In slow methodic tone I explained what was behind the Third Wave. "[1], Although the experiment was not well documented at the time, it was briefly mentioned in two issues of the Cubberley High School student newspaper, The Cubberley Catamount. We have seen that fascism is not just something those other people did. My job. Proper seating became the most important aspect of learning. Everything rests with you and your willingness to take a stand.". Yes, I had been pushing information at them in an extremely controlled setting but the fact that they found it comfortable and acceptable was startling. Oh I was benevolent. 2010 Third Wave Documentary Film "Lesson Plan". [9] Jones then assigned each of his students an individual assignment, such as designing a Third Wave banner, stopping non-members from entering the class, or recruiting their friends to join the movement. Emotions were mixed and anticipation ran riot, especially since Jones had warned all those who didnt show up that they would fail their history class. 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. It was the last time I would ask anyone to recite. Based on his account, he did not question his students' experiences and reflections by careful listening to them and providing them with sensitive guidance. Emotionally and psychologically they had exposed themselves. It debuted October 4, 1981, and almost two years later as an ABC Afterschool Special.It starred Bruce Davison as the teacher Ben Ross, a character based on Jones. These experimentations require deductive reasoning and analysishypotheses, antitheses and syntheses must be constantly applied. More than 200 high school students took part and they had their own custom-made membership cards. The Third Wave Is a nationwide program to find students who are willing to fight for political change in this country. I sensed myself moving from an introspective participant in the event toward the role of teacher. Oh he tried harder than anyone I know to be successful. "There isn't any leader is there?" What was he lying about, in your view? "Through the experience of the past week we have all tasted what it was like to live and act in Nazi Germany. 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. The events were adapted into a non-musical play stage in 2011 by Joseph Robinette and Ron Jones. "Everyone turned in shock. Let me show you your future. We talked and laughed about the Third Wave for the next few hours. The exchange of physical hardships for superior mental and physical facilities. This last lesson is perhaps the one of greatest importance. 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. 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]. Yes, we would all have made good Germans. ''Is this part of the campaign, Mr. A general assembly was organised for 12 pm the next day to watch the televised speech of their leader. When you're playing against all the odds the best action to take is to try the unexpected. You said that Ron was lying. 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. Retrieved from https . It went like this. Ron Jones himself was, at the time, part of the Black Panther movement which was a far-Left activist organisation that was strongly opposed to the Vietnam war and the US government. To avoid the Hawthorne effect, Milgram told the volunteers that the subject was, in fact, the learner behind the screen, and not themselves. The room sweat and smelt like a locker room. The students had become more and more involved in the project. To be number one. The students obeyed. In the final twenty-five minutes of the class I introduced some new rules. Now that I look back, they appeared much like the child with so called learning disability. I was now standing next to the television directly facing the room full of people. Robert was sobbing. Their faces held looks of disbelief. "Sit down." That self training. I was only doing my job. Eyes strained and pulled at the light but the pattern didn't change. In her book, Eichmann in Jerusalem (1963), Hannah Arendt wrote about the apparent normal psychological behaviour Adolf Eichmann demonstrated during his trial. Third Wave Experiment. "This is the final lesson to be experienced. Students seemed intent on the assignment and displayed Accurate recitation of facts and concepts. In fact I was surprised to find the ideas on discipline enacted at all. [9] Jones instructed three students to report to him when other members of the movement failed to abide by the rules. I took the film from the three cameras in the room and pulled the celluloid into the exposing light. The autobiography of Albert Parsons, Haymarket martyr, written from prison. Must be a former student. I told him we were merely studying the German personality. Was the desire for discipline and uniformity a natural need? The Third Wave disaster. If only he would have raged in anger or simply investigated the situation I could point the students to an example of righteous rebellion. 1967 Original "Third Wave" Class, Palo Alto, California. Just smiling and saluting other class members. It was as if the climax of shouting souls had pushed everything out of' the room. Jones added "Strength Through Action" to the chalkboard. 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. 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. We learned what it felt like to create a disciplined social environment. Controversial and unorthodox as the Third Wave Experiment might be, there is a lot we can take from social experiments such as these, especially amidst the disaster and upheaval we have witnessed so far in 2020. I reminded students of what it felt like being in classes where competition caused pain and degradation. First I would have two students stand and call back our motto. People being pushed into vans. Evidently, experimentation in the social sciences is different. The Third Wave Experiment took place over five school days. The white glow of the test pattern didn't snap into the vision of a political candidate. And I daily argued to myself on the benefits of the learning experience. Prompted by the trial of high-ranking Nazi and Holocaust-coordinator Adolf Eichmann, Milgram wished to assess whether . The intellectual skills of questioning and reasoning were non existent. The idea for the three came from beach lore that waves travel in chains, the third wave being the last and largest of each series. Like awakening from a dream and deep sleep, the entire room of people took one last look back into their consciousness. The machine came to life producing a luminous field of phosphorus light. 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. In the library or in gym students would be seen giving this strange hand jive. By the end of the third day I was exhausted. A new member had only to be recommended by an existing member and issued a card by me. We would have put on the uniform. Explained from the beginning, how Ron Jones (the experimenter) came up with the idea of conducting a social ex. Upon their arrival, the students were presented with a blank channel. In A Nutshell. I then proceeded to talk about the meaning of action. On the third day, Jones began to worry that things were going too far. Events were crushing around me. Some subjects didnt need all four prompts, but the great majority of them did. [a] Jones, finding himself unable to explain to his students how the German people could have claimed ignorance of The Holocaust, decided to demonstrate it to them instead. Hand curved in a similar fashion I return the gesture. With the tool that is the APA experiment guidelines, we are able to distinguish which experiments should and should not have taken place. "Pride is more than banners or salutes. There was a mental tug of war between the people in the room and the television. The entire collection however looked like one force as they sat in perfect attention. I now can appreciate why the astronomer turns relentlessly to the telescope. This lesson was the question that started our plunge in studying Nazi life. We know the fear of being left out. I felt sick to my stomach. Here Ive met a student and we've talked for hours about this nightmare. 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). In the faculty room (closed to students) he stood at silent attention while I gulped some coffee. The feeling being correct was more desired than being free. 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). "Mr. Jones, have you seen this advertisement in Time magazine? Well at last it can be talked about. You are no better or worse than the German Nazis we have been studying. The act of apology. Several friends of mine posing as reporters and photographers began to interact with the crowd taking pictures and jotting frantic descriptive notes. On Friday, the final day of the exercise, I spent the early morning preparing the auditorium for the rally. He was fired for his outrageous behavior. I can tell you and anyone else about the Third Wave. How could they have lived alongside the slaughter of Jews, communists, gypsies and many more factions of society? they asked. A blank field of white. The intensity of the response became more important than the content. He told me about his friends that had been killed in Germany. Then smiled, and slowly raised a hand in a cupped position. It's your job to read this pamphlet and report its entire content to the class before the period ends. Across the country teachers like myself have been recruiting and training a youth brigade capable of showing the nation a better society through discipline, community. He ordered students to attend a noon rally on Friday to witness the announcement. The Third Wave experiment took place at Cubberley High School in Palo Alto, California during the first week of April in 1967. Does This Put The Transgender Debate to Rest? "The first few days, the Third Wave was a game. If I suddenly jolted them back to classroom reality I would face a confused student- body for the remainder of the year. [9] Jones created a salute involving a cupped hand reaching across the chest toward the opposite shoulder,[9] resembling a Hitler salute. I worried for students doing things they would regret. Our class came up with the motto the "the third wave" and the salute, but it stayed in our class and was not carried out into the school. I just kept talking. Being a follower. He added "Strength Through Community" to the chalk board, and named his "movement" "the Third Wave". It would be too painful and demeaning for Robert and the students like him to be twisted back into a seat and told it's just a game. He said that he invented the term "The Third Wave" and the salute for it. Although . He smiled (I don't think I had ever seen him smile) and announced, "Mr. Jones I'm your bodyguard. The Third Wave experiment once again indicates that the normal group processes that make social life possible also can lead people to conform to standardsin this case fascismthat most of us would reject. 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. Always we said them together, emphasizing the proper way to sit, stand, and talk. Hey Felton, many thanks for your comments! Don't you feel better.". To accepting the Third Wave as a way of life. "There is no leader! Strength through understanding Who is this young man hugging me? Knowing that one is being monitored changes ones behaviour significantly. To build a special society. I decided to push the tolerance of the class for regimented action. At this stage of the game I was debating in my own mind whether to stop the experiment or continue. Many of the students were completely into being Third Wave Members. In our consoling each other we became a rock in the stream of exiting students. Steve Conigio had been a sophomore student in my World History class. all?) Something in all of us. On Thursday I began to draw the experiment to a conclusion. Still the viewers persisted. in fact I instructed the class in a sitting posture. For a week in the middle of a school year we had shared fully in life. "Listen closely, I have something important to tell you." On the contrary, he had not simply followed orders blindly, he had actually planned his actions in great detailhe was an author of the Holocaust. Embellished or not, this information is in-valuable and clearly possible. [9], The students all arrived at 11:50 a.m. Jones had convinced a number of his friends to pose as reporters, and asked the students to demonstrate what they had learned in the minutes before the televised address would supposedly begin. The Wave is a made-for-TV movie directed by Alex Grasshoff, based on The Third Wave experiment put on by teacher Ron Jones to explain to his students how the German populace could accept the actions of the Nazi regime. Kids were instructed in posture, began each remark with Mr. and saluted. Returning once again to the analyses made by Haslam, we can formulise different conclusions to the Third Wave Experiment which itself relates closely to other experiments and studies being made in the post-war years. I particularly remember Robert. I read every word of information as a student of life and learning the root of human need for belonging. Ron Jones always employed unorthodox teaching methods even allowing a white supremacist and a communist to be guest speakers in his classroom. [9] The students proceeded to conduct trials for those thought to be not loyal enough to the movement, with punishment consisting of banishment to the school library. He decided to create a fictional social movement as a demonstration of the appeal of fascism. He always ate lunch alone. Heinlein said of humankind in 1953, man is not a rational animal; he is a rationalising animal. ", "It's all set for tomorrow. Jones announced to the class that this movement was a part of a nationwide movement and that on the next day a presidential candidate of the Third Wave would announce its existence to the public. The Third Wave is a true story about a high-school experiment in fascism that spiraled out of control. I waited for several minutes to let everyone catch up. When the bell sounded ending the period I asked the class for complete silence. [2], The experiment began with simple alterations such as proper seating. The factors that motivated the students then were: fear of losing marks; confidence and pride in their tutor; and a desire to be part of an exciting new movement that would change their world. He drilled them on their adherence to these rules. Row after row began to fill. the average citizen, claim at the end of the Third Reich that they knew nothing of what was going on. 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. These and other controversial experiments led . Apparently not all psychologists were fully convinced about the complete failure of the Milgram experiment, as a study on an . The Third Wave experiment brought to light our creepy reverence for authority, shedding harrowing Milgram-esque insight into how easily we assuage moral conflict and diffuse responsibility when we . "It's your task to design a Third Wave Banner. I explained how discipline and community were meaningless without action. ", With that I switched on a rear screen projector. I turned it off. Powerful. And profound revelation. By the end of the day over two hundred students were admitted into the order. They began to panic. Not knowing when and if you'd ever see each other again. 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