The other day there was an article in the New York Times
about the computerized technology of plagiarism and cheating. As chair of the
Music Department at CCNY I thought about the dangers facing the students in my
care. It reminded me of a question I ask all incoming potential music majors:
“Do you want to be a music student or a musician?” It is the wise student who
answers the latter. The ignorant student often asks about the difference
between the two goals and I explain that a music student takes a bunch of
courses and hopes for the best whereas a musician is a person engaged in a
daily regimen of personal growth and development. Too many students think that
their immediate goal is to take and pass the requisite courses for a degree and
show up at graduation so they can get a good job. They do not see education as an
end in itself. For many of these
people the option of cheating and plagiarizing is occasionally attractive,
especially when they are overwhelmed by the demands of job and family. In their
desperation they can come up with any number of seemingly good reasons to take
short cuts to course completion. When they do engage in nefarious academic
activities they diminish their own self worth and dishonor themselves and their
family. Ignorant of Murphy’s Law they deny the possibility of being caught,
failing the assignment, and reaping the attendant shame that is sure to follow,
or failing the course and losing the time, money, and sweat equity they already
invested. In their blindness they often do not envision the worst-case scenario––being
expelled from school. When students engage in such activities they are gambling
with their lives and careers. What seems like an easy fix to their present
dilemma could be the cause of a long series of problems and predicaments.
We live in a world where the flashing images on television
lead us to believe that ethics and morality have gone the way of the dodo. The
screen is littered with irresponsible people whose only motive is to be loud
and to be famous. They do not have to be fair and balanced, or even right since
there is no longer any responsible fourth estate to call them out when they are
wrong. There no longer seems to be any penalty for ineptitude, stupidity, or
malice. If the people who run our governments, businesses, and major
institutions are seen as incompetent buffoons what are students to do when they
enter the classroom?
School must be a place where truth and honesty are
paramount, where people can count on each other as they search together for
meaning and value. The teacher must be able to trust the students and visa
versa. Without trust there is no meaningful communication or cooperation, and the
classroom becomes a mirror of the madness that passes for reality off campus.
As a teacher, what disturbs me most about cheating and plagiarism is the lost
opportunity for learning. The educational process only works successfully when
the teacher and student meet each other half way. The teacher attempts to
transmit the data and ideas that they deem to be crucial to the understanding
of their subject area, and the student attempts to comprehend and use what is
being transmitted to them. The end result of this meeting of the minds should
be a student who matures as a scholar and a person. It is the hope of every
teacher that their students will one day become upstanding members of
society––wise, fair, humane, honest, and trustworthy. These important lessons begin in school, and,
if well taught, carry on throughout a lifetime of true professionalism and
intellectual or creative achievement. As in sports, we must all learn to play
by the rules and respect boundaries.
When you put your name on something it should serve as your
hallmark. It tells the world that you made this thing and it represents your
best work. “Dr. Stephen Jablonsky fecit.”
