Dig deeper into the issue, and analyse what we learn about writing as kids. At least,this is what happens in the city schools of India. Kids learn this:
Write verbatim from the text
You will get the highest grade
You will get a great job.
A student is thus trained to memorize and reproduce, and mostly does not learn to write on her own. When she writes digitally she finds it hard to write but easy to just copy and paste. Voila! That is plagiarism.
Institutions use software to identify plagiarized writing, but students with writing projects assigned to them are desperate to make the grade and being clueless about writing, take the help of homework writing services. Pay a few pounds, dollars or rupees, and the head ache you suffer from not being able to complete your writing project is taken care of.
On their part, teachers are hard pressed for time and many of them just want that year's work completed, graded and put on record. They also sometimes fail to stress upon the need to acknowledge sources. Some students are not even aware of why they should do that.
What happens once the young writer lands a great job? She sees the following:
Colleagues are unsure and communicate poorly
New technologies are emerging everyday
There is a need to connect with a wide range of stakeholders online
A combination of factors are at work here: little training at school, the habit of rote memorizing and reproduction, the compulsion to create content within deadlines. All of these make the writer do what she sees as the easiest thing to d. She continues to copy and paste large amount of content, knowing well that no one has the time to find out if the content is original or not.
Most people do not blink when they do this. They are so used to this, that they even believe at some point that this content is their own creation. They speak about it with great authority. Sometimes when we dig,we hit dirt. Similarly, qestion these writers some more and we hit on a dirty secret. This writer did not even read what he has copied, pasted and boasted about. But they own it.
Plagiarism is like the banyan tree with many roots. Multiple causes make it one of the pressing problems of the day.
Yes , writing is such an essential skill and to write a self expression, it should start from young children... nice topic to be discussed with children
ReplyDeleteLack of expression by words what they have comprehended , poor communication, no enthusiasm in interpreting their understanding, superficial in concepts.....
ReplyDeleteWriting as an activity is "graphical self expression". In your article on Plagiarism you have rightly identified one of the main cause as children not being encouraged to write in their own words in schools in India. It is indeed a sad feeling for me when I read it. As a Montessori educator I wish to bring some points on what actually children are capable of if we can offer them freedom of expression.
ReplyDeleteIn Montessori class rooms children are encouraged to express themselves from the beginning. Writing and Reading happen spontaneously as they acquire the needed vocabulary and motor skills. As the child progresses into the second plane which is 6-12 years every concept is offered through demonstrations or interactive lessons. Children are encouraged to write definitions in their own words and not memorize. This is for any area of learning be it Math, Science or Social, Environment study. In fact every new word introduced is given with etymology. This gives a connection with the concept and language too.
I wish children are encouraged to express right from very young age be it any system of education to see their true potential. Children are indeed the hope to humanity
- Alamelu Badri
Alamelu… such a class as described by you seems to be a paradise. So glad to know of such spaces where skills evolve organically
DeleteThis is so true. As a victim of an academic system that is unknowingly smashing out creativity and expression, I’ve really struggled with this.
ReplyDeleteFor the major part of my childhood education, I was taught to stick to the”key-words” if I wanted to score my best. I was told that I should stick to the narrative of my textbooks. As I moved into college and started working on publication of papers and projects, I was expected to do the exact opposite with no previous cultivation of the required skills whatsoever.
To be able to write about a technical topic without the help of a textual material was such a big challenge. It is a skill I wish education from my formative years had aided.
Thanks for sharing.Well expressed!
ReplyDelete