Ethics in Education is Focus of Stories from Asia, U.S.
Dec 31st, 2007 • Posted in: NewsChina tackles plagiarism scandal with name-and-shame approach; Japanese educators compromise on dispute over how much candor should be employed in textbooks describing World War II; author says school districts must be more open about sex-abuse issues
VARIOUS DATELINES
Controversies over plagiarism, academic honesty, and administrative candor were featured in reports from the world press last week:
- In China, a nation where academic cheating has become a continuing and visible national scandal, a major university has publicly shamed nine teachers and students for their involvement in cases of plagiarism. China Daily reports that Fudan University made what apparently is an unprecedented move by releasing a circular detailing the alleged misdeeds and posting information on the university’s website. In one of the cases, the university claims that a professor and four younger academic colleagues wrote a textbook that contained many passages copied from other books published overseas. Another researcher was punished for allegedly using faked photos.
- Japanese education officials will restore references to the Japanese military’s role in mass suicides in Okinawa at the end of World War II. The Tokyo-based Daily Yomiuri reports that the decision follows a bitter public debate over the decision to excise references to the incident, which resulted in an outcry for more transparency in the way textbooks are screened. The dispute was finally settled, reports the Yomiuri, by re-inserting the reference to the suicides but changing the terminology from “kyosei” (coercion or duress) to “yanyo” (with the involvement).
- A professor who has written a book about teachers’ sexual misconduct says cover-ups are widespread and dangerous. “The ‘let-sleeping-dogs-lie’ mentality is counterproductive,” Robert Shoop, a Kansas State University professor who has written a book for school administrators called Sexual Exploitation in Schools: How to Spot It and Stop It, told the Associated Press. “My suggestion is to admit mistakes, to apologize for mistakes, and to make a pledge that you’re not going to let this happen again…. There’s no guarantee that bad stuff won’t happen. But you can certainly reduce the likelihood.” The AP reports that an investigation it conducted this fall found that among the 2,570 educators whose teaching credentials were revoked, denied, surrendered, or sanctioned for reasons relating to sexual misconduct charges from 2001 through 2005, many were able to make secret deals that allowed them to leave their districts quietly, sometimes carrying letters of recommendation.
Sources: China Daily, Dec. 28 — Daily Yomiuri, Dec. 28 — AP, Dec. 28.
For more information, see: Related Newsline story, Sep. 10 — Related Newsline story, Aug. 6 — Related Newsline story, June 11 — Related Newsline story, Sep. 6, 2005.
Print This Story
Email This Story
[...] more information, see: Related Newsline story, Dec. 31, 2007 — Related Newsline story, Dec. 18, 2006 — Related Newsline story, [...]