When did the idea of 'Every Child Gets a Trophy' become an education idea? That is not easily answered, but, the emphasis seems particularly prevalent in the late 1980s and 1990s. I was a teacher during that time, and I remember an angry mother who objected to her daughter's B. The assignment was to select a few favorite poems and then find pictures (or draw illustrations) that illustrated the poems. The mother could not understand why all the work filling a thick album with Christmas cards had nothing to do with the poems her daughter had selected. The B was for the selection of poems the girl liked, but both mother and daughter missed the point of visualizing the imagery of the poems.
When I taught at Baylor University School of Law I had a surprise quiz, requiring students to explain the significant issue in a case they were to have read for class. A young woman wrote a long description of the case, making it obvious that she had read the assigned legal case; however, she failed to identify the significant issue that would resolve the case. A young man briefly identified the significant issue and explained the correct outcome. The situation was sad, since the two students were husband and wife. He was an outstanding student; but, hard as she tried, understanding the law was difficult for her, and she could not understand why her answer missed the point. However, grading on good intentions is not going to prepare students for the ability to succeed in life.
Previous blogs have described the tendency for colleges to raise grades to make it easier for graduates to compete for jobs because they believe other universities are raising grades. Research has shown that Rules and Traditions are important. Giving students grades they do not deserve is cheating everyone--the students, those who hire them, and those who depend on the legitimacy of their training. I believe these examples of falsifying accurate grades, reference letters, and other misrepresentations, whatever the intentions, have cheapened a broad area of personal integrity.
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| Sandra Day O'Connor |
In her book, The Majesty of the Law, published in 2003, Sandra Day O'connor expressed her concern that freedom of speech only matters if we have some way of protecting against calculated lies. She included a quote from a lawyer she respected, who had decided to leave the profession. He told her why: "I was tired of the deceit. I was tired of the chicanery. But most of all, I was tired of the misery of my job caused other people. Many attorneys believe that 'zealously representing their client's means pushing all rules of ethics and decency to the limit.'"
I have not practiced law for several years, but I have watched enough trials and interviews under oath on television to share the disappointments expressed by that man, and also by Sandra Day O'connor. I fear that our world is filled with calculated lies.
2 comments:
Maintaining honesty and ethics today is difficult in practice and easy in the abstract - certainly teachers know that but when a public servant violates the public trust for economic or personal/political gain it is particularly hard to accept and we see it every day
Thank you - Larry for sending me Lyn's recent article. Good and solid...sentiments many of us hold.
It reminded me of the (almost only) prize I ever received. Years ago Kenny Fenwick and I built a bicycle built for two. We competed in a 4th of July contest. The race only had one other entry. We looked the best - pink shirts and black derby hats ...plus a shiny bike painted the night before. Unfortunately, we took second place. Kenny was unhappy - thinking I didn't peddle hard enough. We each got a silver dollar for finishing. I spent the dollar a few years ago...your article brought back another exciting time in Macksville!
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