:Title: Teaching Ethics :Author: Linda Nowakowski :Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2008 18:29:02 PDT :URL: http://www.ned.com/user/u523412994/news/41/ Some of you know that I have been fighting a long term battle with cheating in my classes. It's not just me. All of the foreign teachers have had problems with it. And it's not just that the students only cheat in classes taught by foreigners. It is a complex cultural issue. In many ways, the children are taught to cheat from the day they are born. Thailand is well known for her corruption and general lack of respect for intellectual property rights. Just about every computer in Thailand has a windows operating system but I would be surprised if there were more than 1% that were legitimate. They even sell fake certification stickers. DVDs are pirated, bribes are paid to every level of public official and much of it quite out in the open. In all of the current political turmoil in the country, cheating and vote buying is at the center. The people do not see the connection between the case where they are stopped by a police officer and pay him a bribe and the politician who wants to get elected paying a farmer for his vote. Cheating is defined by wikipedia as Cheating (also called gulling) is an act of lying, deception, fraud, trickery, imposture, or imposition. Cheating characteristically is employed to create an unfair advantage, usually in one's own interest, and often at the expense of others. Cheating implies the breaking of rules. The term "cheating" is less applicable to the breaking of laws, as illegal activities are referred to by specific legal terminology such as fraud or corruption. Cheating is a primordial economic act: getting more for less In a culture where there is little value placed on creativity and ingenuity, advancement is dependent on position and getting the position is dependent on either a hierarchical advantage or cheating. If you combine this with the normal competition of succeeding in University, regardless of what culture, and the fact that these students are studying in a second language that they are not good in, you might be able to start to appreciate the problem we are facing. As we look to establish a program preparing undergraduates to deal in the area of international business we are challenged with the task of teaching them how to look at other cultures and the differences that exist. The task of preparing them to be able to interact with people who are different than they are and who work under different rules is important. There are countries that will not work in Thailand because of the corruption problems. When you are in a country where a bribe is considered a requirement and you are from a country that views that act as an indictable offense, there is a tension that arises. Our task is to prepare these students to work with international companies in a way that does not put the international businessman at risk. Last year an Academic Misconduct Policy was written, evaluated and translated into Thai. At the beginning of this academic year, the faculty in our program were told that it was the driving policy. There were fliers distributed declaring the faculty a "cheat free zone". The students were all presented with the policy on the first day of class and it was explained and discussed. To make a long story short, I have had a serious problem with students violating the Academic Misconduct Policy. And I have had problems with the Thai faculty members supporting the policy. I have promised to resign. I have had students ask me not to. I have thought about all of it. I said that I would resign because I really didn't want to be associated with a faculty that did not support ethics. I still don't. I want to see these young adults grow. I was afraid that I was imposing a culture that was not theirs. I didn't really know how to proceed. So yesterday I went to visit Shikamat Jinda, my Buddhist nun friend at Srisa Asoke. Results? My ethical expectations are no different than hers. Christian - Buddhist, both find this behavior objectionable. We share the same desire to see the students rise above this aberration of their culture. I did not feel comfortable with the "Academic Misconduct Policy" because it is negative. It is nothing but punishment of behavior. In this case it also happens to be quick, drastic punishment of behavior that they have for more than 15 years of their short lives been taught is acceptable. I will be proposing to the International BBA program faculty a new approach. The Mission, Vision and Philosophy of the faculty lifts up that we graduate students who have good business basics and are diligent, ethical and socially responsible. We have a way to evaluate academics. This year we instituted a way to evaluate diligence. There is really no current program for social responsibility or way to evaluate it. I will propose that we institute a recommendation of community service and a special certificate for a minimum participation in community service projects either those organized by the university or even better, ones that the students or program come up with on their own. Then, regarding the ethics.... The University and the Faculty academic affairs committee are willing to fail a student for cheating on an in-class exam. (That is the only think they consider cheating.) I say, OK. Work with that. Then, in addition, in our program, we continue to cite and document ethics violations. If the student goes a semester without an ethics violation, one of the violation citations disappears. Two semesters free of violations and 2 more disappear. Etc. At the end of their academic career, we look at their progress in all of the areas. In ethics, if there remain no or some minimal number of violations, we issue a citation that the student has demonstrated an understanding of ethical behavior....in some suitably dignified language. Then, we look at all four areas and one student is selected as the best over-all graduate weighing all areas. Maybe it won't be the student with the highest GPA. But it **will** be a huge honor. Maybe we can even find a sponsor for it who will provide an award. I have already set in motion a class next semester in Buddhism for the first year students (the ones who are studying only English, remedial maths and study skills) so that they can at the get-go understand the basis for what we are trying to do. Following that with a course in their first academic year on business ethics and 3 consecutive semesters in "ethical" economics.... Maybe instead of axing students who just haven't had the opportunity to learn to be ethical, we can provide the opportunity and incentive for them to change. Where we start in life isn't nearly as important as where we land up.