How Guardians Can Play an Important Role in Academic Integrity

Introduction

Academic Integrity generally means the adoption of honest practices in the academic world. The term holds importance for elementary school students to research students. Education, in general, aims at the overall development of the students. It aims at enlightening them in a manner that helps them throughout their life. Developing a sense of integrity is also part of it.  Educational Institutes have to play their vital role here. But, when we go deep into defining the scope of the education system, we find parents or guardians a part of it. Education in an informal way starts at home. The development of ethical and moral values happens at home initially. Not only this, common students spend most of the time with their parents or guardians. So, taking this into account, today we are going to discuss the role guardians can play in the development of academic integrity.

The Problem

Present Corona Pandemic has affected educational practices in a transformative manner like never before. Educational institutions are trying to ensure academic studies to be operated in a smooth way using the online medium. In this system, the talks and discussion are very much centred on the syllabus itself. We know that co-curricular activities in these systems are not so suitably operational and that is a lack of this sort of system. But even the teachers do not feel good to do some informal talks in the course of study as it happens in a normal classroom. Those talks, if done in an idealistic manner, help in the ethical and social development of the student. 

Therefore, the only teachers near the students, who have to play this role of doing these informal talks, are parents. Therefore, in this situation, their role becomes more important. Guardians seem yet failing in the realization of this. Not only this, they have separated themselves from the educational environment of their ward which, technically, they are part of. Even many instances are observed, where the guardians are promoting unethical practices among their wards which is just lamentable. 

If we directly come to the issue of cheating in examination, that is where the trouble worsens. Since the switching to online mode was not gradual as natural but it happened all of a sudden, therefore, proper infrastructure for all essential functionalities could not be developed. Now, it is the responsibility of the guardians to take care of the flaws but instead, in many instances, guardians themselves are playing their role in the observance of so-called 'good marks' which are not gonna matter anywhere. This thing is the same as the guards doing robbery of the same bank for which they are asked to take care of.

The problem of cheating is not merely a question of wrong or right. But it's about confidence development and strengthening the basics. 

There are medieval stages between wrong and right which belong to the level of confidence. One of the important goals of education is to strengthen the development of self-belief which is destroyed by such activities.  

Solution

Now, guardians need to understand the responsibilities and need to consider the following:

Giving importance to real progress, not marks-based progress is most significant. If our ward is getting decent or average grades honestly, then he/she is better than all other students who attempted unethical practices. The immense satisfaction our ward may feel has no comparison. Even, we would say why to do such comparison as every child is born with his/her gifted abilities. As a guardian, we need to establish ourselves as an ideal before our ward and inspire him/her. That is the most important.  Also, we need to take the responsibility to invigilate and assure proper monitoring of the ward if there is an online examination at home. Teach him/her to choose the right path to success.

Bill Gates, Jack-Ma, Albert Einstein and many others are well-educated as we know, but, they don't need to show their mark sheet to anyone. Marksheets fail many times because the evaluation system has its limits.

When the mark sheets are a failure what you are trusting on!

References

1. Löfström, E., Trotman, T., Furnari, M., & Shephard, K. (2014). Who teaches academic integrity and how do they teach it? Higher Education, 69(3), 435–448.

Author: Lovish Raheja

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