Rosenthal And Jacobson's Study
Dana Smith Education
Rosenthal and Jacobson’s study in my opinion was a really simple, but brilliant way of proving the effect of a teacher’s expectations for a child can heavily impact how they succeed. Rosenthal and Jacobson picked a 5th grade class and administered an IQ test. No matter the results they chose 1/5th of the class and told the teacher that those specific kids were smarter than the rest of the class “based on the test” which actually was not true. At the end of the same school year the IQ test was repeated and the results showed that the same 1/5th of the class that was picked at random, this time did actually have higher test scores than the rest. The study caused the opinion of the teacher to change about these particular
students. It caused the teacher to change the way that they treated these kids and in turn the children were able to learn more and get a higher score the second time. This is known as the Pygmalion effect, or the self-fulfilling prophecy. The teachers held a higher expectation for these certain students and undoubtedly treated the children differently, and the children met the teachers expectations.
A teachers expectations can both positively and negatively affect a students’ academics because, just like the Pygmalion effect showed, if a teacher had higher expectations for a student the teacher may treat the student different and in turn the child will strive to meet the expectations of the teacher. However, if a teacher does not have high expectations for a student, the student may be treated differently or singled out as not such a good student, and the student will then not have an expectation to strive for. Teachers spend the most time with children in the most influential periods of their life and the expectations and goals that they have and help to set for these children will shape who they are and how they carry themselves in the future.
Rosenthal and Jacobson’s study in my opinion was a really simple, but brilliant way of proving the effect of a teacher’s expectations for a child can heavily impact how they succeed. Rosenthal and Jacobson picked a 5th grade class and administered an IQ test. No matter the results they chose 1/5th of the class and told the teacher that those specific kids were smarter than the rest of the class “based on the test” which actually was not true. At the end of the same school year the IQ test was repeated and the results showed that the same 1/5th of the class that was picked at random, this time did actually have higher test scores than the rest. The study caused the opinion of the teacher to change about these particular
students. It caused the teacher to change the way that they treated these kids and in turn the children were able to learn more and get a higher score the second time. This is known as the Pygmalion effect, or the self-fulfilling prophecy. The teachers held a higher expectation for these certain students and undoubtedly treated the children differently, and the children met the teachers expectations.
A teachers expectations can both positively and negatively affect a students’ academics because, just like the Pygmalion effect showed, if a teacher had higher expectations for a student the teacher may treat the student different and in turn the child will strive to meet the expectations of the teacher. However, if a teacher does not have high expectations for a student, the student may be treated differently or singled out as not such a good student, and the student will then not have an expectation to strive for. Teachers spend the most time with children in the most influential periods of their life and the expectations and goals that they have and help to set for these children will shape who they are and how they carry themselves in the future.