This post continues on the theme of individualist and collectivist cultures and school practices I attribute to this. Please check out the first post for what I mean by collectivist & individualist. The primacy of individual performance A difference in school & professional practices that I have struggled with and is often a point of discussion for Americans I know here is our ideas around intellectual property and academic performance. As a student from primary school through graduate school, I was trained to carefully cite sources of both direct quotes and general concepts that I drew from others that I used in any schoolwork I was doing. I participated in arguments about official changes in citation practices. Moving from humanities in undergrad to pedagogy in graduate school means I've had to be proficient in both MLA and APA practices and spent more money than I want to acknowledge on their style manuals. When I worked at a university, I carefully and conscientiously enforced policies around plagiarism. In my professional work, it was expected that I cite sources on anything I write, whether for a blog post, a pamphlet, or a journal article. The belief that concepts and words belong to people has been carefully and deeply ingrained in me. My ability to succeed as a student depended on me demonstrating this correctly every time in my work. I understand this belief and its associated practices as being very individualistic. I demonstrate respect to the individual who did the work to create what I am building my work on by overtly recognizing them, literally citing them as inspiration. In a sense, they "own" their ideas and words; I can borrow them only by properly noting their ownership. Respecting the source of an idea is an important part of the process of sharing ideas. Another way that individual ownership of knowledge was ingrained in me was the importance of individual performance. When taking a test, I must rely solely on my own self. I face dire consequences if I look at a neighbor's paper, if I copy off of a book or sheet I've snuck in, or if I seek out a copy of the test beforehand to memorize only the answers on it. Similarly, I must write all of my own papers in my own words, only using others' words & ideas when I properly cite them as described above. Once, in 7th grade, I tried to use a "cheat sheet" on a quiz I wasn't prepared for in Geography class. I was caught, received a zero for that quiz, had my overall grade lowered and could have received an F for the course overall if the teacher wanted, was given several session of detention, and my parents were called and encouraged to penalize my behavior as well. In my case, I decided to not risk it again, that cheating wasn't worth the consequences should I be caught. When working at the University, I saw professors take a variety of serious measures to prevent all forms of cheating. I saw students who were caught cheating face consequences ranging from failing just that class to being expelled from the school completely. The severity of consequences for not performing solely individually demonstrates the profound value we place on it. My success (or lack there of) should be dependent on my individual ability to demonstrate learning and thinking. I describe the value system I was raised in to provide a contrast for the practices around use of concepts & words as well as work during exams and projects/writing I've seen and heard about here. Success within the Group In a context of more collectivist than individualist, my identity is more associated with the group I belong to than my individual qualities. Things are shared more often and freely within the group. I believe this norm extends to knowledge and words. Returned PCV (RPCV, a Volunteer who successfully completed their PC commitment) Ree G. noted from her experience teaching in Moldova, "Students would do work for classmates, and copy from any source they could." This shows up in terms of doing homework as well as during written tests. Most schoolwork is hand-written. Students write essays, make posters, and do work copying from school workbooks into their notebooks. When preparing an essay or making a poster, students will find information on-line and copy it word-for-word without citing where they found it. A classmate or family member might do some or all of the work for them. More than once, PCVs have searched a phrase from a poster a student made and found everything was copied word-for-word from the Wikipedia article on the subject. More than once, I've had students turn in a print-out of a webpage or a downloaded PowerPoint when I've asked them to bring in a poster on something. This practice is common among teachers, as well. I have helped colleagues learn to copy & paste then seen them piece together documents from multiple websites. The only name or organization listed on the document in its final draft was theirs. I've helped teachers find and download PowerPoints which they later presented without comment to where it was found. When knowledge is viewed as collective and for the benefit of all, the sense that individuals "own" specific ideas and words no longer holds much weight. It follows that its not quite so disrespectful to not note an owner, or that them taking offense at not being cited is not as important. One stress US American PCVs and RPCVs alike face in their teaching that stands out strongly is giving tests. The culture clash between our expecations and the norms within Moldovan schools is intense and trying.
RPCV Beni Thelmia has worked in several educational contexts in Moldova, rural and urban, public & private. "Ask a Moldovan student if they ever cheated on an exam and they will be proud to tell you their techniques," she stated. "They will tell you why they justify cheating." PCVs & RPCVs have noted the following behaviors being common during closed-book tests:
Students are under a lot o pressure to give correct answers and they face some daunting challenges around tests. The test-time might have been shortened by waiting for the teacher to make copies of the test or waiting for students to pay for the copies that have been made. It is not uncommon for tests to be about information that was not covered in the classes preceding it. The practice of reviewing class content before testing is nearly nonexistent. In terms of consequences, I have seen and heard of students experiencing them only during the test time: They may be yelled at, they may be told to put the book/notebook/smartphone away in a bag or pocket, they may have their seat switched. They can continue to take the test, will still receive a grade for it, and in my observation often go right back to the behavior that they were doing. The behaviors listed above increase their academic success as measured by grades - both individually and as a whole class - and, thus, the reputation of a class and the school in which they study as good and smart. Bridging differences PCVs use a variety of tactics to deal with the drastic difference in our systems around intellectual property and test-taking. Some teach about US American practices and do their best to enforce them during their classes. Some strike a balance between preparing students who want to study in systems similar to ours and trying to not stress over those who will continue only in this system. Some become embittered by their sense of hopelessness and righteousness. Some adapt fully to the local practices. Personally, I have focused on utilizing alternative evaluation methods (I have a "no written tests" policy). My partners and I have compromised around grading techniques. I grade assignments using an "American" rubric (only evaluated on what we've covered in class, expectations are given in advance, grades are based strictly on whether work is done or not irregardless of the student's reputation, grades can be changed only by completing work that was not done) and I bear responsability for disgruntled students & their parents. The actual grades that go in the official gradebook are put in under a more traditionally Moldovan way. Given that large social meals, individually called a masa, are a valued practice here, RPCV Ree G. utilized these in a way to explain our difference in values. "I ended up explaining plagiarism with the metaphor of a masa," she said. "It's ok if everyone contributes (quotations), but it's polite to thank them (citations)."
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Rebecca LehmanHealth Education volunteer serving at Boris Dînga Middle & High School in Criuleni, Moldova. Archives
May 2017
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