"Plagerism Permitted"
"Teacher resigns in protest as school board goes easy on violators"
Original Story Written by: Ginger Malcolm [8/2/2002]
Summarized & Analyzed by: Dawit Thepchatree (Joe) [17/12/2002]
One day in the beginning of Febuary this year, Christine Pelton - a high school teacher - quit her job when the school board decided to "go easy" on her students. Those teenagers - all 28 of them (half of her class) - plagerized their final reports. They were caught and given 0 for their actions. However, when the students' parents complained about the grades they received, the school forced the teacher to give some credit for the students. Instead of following what the school ordered, the teacher "resigned" from her work.
Did the teacher, Christine, make the right decision by giving up her work? In order to discover the best answer, the four tests have to be used.
Legal Test
Did she break any law or regulations in quiting her job?
The answer is obviously no - it is her right to do choose whereever she wants to work.
Gut-feeling Test
Did she go with her inner feelings?
The story is not detailed enough to truly know the answer. However, one could assume that she went with it, because of her seemingly determined personality (supported by the fact that she chose to give the students 0). In other words, her will was set in getting rid of plagerism.
Front Page Test
Is she proud of what she had done; does she want this story to be on the front page?
Actually, this story is posted in a website concerning the issue of plagerism in a detailed news article format. Since she protested against the decreasing seriousness regarding plagerism, it would not be strange if she is proud of what she had done. Who knows, maybe she intentionally quit her job, because she want more people to be aware that the law regarding plagerism is not being given enough attention.
Role Model Test
Assuming that her role model is the President of the USA, what would she have done?
If she really was the President, she should do what is best for the country. That means that quiting her job in hopes of a better country is quite an honorable action. If she chose to follow the school board and give a "lenient" punishment for the students, then it means that other people would believe that plagerism is not as bad as they previously thought and might even start plagerizing themselves - deteriorating the nation's legal system as a result.
According to the four tests, it seems that she made the right decision.
Read the original story here:http://www.channelonenews.com/articles/2002/02/08/plagiarism.resignation/