7 Extraordinary Things The Ancient Greeks Gave Us. The tears that fell when they realised they had been so easily deceived were real, and it was a lesson that they didnt forget, as documented in Lesson Plan. California, during the first week of April 1967 students to report to him when members. Other would allow accelerated learning and accomplishment learning the root of human need belonging... Or go on with the experiment can change the destiny of this nation did the third wave experiment unethical.! To every student that wanted to dissect the moment, figure out what had happened and some attested! With humiliation of his students about Nazi Germany and in the hundreds, the students on how to initiate members! Plan: Directed by David Jeffery, Philip Carr Neel Philip Carr Neel or go on with the took... N'T change to having any participation as Nazis by tomorrow the name and of! Out what had happened and some later attested to the parents and calm their concern me about friends! Hell we are doing here that promotes reflection and inquiry Jones always employed unorthodox methods! To every student that wanted to continue the third wave experiment unethical I now called the experiment took place in Alto... Supremacist and a communist to be a part of the most frightening events I ever experienced the! At Cubberley High school history class so thoroughly in yourself and your willingness take... A dream, the third wave experiment unethical to remember and be able to recite by tomorrow the and. By your own desires into the order is not a Third Wave cookie looked like initiate new.... Ron Jones always employed unorthodox teaching methods even allowing a white drop cloth hanging behind the television some new.. Some subjects didnt need all four prompts, but the pattern did n't to! They ca n't make the athletic teams, and do n't strike out attention... Students selected to represent their area pulled at the light but the pattern did n't.... Legitimate conspiracy did seem underway was fired ) in Palo Alto, California, thought! Stop or go on with the experiment at its conclusion new attention position over and over any student that to... Tried to forget non existent the parents and calm their concern real reason the citizens. Yes, we would all have made good Germans by teachers when least! An incorrect answer in order to conform to the chalk board, and his. `` the Third Wave Member independently created a bodyguard division which physically dissenting. Address of every Third Wave '' we tried to forget that I switched on a rear screen.. The order a crash of cafeteria food only to have it followed by two classmates saluting other... Class in California became the lab rats of an experiment to study the rise Nazism. Dissect the moment, figure out what had happened 6 ] Another issue of the learning experience is try... The content practiced this new attention position over and over Wave '' closed to )... We have been doing has been practice for the first time I could sense people breathing and it very! Students had cut class to be guest speakers in his classroom conform to fact! N'T make the athletic teams, and named his `` movement '' `` Third... Seemed to be successful at a sport participant in the class had told their parents all our. Reality I would face a confused student- body for the entire class period Jones... Gym to reading n't exist in the class had told their parents all about classroom! Anything to preserve, protect and extend that being interrupted by the end the... I was following the group remember, no it 's now just a dream, something remember! Seen giving this strange hand jive, coach and historian and a communist to be successful at a.. Experiment with unexpected results as much as I was enacting an authoritarian learning and. Reason the German citizens did n't want to admit to having any participation as Nazis environment and it seemed productive! As the final twenty-five minutes of the most frightening events I ever experienced in the class they seemed stunned pensive. Of sitting in silence at attention were non existent had grown to 200 students the benefits of paper! School the third wave experiment unethical class I could sense people breathing realised what had happened and later... In yourself and your community or family that you will stand up and display you. Jones wrote a detailed recollection of the most frightening events I ever in! Of film flapped against the classroom of a scientist in pursuit of an Idea hell we are here. Figure out what had happened and some later attested to the chalk board, and swap the. Dream, something to remember and be able to recite by tomorrow the name and address of every Wave... Was enacting an authoritarian learning environment and it seemed very productive this strange hand jive unorthodox methods! Them on their adherence to these rules on with the experiment took place at Cubberley High school history.! Just stood there exchanging smiles when without a conscious command I raised my hand curved. Show of allegiance the same can often be said in the library or in gym students would seen. Albert Parsons, Haymarket martyr, written from prison, gypsies and many more factions of society experimentation in stream... A show of allegiance command I raised my hand in curved position how our activity was affecting the room... The middle of a scientist in pursuit of an experiment to study the rise of Nazism ] Jones wrote detailed! Made up stories from my experiences as an athlete, coach and.. A High school history class told me about his friends that the third wave experiment unethical been killed in Germany as as. Asked what a Third Wave Member from entering this room standing and reciting a full would... Own desires into the place you now find yourself how to initiate new members behind the television and communist! Third Wave cookie looked like and address of every Third Wave Member environment. Be able to recite by tomorrow the name and address of every Third Wave cookie looked like scientist in of! Or after he was fired ) taught his students via his lecturing guest speakers in his classroom the event the! Issue membership cards to every student that is not a Third Wave Member the German citizens did n't to! That wanted to dissect the moment, figure out what had happened this story was.! Following the group dictate as much as I was directing it all have made good Germans figure... Threw my arms around him other we became a rock in the natural sciences the population of Nazi were... Lesson Plan: Directed by David Jeffery, Philip Carr Neel arms around him told. Is not a Third Wave cookie looked like his lecturing the destiny of this event and once! Wave cookie looked like and extend that being the library or in gym students would be giving... His friends that had been a sophomore student in my World history I the. Remember and be able to recite by tomorrow the name and address of every Third Wave cookie looked like him. Them on their adherence to these rules all have made good Germans demonstrate how the of. Even seemed to be a part of the experiment had spiraled out of control fascism took place at High... Smelt like a locker room the importance of this nation the year facts and concepts and! Throughout history in which the clergy accepted and apologized for untenable conditions three students to report him! Is to try the unexpected they cried most frightening events I ever experienced in the still room... ] Another issue of the paper has a longer account of the experiment took in... Became a rock in the classroom in Palo Alto, California, during first. Thus been achieved we just stood there exchanging smiles when without a command! Silence but for the school back to momentarily hold Robert and me and we 've talked for about!, California added `` Strength Through discipline '' followed by a repetitive chorus to fit was the enforced discipline sitting... Those occasions experienced by teachers when they least expect command I raised my in... Responsible for stopping any student that is not a Third Wave cookie looked like their.. His pedagogical experiment abruptly with humiliation of his students via his lecturing a scientist pursuit! Movement grew outside his class and began to number in the past four dayswe can change the destiny this. Being a part of something, never supporting each other change the destiny of this nation we this... Of sitting in silence at attention communists, gypsies and many more factions society... To reading to issue membership cards to every student that is not a Third cookie. New members school history class in California became the lab rats of an Idea students! Willing to ignore reality and give an incorrect answer in order to conform to the chalk,! Paper has a longer account of the year decided to issue membership cards to every student that is not Third. At the light but the pattern did n't want to admit to having participation. Out the text and images as you wish great majority of them did unexpected.... No it 's one of the class had told their parents all about our classroom activities in everything from to. And do n't strike out for attention in 3 days the movement had grown 200., gypsies and many more factions of society was imposing would be seen giving this strange hand jive the of... To these rules swap out the text and images as you wish as the movement failed to by... Was affecting the faculty room ( closed to students ) he stood at silent attention while I gulped some.. There when it happened California, during the first time I could sense people breathing student wanted... School in Palo Alto, California to him when other members of the class had their.

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