The other option of just letting the experiment run its course was also out of the question. 'Lesson Plan' is a documentary featuring interviews of the original students and teacher of the 1967 Third Wave experiment. It would later be called 'The Third Wave' experiment. "The Third Wave isn't just an experiment or classroom activity. 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. Community is that bond between individuals who work and struggle together. While Jones taught his students about Nazi Germany during his senior level Contemporary World History class, Jones found it . If only he would have raged in anger or simply investigated the situation I could point the students to an example of righteous rebellion. Oh, we talked and studied our actions intently. Our class was called Tech Prep(senior class) and it had only 13 boys in the class. Why hadn't I thought of this technique before. He was correct. I began to think that the students might do anything I assigned. The world misinterpreted her idea of the banality of evil; many believed that the phrase meant that within each of us there is evil and that the Nazi criminals were ordinary people simply following orders. . The German Nazi era was no different, The Nazi's felt they where now a part of something, where every one "in" where equal. How an athlete feels having worked hard and regularly to be successful at a sport. Pulled the locks shut. Conditions that produce tyranny could be the presence of an apparently legitimate authority, a certain motivational interest, and/or threats and manipulation. History teacher Ron Jones was struggling to explain to his students how large groups of people often followed the crowd, even when historically terrible things were happening. That's what I did. Moving toward the door and the world outside. My heart was pounding. The Third Wave is a true story about a high-school experiment in fascism that spiraled out of control. Asch found that people were willing to ignore reality and give an incorrect answer in order to conform to the rest of the group. Take this story with a considerable grain of salt. And they seemed to want more. Well, the Third Wave gave Robert a place in school. Strength Through Action!" They were told that all students who obeyed and took part would get good grades in history that year, and all those who refused would go to the library for the remainder of the experiment. It felt hard to breathe and even harder to talk. Many have heard of Stanley Milgrams famous experiment on the effect authority has on ordinary people or Philip Zimbardos Prison Experiment that he conducted at Stanford University. For 50 years, the conclusions of such experiments have indicated a certain interpretation of the banality of evil, which is that in each ordinary person there resides a capacity for committing atrocities when confronted with an authority figure. But to start. Evil in itself is not banal, and evil acts do not necessarily have to be committed by evil people. The air in the room seemed to be drying up. (2019, Dec 05). 509-10) told his students in the . Students slowly rose from their Chairs and without words filed into the outdoor light. A new member had only to be recommended by an existing member and issued a card by me. In telling their parents of the experiment they set up a brief chain of events. How could this be? If I remember the question. It just whined on. How could the German populace claim ignorance of the slaughter of the Jewish people. Was the desire for discipline and uniformity a natural need? As abruptly as it started the film froze to a halt on a single written frame. For example, the theory that appeared after the Milgram experiment was that ordinary, good people, professionals and students alike would obey authority to the point that it could kill someone (up to 450V of electrical currentfar beyond that which can be sustained by a human being). This is exactly what happened across one . According to a former student, Jones did a double take. The dedicated patience of a scientist in pursuit of an Idea. When and how will this end? The room stayed dark as the final footage of film flapped against the projector. it's right here. Then it was time to part. This posture started with feet flat on the floor, hands placed flat across the small of the back to force a straight alignment of the spine. ", "You thought that you were the elect. The only light in the room was coming from the television and it played against the faces in the room. Even stranger was the gradual improvement in the quality of answers. I was now acting instinctively as a dictator. I am having a hard time believing this. Some of these ethically questionable experiments include the Monster Study, the Third Wave Disaster, Landis' Facial Expressions Experiment, the case of Tony LaMadrid, and the case of David Reimer. Robert was big for his age and displayed very few academic skills. 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. I said chocolate chip of course. I was in his first class after he was hired at Cubberley HS, in Palo Alto, after he graduated from Stanford University. Was all my belief in Carl Rogers to shrivel and die? That you could extricate yourself at any moment. Milgram himself was an American Jew and came to the conclusion that ordinary people were easily led into situations in which they directly caused harm when there was a presence of perceived legitimate authority telling them to do so. We were studying Nazi Germany and in the middle of a lecture I was interrupted by the question. Why did the students accept the authority I was imposing? The room stayed deadly still. With the tool that is the APA experiment guidelines, we are able to distinguish which experiments should and should not have taken place. The room rocked with a guttural cry, "Strength Through Discipline.". Yes, we would all have made good Germans. Ron's problem is he let it get out of control and that is why he was fired. Steve will continue to grow and change. Being a follower. His role playing spilled out of the class into all of the school. I was only doing my job. 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. He convinced the students to attend a rally where he claimed that the classroom project was part of a nationwide movement, and that the announcement of a Third Wave presidential candidate would be televised. As for my part in this exercise, I had nothing but questions. In the still darkened room I began the explanation. Some would say he abused this confidence that the students had in him to play the tyrant, but, ultimately, he was still respected by the students and his colleagues even after the movement was exposed as a lie. Upon hearing of our activity he simply lost control Late in the evening he broke into the room and tore it apart. Jones began subtly to demonstrate how the population of Nazi Germany were manipulated into submission; it was a history lesson. The prompt was given in the imperative, but it highlighted that the imperative was literally lacking. I particularly remember Robert. That's right. He handed in elaborate weekly reports copied word for word from the reference books in the library. These ones feel that a power is born in the class and that the class forms a group, not only a students' class. O my Gosh, I thought this story was amazing. It's your job to read this pamphlet and report its entire content to the class before the period ends. The Asch conformity experiments were a series of psychological experiments conducted by Solomon Asch in the 1950s. Something in all of us. How could they have lived alongside the slaughter of Jews, communists, gypsies and many more factions of society? they asked. I now can appreciate why the astronomer turns relentlessly to the telescope. The Third Wave had ended. All of the questions probed at imaginary situations and sought to discover the meaning of this event. I walked up and down the aisles of seated students pointing out small flaws, making improvements. You are a selected group of young people chosen to help in this cause. A report of the proceedings by George Williams, delegate of the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World). I am Mr. Jones. The first congress of the Red Trade Union International at Moscow, 1921. Emotionally and psychologically they had exposed themselves. It was as if the climax of shouting souls had pushed everything out of' the room. Thirteen students had cut class to be a part of the experiment. 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. Talk about tone deaf. I began to talk. The students had become more and more involved in the project. Milgram's original "shock box" displayed at the Ontario Science Centre. "Listen closely, I have something important to tell you." The experiment continued. It was strange how quickly the students took to this uniform code of behavior I began to wonder just how far they could be pushed. As the movement grew outside his class and began to number in the hundreds, the experiment had spiraled out of control. I also questioned if they could make a good showing, because the press had been invited to record the event. I could go into how he brought American Nazis into our class and tried to let them speak to the entire school and how that worked out, but it is too funny and long to go into.Remember this was only about 20 years after WW ll when many of their family members were fighting the Nazis. Turned our head as friends and neighbors were cursed and then persecuted. After the studies of Drs Alex Haslam and Steve Reicher, the common conclusions have been ditched, and Hannah Arendts words have been reanalysed to provide a new conclusion to the causes and nature of tyranny and evil. 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. Replace reason with rules. He added "Strength Through Community" to the chalk board, and named his "movement" "the Third Wave". The Third Wave experiment took place at Cubberley High School in Palo Alto, California during the first week of April in 1967. It was a full page color advertisement in the current issue of Time for some lumber products. Robert was at my side. The third wave, 1967: an account - Ron Jones. With everyone sitting at attention I slowly raised my arm and with a cupped hand I saluted. He was polite and condescending. No one laughed. 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. I was tearing apart. The Nazis also hid many of their crimes from their own people, named themselves national socialists (when they were, in fact, not socialist but fascist) and managed to abolish unemployment (food was nevertheless lacking across the country, much like in Stalins Ukraine). How an athlete feels having worked hard and regularly to be drying up of.... ) and it had only 13 boys in the quality of answers World ),. Student, Jones found it Wave '' the climax of shouting souls had pushed out! `` movement '' `` the Third Wave '' as the movement grew his! Jones did a double take questioned if they could make a good showing, because the press had been to. To be drying up Alto, California during the first congress of the class into all of World! 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