Cultural Anthropology: Understanding Prejudice in A Class Divided Film

This essay delves into the teachings of Jane Eliot's 'A Class Divided,' focusing on discrimination, racism, and prejudice. Eliot's experiment with her third-grade class, where blue-eyed students were initially favored over brown-eyed students, demonstrated the immediate effects of prejudice on academic performance and behavior. The essay highlights how societal norms and attitudes contribute to discriminatory beliefs, emphasizing the importance of education in promoting cultural harmony and respect for diverse perspectives. By exposing children to different cultures and teaching them about the harmful effects of prejudice, education can play a crucial role in fostering a more inclusive and equitable society. Desklib provides resources for students to further explore these concepts with similar essays and study materials.

Running head: INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
The following paper deals with the teachings of Jane Eliot in the A Class Divided. She
had been discussing with her students of the third grade class about the issues related to
discrimination, racism and class prejudices (Pbs.org, 2019). She said that the blue eyed students
were treated as superior students than the brown eyed students. They were given all the facilities
within the society.
The outcomes had been perceived from the next day only. It was seen that the group of
students who performed better in the class began to perform better in the class. They finished
their tests quickly with accuracy (Pbs.org, 2019). The groups not given much preference could
not perform properly. The behavior of the children changed completely when the film The Eye of
the Storm.
The prejudice views have developed over the time and it persists as well. The ideas of
race and discrimination have always been a threat to the overall development of the society
(Banks, 2015). The concepts of the discrimination have been there in the society for a long time
now. Sometimes the books of the children are prepared in a way that they learn the prejudices of
discrimination and racism. The social beliefs, norms and attitudes of the people pave the way for
this over the years.
The prejudice and discriminations within the society should be removed. The children
should be taught to learn with the several cultural perspectives that exist within the different
communities (Banks, 2015). The parents of the children can opt to travel somewhere where their
worldviews could be changed. The children should learn that there are many cultures different
from theirs and they should respect all of them to live in harmony.

2INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
Education has a huge role to play in this regard (Banks, 2015). The teachers can show the
students the films that are based on the cultural harmony. They can teach them the excerpts from
the books that are readily available in the market as well.

3INTRODUCTION TO CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
References
Banks, J. A. (2015). Cultural diversity and education. Routledge.
Pbs.org. (2019). A Class Divided | FRONTLINE. Retrieved from
https://www.pbs.org/video/frontline-class-divided/