Pygmalion* in the classroom Twenty per cent of the children in a certain elementary school were reported to their teachers as showing unusual potential for intellectual growth. The names of these twenty per cent of the children were drawn by means of a table of random numbers, which is to say that the names were drawn out of a hat. Eight months later these unusual or ‘magic’ children showed significantly greater gains in IQ than did the remaining children who had not been singled out for the teachers’ attention. The change in teachers’ expectations regarding the intellectual performance of these allegedly ‘special’ children had led to an actual change in the intellectual performance of these randomly selected children… who were also described as more interesting, as showing greater intellectual curiosity and as happier.
Magic Children | *NOT* Magic Teachers
Magic Children | *NOT* Magic Teachers
Magic Children | *NOT* Magic Teachers
Pygmalion* in the classroom Twenty per cent of the children in a certain elementary school were reported to their teachers as showing unusual potential for intellectual growth. The names of these twenty per cent of the children were drawn by means of a table of random numbers, which is to say that the names were drawn out of a hat. Eight months later these unusual or ‘magic’ children showed significantly greater gains in IQ than did the remaining children who had not been singled out for the teachers’ attention. The change in teachers’ expectations regarding the intellectual performance of these allegedly ‘special’ children had led to an actual change in the intellectual performance of these randomly selected children… who were also described as more interesting, as showing greater intellectual curiosity and as happier.