Speaking of character, that brings me upon a rather interesting conversation topic. Academic vs. Ethical integrity. I have been a teacher now for about five months but as every teacher knows, there are students who like to cheat on tests and quizzes. I am not saying that I have never written a formula on an arm before or eaten a magical cookie of memory enhancement the morning before an exam, but some students are consistent with their cheating. On one hand, some students are excellent and never dare cheat off another student. While on the other hand, some students cheat at every opportunity possible.
Academic integrity, does it directly correlate to ethical integrity? I have not prodded too deeply into this subject matter yet, but based on my observations I have formulated a guess as to there is a correlation between both forms of integrity. I believe that academic integrity is formed based on ethical integrity. People are usually taught how to behave in general before they are taught how to behave in school. How one person is raised in an ethical sense, I believe, determines to an extent how they will act in an academic setting.
This is just one way to view this behavior. Another side could say that students are cheating because that is what they are used to doing in their home countries and so on. A patterned behavior from a young age could cause a student to try harder to cheat on a test than to actually study for it. I do not see any reason this could not be the case, but I don't believe it to be so.
I think we should look at this cheating from a different perspective. Most students come to study English with goals in mind. They are either looking to move on to a university in the United States, get a job in the United States, or continue studying at a university in their home country. The grading system for the institution I work in is a little weird and a bit strict. Basically students are graded much more harshly than a regular school would. When students are used to passing in their country, they expect to pass in this country. When they don't pass, they get frustrated and could easily resort to cheating.
Why cheat on an exam when you just cheat yourself? Well the system is a bit flawed, as it seems to me. If you can pass a certain level at this school you can gain accessibility to apply to a lot of schools in the United States. Otherwise you have to take an English test for foreigners called TOEFL or ILETS. Students want to pass the levels in this school so they can move on with their lives. They don't mind if they are behind when they arrive at the university, but in the long run this will hurt them. Some of them might fail because they are not ready to tackle some of the language they are going to face.
Integrity is integrity, no matter the form. I hope that students around the world challenge themselves to be academically honest and have ethical integrity. As MLK said, he wishes his kids not be judged by the color of their skin, but the content of their character. On that closing note: Do what's right, aim high, and be fair in whatever you do.
I do not own any of the pictures in this post.
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