Professor Robert Rosenthal has conducted experiments on the power of expectation to influence performance and intellectual competence for 30 years. Research indicates that our expectations have a powerful effect on ourselves and others. These expectations influence our actions, attitudes, motivation, and perseverance. “Some students experience only negative expectations every day. Some of these negative expectations are placed arbitrarily on young people simply because of how they look, their gender, socio-economic status, or ethnicity.” (from chapter 9 in StrengthsQuest)

When Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968, a teacher in rural Iowa implemented an experiment about discrimination called “A Class Divided.” Her goal was to help her students truly understand how it felt to be viewed as less than equal based on a physical attribute that one has no control over, such as eye color.

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Part 1 (9:55) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9NMxO9nqg4&feature=related

Part 2 (9:52) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E98DIOSPoZc&NR=1

Part 3 (6:52) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsqFaUPKZh8&feature=related

Let’s discuss the power of expectations ...