Plagiarism

Lauren McCabe writes:

As I sat at the airport last weekend, grading my students’ summer reading essays and waiting to take off, I was angry. Not because of the tardiness of my flight, but because I was looking at 15 plagiarized essays from my seniors, seniors who knew better. They had all summer to read a book and write this five-paragraph essay on any topic they wanted. After I read over two essays and saw the exact same words, sentences and paragraphs, it wasn't hard to figure out that these papers had been copied.

After talking with some of my colleagues over the weekend, I learned that plagiarism wasn’t a new concept at my school, Environmental Charter High School, and that most of the students on my list had turned in plagiarized work in the past. I began to wonder why students plagiarize. Could it really be that they were just too lazy to write their own papers? And the essay they turned in and tried to pass as their own was of very low quality. Didn’t they have respect for themselves and their abilities?

While I was venting my frustration to an administrator at my school, he offered a bit of insight into the community I teach in and he grew up in. He explained that the major battle these students are fighting every day does not necessarily come from an external source, but from within. The inferiority complex is a constant war within our students. They “dumbed down” their essays to a level so far below their actual writing abilities because they thought it would be more believable to me that way. They ran away from this challenge because they didn’t believe they could achieve on their own.

This is not to say “poor babies” or to give excuses for blatant plagiarism, but I think it is important to understand the mindsets with which our students walk into the classroom every day and ways by which we can expand those views. Pure laziness is only one possibility of many for explaining why students plagiarize, as is the inferiority complex. But until we consider all of the possibilities and stop labeling students, we will never solve the issue. Malleable intelligence, the concept of intelligence not being fixed, will be the first topic of discussion that I start off with in my next class.

Comments

[Stewart Van Buskirk]

It isn't just a problem with plagerizing with writing. I teach visual art and in my class it takes the form of trying to have another student draw for them. In my opinion it is a cop-out. They don't want to put forth the effort and it is just easier for someone else to do it.

[M. David Lopez]

The real reason students plagiarize is that they are asked to write about things that they either don't care about or don't understand. It's truly hard to inspire students to write openly and honestly without fear of being marked down with a red pen for "getting it wrong."

The few essays and written responses that I assign are indeed part of a process, as Tom above points out.

I've always believed that the reason we use writing in classrooms was not only to assess students' learning, but to measure their ability to express themselves, to argue and support their opinions.

This is far from the multiple choice mentality we've grown accustomed to.

[evelyn]

Unfortunately, writing and the ability to express yourself is becoming more important in our society and while I applaud Mr. Lopez for using stimulating issues to get his students to write, it can't always be "all about me."

Students will have to write to describe and analyze. They will at times have to write about things they "don't care about." They might not care because their parents have not taken the time to teach them to care about the world. Just because it is not important to the student does not mean it is not important.

If we let the unsophisticated/defiant student drive what is important rather than explaining why it is important (example: genocide) then we have failed as educators. I never let the bottom half of my class drive my instruction. I know that sounds rude and blunt, but I never allow the taggers and truants to decide what is relevant and what is not. That goes to the students who show effort and some initiative. These may be D students or A students but what they all have in common is that they have been socialized for school and they make some effort to learn.

Does it mean I don't care about those who act like they don't care? Of course I care. But I realize that often maturity issues are at play and that these students often have to experience some life lessons that I cannot impart to them. They will have to suffer through some experiences that other students don't to grow up. It is an unfortunate reality but true. Being a good example is often the best you can do for some students. I have seen some of these former students and most apologize and say they were young and stupid. Most will do fine but you won't be able to help all in a school setting. Be kind, be helpful but never let them drive your instruction.
Again, advice you will never hear in your credential program.