who ordered this truckload of Dung? - The Class B Kids

The Class B Kids

by Ajahn Brahm

Many years ago, an experiment in education was carried out in secrecy at a school in England. The school had two classes for the same age of children. At the end of the school year and examination was held, in order to select the children for the classes of next year. However, the results of the exam were never revealed. In secrecy, with only the principal and the psychologists knowing the truth, the child who come first in the exam was placed in the same class with the children who came fourth and fifth, eighth and ninth, twelfth and thirteenth, and so on. While the children who came second and third in the exam were placed in the other class, with the children who same sixth and seventh, tenth and eleventh, and so on. In other words, based on their performance on the exam, the higher-performing and lower performing children were split evenly between the two classed. Teachers for the next year were carefully selected for equal ability and experience. Even the classrooms were chosen with so similar facilities. Everything was made as equal as possible, except for one thing: one was called "class A", and the other was called "class B".


Whereas in fact the classes had children of equal ability, in every one's mind the children in Class A were the clever ones, and the kids of Class B were not so clever. Some of the parents of the Class A children were pleasantly surprised that their child had done well and rewarded then with presents and praise, whereas the parents of some of the Class B kids berated their children for not working hard enough and took away some of the privileges. Even the teachers taught the Class B kids in a different manner, not expecting so much from them. For a whole year the illusion was maintained. Then there was another end-of-year exam.

The results were chilling, but not surprising. The children of Class A performed so much better than those of Class B. In fact, the results were just as if they had been the top half chosen from last year's exam. They had become "Class A" children. And those in the other group, though equal the year before, had now become "Class B" kids. That was what they were told for a whole year, that was how they were treated, and that was what they believed - so that was what they become. 

FELLOW TEACHERS - PLEASE REMEMBER

That was what they were told for a whole year, that was how they were treated, and that was what they believed - so that was what they become.