social roles they are expected to play”
Is it still true that people will readily conform to the social roles they are expected to play, if those roles are at the other end of the behavioral scale: being humble, supportive, inclusive, and caring?
What did we do?
we picked up a classroom as the place of the experiment, because it is a similar setup: teachers are the guards and the children are the inmates, behaving according to the instructions of the teachers.
The pattern is the same: just like guards teachers give instruction, and just like inmates students are forced to follow the instructions (neither inmates nor students can escape the situation)
We gave teachers simple instructions, two sentences and one tool:
two sentences:
- Show me on the scale, how do you feel now?
- What can WE do HERE, NOW, for you to feel just a bit better?
We gave them a tool:
- mood thermometer
- with at least five stages or moods
The tool ensures that the teachers repeat the same pattern every day.
it makes the changes in the moods of the children visible, which will be the main cause of the new behaviors that will arise in the classroom
The problem with mood and mental health is that it is invisible and changes in them are also invisible, therefore they are hard to measure, especially if the change is in the happier direction.
If the change is in the angry direction, usually it comes with an eruption and therefore it can be seen, heard, and sometimes even felt.
Results:
Just like in the Stanford prison experiment:
- immediate changes
- the longer the process and instructions remain, the stronger the effects are
Unlike in the Stanford prison experiment:
- neither teachers, nor students want to stop the routine
- both children and teachers report that they have experienced something unexpected and “magical”
- Teachers report that their relationship with the students has changed entirely and transformed into a deeper connection than they have ever experienced before.
What is our aim:
Since COVID, war, and financial crisis, the systems in the societies around us have collapsed, and the schools are heavily affected by this earthquake sized damage.
A systemic damage can only be healed by systemic changes.
Our program is a systemic answer, easy to implement, easy to maintain, applicable in any school type, regardless of any social-economical background, immediately effective, and is loved by any and all participants in it (teachers, kids, and parents)
To rebuild our society and mitigate the damage done by covid, war, and financial crisis, we need highly efficient AND easy to follow patterns (just like any mobile app)
SCHOOLS ARE THE FACTORIES THAT CREATE THE NEXT GENERATIONS AND THEREFORE THE SOCIETY OF THE 21ST CENTURY
What do we want:
To honor Mr Zimbardo’s work and legacy, and repeat this project in the US.
Why would we involve Stanford:
because the two experiments complement each other and provide a holistic answer to how to build an inclusive, supporting, caring society, which humanity needs now more than ever.
Feedbacks:
They became more empathetic and helpful to each other.
The children became more open towards each other, they are more willing to play and talk to one another, and I can see them expressing themselves easier. We have less behavioral problems!
By starting each morning with the mood thermometer the problems are cleared up at the beginning and we can solve some of them right away.
On some days, we start the lesson with the mood thermometer. Some children set it to the lower areas, choosing a sad face, saying that they are still sleepy and tired. Fortunately, by the end of the class, these conditions changed for the better. I also made my mood thermometer with the students and used it to discipline. It worked. 🙂
When my mood was bad, the students asked me to set the mood thermometer as well. When I told them what was bothering me, they asked what they could do for me, modeling my previous behaviour. It is also amazing to see that the children are listening and supporting each other if their classmates need it.
I have multiple favourite moments, for instance, when the children started bringing the mood thermometer with them without being asked, or when we realized that the thermometer does not have to be there because we can indicate our moods using our hands.
The first class was the most memorable for me, when I told them that from now we will draw mood thermometers and temper volcanos. I said that one of the reasons for this was that we know that the pandemic and quarantine had been extremely difficult for many of us. This opportunity was a great relief for them because other teachers put the emphasis on making up for as much of the material as possible. A girl told me that some of her friends reported that they are not seen as living and feeling creatures but it is all about performance. Since that, the students became really sincere towards me and a trusting atmosphere developed.
Last time, in grade 13, the only girl in the class was in a very bad mood, she was nearly crying. She couldn’t tell what was wrong. The boys decided to draw the mood thermometer horizontally on the board and indicate their moods using their marks from kindergarten. The girl’s sign was a duck. One of the boys drew a duck crying in the ocean of tears. Then we had a casual chat. Hour after hour, the duck wandered into a lake, then into a pond, then into a puddle, till the girl was distracted, and smiling. The boys were very attentive to her all day. We didn’t learn much, what we did learn was in a funny way, which was rather difficult because of the otherwise dry technical material.