4 December 2014

Is it Okay for a Principal to plagairise?

| wazza_t
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I come from the old school way of thinking which is, if it isn’t your work and thoughts then don’t try and pass them off as if they were. I also think if you are the principal of a high school then you should set the example and not plagiarise to your students.

My daughter came in the other day laughing about how a Canberra school principal was recently caught by his students plagiarising his annual reports in the year book. She found it particularly amusing because her older sister briefly attended the school. We own a hardcopy of one of the yearbooks and could verify that the principal’s message was plagiarised.

Whereas my youngest daughter thought the whole thing was a joke my eldest who is a hardworking and dedicated student was very upset. “It’s wrong and really unfair,” she told me and said she felt as if she had been wasting her time researching, organising and writing when she could have just handed in “wiki-sandwiches”. A wiki sandwich is where a student writes the introduction and conclusion and copies the rest from a website like Wikipedia. This best describes the plagiarism in these reports. One of the three reports looks to be almost 90% copy and paste. I can tell my daughter has taken it to heart and become, for the first time in her life, jaded.

When I pack my kids off to school I tell them that the teacher is probably right and that rules are rules and they are there for everyone. I know most parents don’t scrutinize every page of our kid’s yearbooks and newsletters but some of our kids do and it’s a sad thing to think they would open it up and find out their parents are shmucks and their headmaster is unaccountable and doesn’t give a toss.

I urge parents to pull out their kid’s old yearbooks and read them, type some key phrases into Google and find out if the principal of your child’s school dabbles in deceit and duplicity. You can report it here or here. My view is that a school principal sets the example and should be modelling academic excellence and personal integrity to his or her school community. Plagiarism is central to these virtues and to be fair if schools can flunk students for plagiarising then perhaps we need to flunk and flush a few principals who do the same.

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So has this matter been referred to the Teacher Quality Institute by the Directorate? I think it should be. I saw these reports and they are just pathetic – he should be ashamed of himself. You know, what sort of role model or impression of the directorate does this set for not just the students and staff but also student teachers?

Midge_Ures_SixLegged_LoveChild10:34 pm 12 Dec 14

Kelly74 said :

2604 said :

The issue is that this sets a bad example for students. As anyone with their own children will tell you, kids aren’t dumb and won’t follow a rule that adults set and then proceed to ignore themselves.

Also, what a lazy b#stard. The principal probably gets paid $120-130,000 per year for 40 weeks of work, and can’t be bothered typing up half a page of notes.

What is the appeal process? For instance if a student was accused of plagiarism and given an E on an assignment could they appeal on the grounds the principal does it too? Is it the principal who decides on an appeal?

I do not wish the man ill but I think he is no longer qualified for that position and this is why I asked if he was still a school principal. In the real world convicted criminals cannot be made magistrates. It was such a foolish thing to do and he continued the practice annually. If the students now know about the matter then his credibility is shot beyond repair. It is unfortunate, but one way or another – if he has not already gone – he should go.

May I apologize if I was unclear and that I have not been around to answer questions. Almost all the content between the introductions and conclusions was most likely cut and paste from the internet from authors other than himself. The dates on the originals all precede the yearbooks. I also noticed that he appears to have fudged some statistics or may have thought if you add an extra zero to findings you can make an American study fit an Australian context. I think Kelly74 sums it up in less words than I did with the principal’s report should come from the principal and not the internet. I’ve also read the comments by those who defended him but in my view there isn’t any excuse for this behaviour. We all want our kids to be wary but not cynical. My girls aren’t naive in the way of the world but they do expect to find their teachers are credible. Sadly what is modelled here I think is a toxic level of cynicism.

crackerpants11:46 am 10 Dec 14

Kelly74 said :

Sorry crackerpants, I don’t buy it. If the section is called the “principal’s report” then it should be from the the principal and not the internet.

No – read the OP again. He said that the principal’s report was plagiarised from previous yearbooks (that was how he checked – by looking at his older daughter’s yearbook – not the internet). Then he confused the issue by talking about wiki sandwiches. Then finished up by asking other parents to check current yearbooks with previous year’s yearbooks (not the internet).

If the principal was recycling his own work – fine. If he was recycling the work of a previous principal at the school – not so fine but probably ok. If he was copying from the internet – not ok and a lousy example to set, but no legal consequences. My point was that this would be a good lesson in understanding the shades of grey of the “real world” rather than often black-and-white view of academia.

deejay said :

How is this plagiarism?

My daughter came in the other day laughing about how a Canberra school principal was recently caught by his students plagiarising his annual reports in the year book.

If I’m reading this correctly, the source document was his (the principal’s) annual reports – ie, things he had written for another document and then re-used. It isn’t plagiarism to re-use your own work, except in settings where you have been specifically not to do so (eg essays).

he is saying he wrote a wiki sandwich. he wrote the introduction and the conclusion but copied the rest from the internet.

How is this plagiarism?

My daughter came in the other day laughing about how a Canberra school principal was recently caught by his students plagiarising his annual reports in the year book.

If I’m reading this correctly, the source document was his (the principal’s) annual reports – ie, things he had written for another document and then re-used. It isn’t plagiarism to re-use your own work, except in settings where you have been specifically not to do so (eg essays).

Maya123 said :

turbotim said :

Looks to me like it’s a case of the clown running the circus.

Can you please explain your comment? With nothing more substantial said, it’s just a throwaway line without substance. I would be interested to learn your arguments in relationship to the comments above your line, such as Lenient’s comment, “A principal is an administrator not an academic.”

??? Clown – frizzy hair, big red nose, does stupid things. Circus – place where people do stupid and dangerous things. Administrator not an academic – probably got their quals at UC. ???

Sorry crackerpants, I don’t buy it. If the section is called the “principal’s report” then it should be from the the principal and not the internet.

crackerpants9:45 am 09 Dec 14

To answer the OP’s question, yes I do think it’s ok. Not great, and not a great example to students, but ok.

To say that a Principal is an administrator, not an academic, isn’t a throwaway line. Administrators recycle material all the time – that’s efficient. If I’m in the public service responding to ministerials, for example, and I get 5 people asking the same question, I’m going to take the previous response, top and tail it, and I’m done. To write each response from scratch is re-inventing the wheel and a waste of time, pointless, and not really possible anyway – the role of the administrator in this instance is to answer the question, not to pen original thoughts. There is only one answer to the question, so it is answered once.

Academia (school included) is about original thought, or critical response to the thoughts of others. As others have mentioned, plagiarism is a problem because it defeats the very endeavour of original thought, as well as the practical problems of IP, undeserved credit, funding etc.

I think in this case, the author of the OP would be better explaining the difference to his daughter. It’s a really good example for discussing administration (or real life as a poster above said) versus academia, and how what the Principal did sits somewhere in the middle, with arguments for and against. The Prinicipal is an administrator, but because he is also a steward of academia, it might have been better to draft original material. Not because of any legal implications, but because he should lead by example.

turbotim said :

Looks to me like it’s a case of the clown running the circus.

Can you please explain your comment? With nothing more substantial said, it’s just a throwaway line without substance. I would be interested to learn your arguments in relationship to the comments above your line, such as Lenient’s comment, “A principal is an administrator not an academic.”

Looks to me like it’s a case of the clown running the circus.

Holierthanthou5:53 pm 08 Dec 14

Maya123 said :

Lenient said :

A principal is an administrator not an academic.

Exactly.

+1

Plagarism is an issue for academia (unfairly getting credit for your academic awards or stealing research) and pubishing (theft of IP and misappropriating royalties). Reusing material for administrative purposes is fine. Canteen volunteers copy and paste price lists from term to term. Enrolment guides can be copied and updated. Teachers’ course notes can be shared and re-used. So too for warm and fuzzy plaudits for the yearbook., which incidently helps ensure hardworking individuals are not missed in the thank yous (which without doubt have already been personaly by the principal).

2604 said :

The issue is that this sets a bad example for students. As anyone with their own children will tell you, kids aren’t dumb and won’t follow a rule that adults set and then proceed to ignore themselves.

Also, what a lazy b#stard. The principal probably gets paid $120-130,000 per year for 40 weeks of work, and can’t be bothered typing up half a page of notes.

What is the appeal process? For instance if a student was accused of plagiarism and given an E on an assignment could they appeal on the grounds the principal does it too? Is it the principal who decides on an appeal?

VYBerlinaV8_is_back9:29 am 08 Dec 14

2604 said :

The issue is that this sets a bad example for students. As anyone with their own children will tell you, kids aren’t dumb and won’t follow a rule that adults set and then proceed to ignore themselves.

Also, what a lazy b#stard. The principal probably gets paid $120-130,000 per year for 40 weeks of work, and can’t be bothered typing up half a page of notes.

+ 1. It’s really, really poor form, and kids will know this.

The issue is that this sets a bad example for students. As anyone with their own children will tell you, kids aren’t dumb and won’t follow a rule that adults set and then proceed to ignore themselves.

Also, what a lazy b#stard. The principal probably gets paid $120-130,000 per year for 40 weeks of work, and can’t be bothered typing up half a page of notes.

Lenient said :

A principal is an administrator not an academic.

And the relevance to this story is…?

I would hazard a guess that the principal we’re talking about is public sector because the private sector understands that the students are clients who’s parents can afford to move them to a school that doesn’t have a deadbeat for a principal.

Midge_Ures_SixLegged_LoveChild4:02 pm 07 Dec 14

John Moulis said :

Midge_Ures_SixLegged_LoveChild said :

I hope this bloke isn’t still a principal and I’m not sure why someone would boast about plagiarizing – John?

I have to use the kid’s defence here – “But everybody was doing it!” 🙂

Or the new kid’s defence – “But even the principal does it!”

Lenient said :

A principal is an administrator not an academic.

Exactly.

A principal is an administrator not an academic.

Lenient said :

Is it Okay for a Principal to plagairise?

No. However the alleged actions are not plagarism. Previous yearbooks are fair game for re-use. A principal does not claim a yearbook is their own work, it is the fruit of many people (including those that helped assemble those of years past). Unlike a student’s submitted work, the yearbook is not there to assess whether a principal has succesfully learnt the skills of writing yearbooks.

This justified, allowed and licit use of raw materials is fair and efficient, allowing more time for the principal to do the work of running the school.

I urge parents to pull out their kid’s old yearbooks and read them, type some key phrases into Google and find out if the principal of your child’s school dabbles in efficient yearbook drafting.

OP is talking about the principal’s annual address to the students in the yearbook. These sections are usually five or six paras long and discuss the year in hindsight. Some do the lighter side, some big-note themselves and the stuffier ones pontificate their dreary wisdoms. OP writes that 90% of this guy’s stuff was cut and paste from the internet. If the “alleged” plagiarism is proved then he has behaved fraudulently. Plagiarism is arguably the most serious offense in academia. It’s grubby behaviour. Deans and academics get sacked for this, more often than you see in the paper.

But anyway, if this principal does plagiarise annually to his own students, what does it say about him as a “lead educator”, his “quality teaching”, and his “integrity underpinned by moral purpose” hmm… efficient or effluent?

Is it Okay for a Principal to plagairise?

No. However the alleged actions are not plagarism. Previous yearbooks are fair game for re-use. A principal does not claim a yearbook is their own work, it is the fruit of many people (including those that helped assemble those of years past). Unlike a student’s submitted work, the yearbook is not there to assess whether a principal has succesfully learnt the skills of writing yearbooks.

This justified, allowed and licit use of raw materials is fair and efficient, allowing more time for the principal to do the work of running the school.

I urge parents to pull out their kid’s old yearbooks and read them, type some key phrases into Google and find out if the principal of your child’s school dabbles in efficient yearbook drafting.

John Moulis said :

Midge_Ures_SixLegged_LoveChild said :

I hope this bloke isn’t still a principal and I’m not sure why someone would boast about plagiarizing – John?

I have to use the kid’s defence here – “But everybody was doing it!” 🙂

But hasn’t this been going on for yonks? Before computers there were specialist books available for writing this and that.
I seem to remember my old boss, who was also a JP, would be asked at time for references. And if he reckoned OK, he would whip out a little book full of relevant praises; alter a few things, get it typed off and bung it off. So now in the 21st century we use a computer. Same old..

Midge_Ures_SixLegged_LoveChild said :

I hope this bloke isn’t still a principal and I’m not sure why someone would boast about plagiarizing – John?

I have to use the kid’s defence here – “But everybody was doing it!” 🙂

Midge_Ures_SixLegged_LoveChild10:36 am 05 Dec 14

I hope this bloke isn’t still a principal and I’m not sure why someone would boast about plagiarizing – John?

“Is it Okay for a Principal to plagairise [sic]?”

It’s always ok to plagiarise a dictionary 🙂

“Is it ok for a principal to plagiarise (in the school yearbook)?”
Computer says “no”.

According to the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers –

1.Vision and values
Principals lead the development of the vision of the school. They are committed to the learning and growth of young people and adults guided by fairness, ethical practice, democratic values and lifelong learning. Principals understand, lead, mediate and serve the best interests of the community.

Principals model “learning for life” through their own professional practice and promote it actively in their interaction with students, staff, families and carers and the wider community.

Principals behave with integrity underpinned by moral purpose. They model values and ethical perspectives in relation to their own and the school’s practice and organisation.

According to ACT Teacher’s Code of Professional Standards –

1.1.2 Demonstrate high standards of professional practice
1.1.5 Exercise leadership in their role as supervisors
2.1.1 Advance student learning and the public interest
Principal 3: Accountability
PRINCIPLE 4: Fairness and Integrity
4.1.1 Act with probity in their daily work activities and decision-making

If the principal is an ACT Government employee then according to the Education and Training Diretorate (Teaching Staff) Enterprise Agreement –

H3.5 For purposes of this section, misconduct consists of any of the following:
(b) the employee engages in conduct that has, or is likely to, bring the Directorate or ACTPS into disrepute;

The dude shoulda gone to MyMaster.

Technology might have changed but other things remain the same. Nowadays kids cut and paste from Wikipedia, when I was at high school in the early 1970s I copied an article on radiation by hand from Encyclopedia Brittanica – word for word – for a science project, and I scored a mark of 9.5 out of 10. Articles in Brittanica were uncredited but I’ve since read that many of their science features were written by Albert Einstein.

bd84 said :

Do you know whether there is a template given to schools to use to write those blurbs as standard

Not having a template is no excuse to plagiarise. A principal should know better too. Ick!

VYBerlinaV8_is_back3:15 pm 04 Dec 14

Sounds like a great opportunity to start educating your kids about the differences between academia and real life.

all that rant but you don’t clearly state where he supposedly plagiarised from..
Perhaps you could teach your kids about natural justice.. Do you know whether there is a template given to schools to use to write those blurbs as standard, or if he wrote it himself and someone else copied, or was given permission to use it?

The case of the unprincipled principal.

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