The Don Mills Echo
A Plagiarized Article on Plagiarism (and Creativity)
Plagiarism is the the most common offense under the Academic Code of Conduct. It is the presentation of the work of another person as one's own or without proper acknowledgement.The TDSB’s own policy on student academic dishonesty and plagiarism requires investigation and communication. After a TDSB student is found to have plagiarized, the “minimum consequence” is a mark of zero and the notification of others. Why such strict regulations? Because plagiarism is the intellectual equivalent of robbery. Of course, you can simply blame the students for being lazy and unoriginal, but you would be ignoring the real root of the problem.
By their very nature, schools are supposed to be a place of education. Students, whether they are young children or retirees, go to schools to learn and grow as human beings. However, on matters of plagiarism, that seems to be less the case. Educators have been quick to consider plagiarism a cheating issue, which it certainly is, but either ignore or pay inadequate attention to the fact that it is also an education one. The bad news is that our education system and social mores discourage creativity. The emphasis schools place on rote learning, memorization, and especially standardized tests, generates a kind of assembly-line uniformity to what kids learn in school.
Creativity, by contrast, requires qualities that schools tend to discourage, such as daydreaming, uninhibited curiosity, hands-on experimentation and an unstructured, permissive environment. But that doesn’t mean that we’re all doomed as students moving into the real world. We can still do something about it: we're all born with deep natural capacities for creativity and systems of mass education tend to suppress them. We can also cultivate these capacities -- for personal, economic and cultural reasons -- and to rethink the dominant approaches to education to make sure that we do.
Firstly, students need to understand that there are usually multiple paths that lead to understanding. They should be encouraged to seek out and experiment with new things or ideas. They should be taught to ask questions and investigate when things do not make sense. The need to learn to view mistakes as an opportunity for learning rather than something that was unsuccessful. Students should also follow their interests and think "outside the box" whenever possible. It is also valuable for them to be open to other's ideas so that they can learn how to build upon and reconstruct their own conceptual knowledge.
And of course, teachers can do a number of things to make sure students have the chance to show their creativeness. One example would be when students are given a research assignment, teachers could encourage students to either write a paper, do a presentation, perform an experiment, or use technology to present information. This gives all students the chance to complete the assignment in their own creative style. Not only can teachers give options on assignments, they can ask students how they would like to accomplish the task. Giving students this kind of choice empowers them and hopefully motivates them to do their best.
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Due to the issues regarding the ethics behind "A Plagiarized Article on Plagiarism (and Creativity)" the writers feel the need to state that this article is a compilation of published Internet articles and some original writing. This article in no way attempts to claim these works as original work and this compilation of exterior texts is meant only to serve as a satirical reflection of the recent scandal regarding the former director of the Toronto District School Board. The writers claim no possession of the works used in the production of this article. For a list of sources, refer to the Ethics page. In the case that any blame falls on the compiler of this article, let the investigator be aware that this was done with full permission from the supervising teacher.
Why Bill 115 is a detriment to society
Bill 115, also known as the Putting Students First Act, is critically depriving everyone in Ontario. It was legislated in Ontario and passed by the Liberal Party. Bill 115 brings in many setbacks for teachers, including a two year salary freeze for the teachers, a reduction in the teachers’ sick days, and the removal of saved up sick days. The biggest detriment to teachers is that Bill 115 has removed the collective bargaining rights of teachers.
The overall impact towards the teachers is HUGE. Usually teachers enjoy a 2.5% pay increase in their annual salary, but this is being frozen for two years. The number of sick days a teacher is able to have has also been reduced by half. Additionally, teachers will no longer be allowed to save up their earned sick days. All of the saved up sick days will be voided. This is possibly one of the worst parts of the bill. There are situations where teachers have taught for up to forty years and saved all of their sick days hoping to gain more money when they retire. Unfortunately, these teachers have been saving up for nothing and thousands of dollars therefore will be drained away. The fact is, from the very beginning, when people applied for a teaching job, their contract very clearly stated that they would get 20 sick days. They could bank up sick days, and would have a pay increase every year. Quintus Horatius Flaccus (Horace) said, “Once a word has been allowed to escape, it cannot be recalled.” The government had listed everything in the teachers’ agreements yet they still go against their words and caused a major conflict. This makes people wonder whether the government is trustworthy or not.
From the Ontario government’s point of view, reduction of government spending is critically required. The government has two options. They can either raise taxes or reduce the amount they pay their services. Since the government wants to ‘mind control’ society, they leave tax increases out of the question. Being the only option left, the government decided to create bill 115. However, not only is the government depriving teachers from the right to strike, they have also stopped taking suggestions from teachers who want to resolve this in a better way. The teachers union has come up with countless resolutions that can definitely decrease the financial crisis. John Lennon from the Beatles said, “Living is easy with eyes closed.” Right now, the government has their eyes closed. They are not exploring options, they are not taking in the consideration of others, they are not being reasonable to anyone at the current situation and they are not definitely thinking thoroughly before they act.
So in the end, who comes benefiting the most from this situation? As a result of proposing Bill 115, teachers will be left with very little to work with, and students will not receive the best education. The ultimate impact will be that parents will re-direct their children elsewhere for education. Even Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty fell victim and will be forced to step down in shambles. Bill 115 has benefited no one, caused stress and dismay, and probably will continue to do so until we put an end to it.
Of Mice and Birds
Every day I look out of a particular window, in a particular section of the school. Behind that window is a pond. I always wonder why there are two inanimate caricatures of ducks sitting in that little pond every day. I like to believe they're there to give some semblance of life to the otherwise uninhabited water. Whether it actually works or not is up for debate. Since I have a fondness for birds and bird-related accessories, I jumped to the logical conclusion: why not have real ducks in that pond? Ducks are rather comical. Having them in there would liven the whole place up, as well as give the caretakers one additional task among thousands to take care of.
As usual, my idea was brought down by reality. When I informed one of my peers about it, he brought up three reasons for why it was a pipe dream at best. His first point was that acquiring the ducks would be very difficult, if it was even legal in Ontario. His second was the fact that maintaining the ducks would be extremely inconvenient to the school, if we could even hold them down long enough to do it. His last point was, and I quote, that “most people don't like birds enough”. That possibility had never occurred to me, since I was focused on the practical reasons as to why we could not have real ducks swimming in that unused pond.
Empirical evidence has shown that people are entranced by animals which they perceive as “cute”, “adorable” or “man-eating”. A video of a cat flushing a toilet, a crocodile giving clueless tourists a scare, or even a damn rabbit chewing on some lettuce receive unholy amounts of attention over the web. A species of bird would have to go extinct to achieve the same level of publicity, and only if it were a national icon. Birds are just as interesting as any other species; ostriches run faster on land than most humans, though contrary to popular belief, they don't bury their heads in the sand (surprise!). Hummingbirds are perpetually skimming death due to their hyperactive metabolism, which is needed to fuel their method of flight by flapping their wings faster than our eyes can process.
The popularity of cats and rodents isn't going to die down anytime soon. I don't believe that birds will become nearly as popular anytime soon. They will always have a place in my heart, but I can't say the same for others. Maybe having real ducks in the pond is impossible. Maybe the pool isn't big enough for them. Maybe it's big enough for something else. Like a cat or two. They're almost as good.
Chris Spence: The Man of Plagiarism
BY CONNIE YU
Following the strikes of teachers across the TDSB, another breathtaking story blew our attention away as we welcome the new year. Chris Spence, TDSB's former Director of TDSB, was recently fired --- not by any particular reason, just plagiarism. This man holds several degrees in education, including a PhD from University of Toronto. It is very unbelievable to many that a man of such high education falls at the most frowned upon education error, plagiarism. This makes many to question his previous works to the incident.
So what really happened?
On January 9th, 9 days into the new year, an op-ed piece he "wrote" on extracurriculars was published in the Toronto Star. However, it is soon revealed to be plagiarized, confirmed by the Star's public editor. He did not plagiarize one, but several articles. Of all, one was from the 1989 New York Times. The very sad part to Spence's story is that he barely bothered to even paraphrase passages. The evidence of plagiarism was so obvious that it's basically straight ahead copied and pasted.
Check out a side-by-side comparison done by the Star:
Spence’s PhD dissertation, “The Effects of Sport Participation on the Academic and Career Aspirations of Black Male Student Athletes in Toronto High Schools” (1996)
Spence, p. 2: “Central to the concept of societal justice is the belief that all should have an equal chance to succeed in the common school system. But opinions as to what an equal chance means, and to whom those chances should be extended, have changed substantially. Over time, equality of educational opportunity, at least theoretically, has been extended to include minorities and women. The emphasis has shifted from the provision of formal or legal equality of opportunity, to the requirement that educational institutions take active or affirmative steps to ensure equal treatment of different groups.
“Underlying this shift in emphasis is the emergence of a concept of equality of opportunity measured by equality of results, whereby educational institutions are held partly accountable for gross differences in the attendance or success rates of different groups, and are expected to take measures to reduce those differences.”
V.S.
“Equality and Excellence in Education: Contradictions of Recent Educational Reforms,” by Ibrahim Alladin, in “Excellence and Quality in Education” (1995) p. 27: “Central has remained the belief that all should have an equal chance to succeed or fail in a common school system. But what an equal chance means and to whom those chances should be extended have changed substantially since World War II (Hurn, 1978, p.110). Over time, equality of educational opportunity has been extended to include blacks, minorities, women, as well as the working class. The emphasis has shifted from the provision of formal or legal equality of opportunity to the requirement that educational institutions take active or affirmative steps to ensure equal treatment of different groups.
“Underlying this shift of emphasis, as James Coleman has argued, is the emergence of a conception of equality of opportunity as ‘equality of results,’ where educational institutions begin to be held partly accountable for gross differences in the attendance or success rates of different groups, and are expected to take measures to reduce those differences (Hurn, 1978, p.111; Coleman, 1968).”
Have you noticed the difference? Because I didn't, expect for those taken out credits in brackets.
Spence later wrote a public apology letter and resigned immediately. More investigations were done to his prior works, including his 1996 Ed.D dissertation at U of T, in which many attributions were un-noted. (See above for example)
Although most public audience decided that his punishment of resignation was well-deserved, there are still some people who "feel bad" for him. In my personal opinion, I don't think such man deserves any public pity. He received the right if not minimal punishment he could possibly get, considering the fact that he had made so many 270k in many years. Compared to the regular punishments at institutions for plagiarism, his was barely anything. If a student at university was to commit such an action, he is often dismissed from the school immediately and his whole life path will be affected. However, Spence already has the foundations and even after his resignation, he is in no place of trouble. His life wouldn't change dramatically.
Just a couple days ago, Donna Quan stepped up to the position to replace him. We certainly hope she does a better job of writing articles.