The Eliza Do A Little More Effect
By, Gina Marie Hill Meyers
While attending Fresno
State University,
The Eliza Do A Little More Effect.
Eliza Doo Little was the main character in the movie, My Fair Lady. My Fair Lady is
a musical based upon George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion. Book and lyrics by Alan
Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe.
The story centers around an unmannered, poor, Cockney dialect
flower girl who takes speech lessons from Professor Henry Higgins, a
phoeticist, so that he can get her to pass as a well manner, sophisticated,
wealthy and well-bred lady.
The original playbill has
playwright Shaw as a heavenly puppet master, pulling the strings on the
character Professor Henry Higgins, in turn Henry Higgins attempts to control
Ms. Doo Little. Drawn by Al Hirschfeld.
A snobbish, stuck up conceited, intellectual
by the name of Professor Higgins, an aristocrat in the field of languages and
linguistics makes a bet with his friend that he can take lower- class Eliza
Doolittle, with her harsh and thick Cockney accent, and transform her into a
proper English Society Lady.
The Pygmalion Effect, also known as
the Rosenthal Effect and the Galatea Effects is defined as your expectations of
people and their expectations of themselves are key factors in behavior.
If we can all take the Eliza Do A
Little More Effect into account each and every day, we can be the change we
hope in the world.
There are a few simple steps to
take in your life to Do A Little More.
1. Take
responsibility for feelings, thoughts and actions.
2. Believe
we are good.
3. Believe
we are capable.
4. Believe
we can achieve.
5. Take risks.
6. Try
and try again.
7. Believe
failure is not an option.
8. Set
goals high.
The Eliza Do A Little More Effect
breaks your own glass ceiling, you raise the bar for yourself. You have to
believe you are capable on achieving greatness in order to achieve greatness.
It is a self fulfilling prophecy. Believing in your own potential creates
potential.
Tell yourself:
You are your own cheerleader, you
are bright and clever. If you have an issue, get help. Seek out positive role models;
don’t beat yourself up, live.
I will introduce a term I have
developed called Substitute Authority Figure Interference. What it means is
that any person can replace or substitute and create a positive experience and
get a positive result from employees. It works on the basic good cop bad cop
principle. If the teacher for example thinks his class is loud, disruptive and
just plain horrible and he introduces another substitute authority figure. The
Substitute Authority Figure can:
1) Believe the primary authority
figure and institute Pygmalion Effect or
2) Utilize the approach of Pygmalion
Effect, take charge, expect positive behavior from employees or students. Set
up clear boundaries, expectations and improvement.
If you institute the second
approach, the approach will reap benefits. Positive behavior will be had. So,
the power of expectations is like the Law of Attraction.
To say it in a more concrete way,
authority figures perceptions affect the performance of their charges or
employees. As an elementary substitute teacher for the past sixteen years, I
have seen it time and time again. The teacher will leave a note and it will
start…. One of two ways.
This is a very well-behaved class,
they are respectful, caring, great at following directions. Here is a list of
names of students to call on if you need any assistance.
The second note would read:
This is a terrible class. They are
loud, disrespectful, poor listeners. I have personally found that those classes
where the teacher thinks the kids are so great are neither better or worse than
any other class. Sometimes in fact, the children are louder and more power
hungry since their teacher believes them to be so exceptional.
The real key is the authority
figures perceptions. Anytime I buy into the teachers perceptions of a
disruptive class I’m in trouble. The key is giving everyone a clean slate and
“yes” at times acknowledging disruptive students or rather being aware of the
potential. The most important part of maintaining order, having a quiet class,
or whatever positive actions or productivity you are seeking is to model this
positive approach with clear expectations, being positive.
Pygmalion Effect
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Principal
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Supervisor
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Teacher
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Parent
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*Every supervisor has expectations
of the people who report to them.
*Supervisors communicate these
expectations consciously and unconsciously.
*People, students, employees,
children consciously and unconsciously.
&People, students, employees,
children consciously and unconsciously pick up on the vibe.
*People perform in ways that is
consistent with the expectations they have picked up from a supervisor.
supervisor.
