The Third Wave Experiment: An Invaluble Lesson or Reckless Class Project?

Niall Leah
9 min readDec 11, 2022

In 1967 a history teacher started a fascist movement in a classroom. It rapidly grew out of control.

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This is the story of a history professor who, over the space of a week, established a rapidly expanding student organization with designs on overthrowing democracy and ending the Vietnam war.

Thankfully, his plan wasn’t world domination. He just wanted to teach the students a lesson they would never forget.

Mr. Jones was a history teacher well known for his unconventional teaching methods. He was the type of teacher to show students how to think, not what to think.

He had once introduced the students to a holocaust survivor. On another occasion, he invited a member of the KKK to talk to the class. Not exactly your standard teaching method, but his students found the classes fascinating.

Although he was admired by both his students and the teaching faculty for his out-of-the-box approach, his creativity and boldness led to an experiment that his students never forgot.

The third wave experiment.

The story starts in Cubberley High School in 1967. Mr. Ron Jones was teaching his students…

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Niall Leah
Niall Leah

Written by Niall Leah

An ex-pat from the UK living in Chengdu, China. I satisfy my endless curiosity about the incredible journey of humanity by reading, traveling, and writing.

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