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Culture
Clash in the Classroom
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How to
Minimize Cheating in a Face-Saving Culture
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Different cultural values can lead to some
interesting and sometimes humorous shocks. What do you do about cheating in a culture
where one of the highest social values-avoidance of confrontation and embarrassments-gives
"veto power" to the students? After trial and error and much reflection, I found
a way to enforce academic values of integrity and fairness without embarrassing either
students or myself. Here is how I weathered this cross-cultural storm in Sumatra.
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The first quiz I gave to my
class of forty-five beginning-level freshmen nearly five years
ago was a joke. Students freely looked at each other's work, talked
to each other, and walked around the room (ostensibly to replace
a pen that had stopped writing or to borrow whiteout)-all of this
after I'd clearly explained during the course introduction that
cheaters would automatically fail quizzes and tests.
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For the second and third period classes of 80
more beginning- level freshmen, I was as direct and intimidating as I knew how to be,
explaining in no uncertain English and Indonesian terms that cheaters would fail. This
modified the behavior only slightly. Most still cheated, some more blatantly than others,
and these failed. That some of my students failed a quiz for cheating did not in The least
deter further cheating. It only seemed to confuse them and work against the rapport I was
trying to build.
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I began asking Indonesian colleagues
if cheating was tolerated and how they dealt with instances. Every
person I asked told me that cheating was not tolerated and any
students caught cheating automatically failed the quiz or test
they were taking. This only increased my frustration. Every time
I gave a test I had to play the Gestapo, and I was still not able
to eliminate cheating.
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Then came the time for final exams and I was
asked to help supervise some of the exam sessions with other teachers. I was shocked. At
first things seemed to be pretty orderly, but as the exam period drew near to its end,
these same teachers who had told me that cheating was in no way tolerated would just look
the other way if a student borrowed a pencil, talked to a friend, or looked at someone
else's paper. I asked the teachers why they didn't do anything and they just replied that
cheating was not allowed.
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Apparently, maintaining peace and harmony is
all-important. Avoiding embarrassing someone else is just as important as avoiding
embarrassment. Avoiding direct confrontation is one of the highest social values going.
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At first my task seemed hopeless, but
understanding the dynamics of how a shame-and face-saving culture plays itself out in the
classroom enabled me to discover some ways to uphold my own academic standards without
violating cultural values. Now I am no longer confused or frustrated and I have managed to
eliminate nearly all cheating. Here's how:
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I no longer make any issue of cheating. Of
course I parrot the standard line that anyone caught cheating will fail the test, but I do
not implement this threat. I turn the issue into "following directions." In
terms of saving face it is a lot less serious to get caught "not following
directions" than it is to get caught "cheating." Culturally it is nearly
impossible to accuse anyone of cheating, but anybody can make a mistake now and then, so
no one is seriously offended with such a judgement. The consequences are lightened
accordingly. Anyone caught looking at someone else's paper, talking to a neighbor, or in
any way interacting with another class member has their score lowered one letter grade for
each infringement of the directions. With such rules in force I have rarely had to
actually lower anyone's grade. A couple of times I've had someone try to make a scene and
object, "But I wasn't cheating" (of course they really were), and offer some
excuse like, "I was just asking for the time." I just respond, "If I was
accusing you of cheating you'd get a zero. You're just losing one letter grade. You've
just confessed you didn't follow my directions. Is there anything unfair in that?"
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Bruce
T. Sidebotham teaches future high school English teachers at the University of
Bung Hatta in the Department of Education and Teacher Training in Padang. |
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