Dealing with Plagiarism in schools

Sydney media were reporting this week of a cheating scandal at a high school affecting Year 12 students.

I had heard some "talk" that parents had "complained" about it and perhaps influenced a decision to let off students. I cannot confirm this either.

Whether or not this happened is the issue, but how it is dealt with.

I see it this way.

In an assessment task, a student must demonstrate their own understanding of what they have learnt. That is present ideas in their own words and express their own thoughts and ideas. If they are using a concept, thought or idea that is not their own, they must acknowledge that person/s.

If they fail to acknowledge another person's concept, they are claiming ownership of something that is not theirs. It is like the theft of a physical object from another person.

We have to reward those who can independently express their own thoughts and ideas while giving credit to those who have shaped their thoughts and ideas and also have gone to the effort to locate, select and present their information.

We also have to send a message that passing off another person's work is harmful and does not reflect the persons true knowledge.

There will be some people (including some parents) who may not agree with the deduction of marks especially zero marks. But consider this - did the person who plagiarised their assessment task bother to spend the time to locate, select and communicate their information? In assessing students, we may be assessing knowledge, but also we assess the effort that is put in.

The effort a student puts into their learning says alot about the progress of a student. A student may lack the knowledge of a topic, but if they can present their own work communicating their own thoughts and ideas, the long term gains for the student will be better. The teacher will know how the student is progressing and can lead them in the right direction.

Pandering to parents because it might affect final grades is not the way to approach it. It sends the message that plagiarism is allowed but also discourage the students who have undertaken the effort to present their work from doing so.

Library Warriors@Evans High

I was reading the Winter 2015 edition of Learning Hub (SLANSW) when I came across an article by the Vice-President of the School Library Association of NSW - Tamara Rodgers.

It interested me how Tamara's experiences have tied in with some of my recent experiences this year. While I have finished the block at Georges River College - Hurstville Boys' Campus (back at Waverley College as an acting Teacher Librarian this term), I will admit that the article should have come out earlier because it could have guided me through that time and perhaps shaped some ideas in making a positive learning culture within the library.

I remember speaking with my library assistant about how to label the library monitors. She proposed "library boys" as it was a less formal tag and would make the work look "cool". I think "Warriors" sounds just as great because it can install a sense of responsibility yet make the work looking appealing.

Both of us had also raised the role as part of a school service program with the Head Teacher - Welfare at the school to try and get the kids to pursue activities in which they can contribute to the school community and building up a structured scheme for the "library boys". Even encouraging activities like a chess club were floated around to encourage the boys to pursue their interests but also provide them with a safe place to do it.

There was a group of Year 9 boys that I recall that were loitering and behaving inappropriately in the library at times, yet if you gave them something to do you'd find that they would get a sense of ownership and pride. I got to see them in another light, and in a positive way. This was needed when books to be weeded had to be relocated and organised in a sorting area. I could actually give praise to these kids, instead of referring them onto Head Teachers or the Deputy.

I think I may have a good model in terms of managing a library monitor system at whatever school I may be at, now or in the future.

With establishing a learning culture, the boys were never provided with a proper self-service printing system which other schools had. I was able to lobby for a printing system to be established and will be installed soon. Being boys, they love to leave things to the last minute and when they need to print, the library is often the only place to do it. They would have to approach my library assistant and pay 20 cents per page for printing from a printer within our staffroom. This took time away from her ability to work productively. I have planted one of the first seeds in making it a learning centre because boys will start to use it for learning, even if it is for printing.

One of our collections (Graphic Novels) had been previously stored in the staff room. Boys love their graphic novels. I managed to find some spare shelves and put them there. The loan rate for Graphic Novels has soared, though I hope to see that collection grow in the years ahead.

There are probably other comments to be made. One I won't comment though is the behaviour referrals. They were quite high and this not the place to bring it up.