Thursday, February 03, 2005

Giving credit where credit is due!

AS you know, I have been an Art teacher for the past twenty years. As an Art teacher, allow me to share some misconceptions about my profession. First, while it would seem that I am teaching my students to draw or paint, that is really not the main focus of my lessons. I believe it is unfair for a student to receive a failing mark simply because he/she does not have the talent for drawing. Any student of mine would tell you that I am not very stingy with grades. As a matter of fact, during a reunion party, several alumni who said hello intimated that my subject was their ticket to make their average higher.

There are several ways where one can receive a very good grade from me. When I say high, I really mean high. Grades ranging from 92 - 100. Yes, I even give a grade of 100. There are only two criteria for a student to get within this range. First, that the work is truly outstanding or, a relatively mediocre work but which I know was done diligently and with a lot of effort by a student to meet the requirements of the project. At the other end of the scale, a student can also fail in my class. This may be seldom but a student will if: 1) he/she failed to submit the project and no attempt has been done to make up for it, or 2) he/she submitted something which is not his/hers.

I had been telling my students that I would prefer for them to hand in the ugliest (if there is such a thing) piece of art work as long as they made it for they would still pass, even get a good grade for it rather than submit an excellent project but was made by somebody else. More than anything, I have to teach them the value of hard work and gaining confidence and self-respect and pride over their capabilities.

Claiming somebody else's project as yours is wrong. That is intellectual dishonesty or to be blunt about it, thievery. And it has a name. It's called plagiarism. The reason I'm writing this is because it seems that there are people who think they can do away with murder and go unnoticed in the internet. I'm talking about Sassy's food blog being stolen and passed off as somebody else's. You can read the article here Sure, it's as easy as copying and pasting a work to another window but is the facility by which it can be done a license to plagiarize? Surely not! How hard is it to acknowledge the real owner of the piece? And that is all that is required;. That we give credit to where credit is due! As a result of this phenomenon in pinoy blogging, a fellow blogger condemns the practice lest other unscrupulous people would have any idea of doing the same. You can read the Cat's take on the subject here.

It really amazes me how someone can steal another's work and put the same on his website. Where's the dignity in that? Does one feel pride in the accolades of people who do not know that what they aer applauding for was stolen? How would a plagiarist feel if suddenly he/she is found out? As far as I'm concerned, there are two people who can answer these questions now. And you know who you are! Shame on you. Had you been my students, you would have gotten a zero in my class...Blogging Ethics 101!

18 comments:

ting-aling said...

There is definitely a reason why copying from your seatmate is not allowed on exam days. If you do, then you're considered cheating.

JMom said...

Well said, tito Rolly! I have always told my girls the same thing. I would rather that they get a low grade in school if the work that they turn in is THEIRS. Not their parents', not their classmates, not anyone elses but THEIRS.

It is so true, how indeed, can you derive pleasure in receiving accolade for work that you did not do?

Sassy Lawyer said...

ethical people are becoming more and more rare...

i have friends--mothers--who do their kids' homework and projects para lang mataas yung grades. and they think they are not only being helpful to their kids, they actually think they are being smart.

Good intentions, eh? Good for whom kaya? Besides, "Wars have been waged for the best of intentions."

rolly said...

Tingaling Sa eskwelahan cheating yun... sa totoong buhay criminal offense yun. If found guilty, mabigat ang consequences.

JMom EXACTLY!

Sassy Nauubos na nga yata ang mga ethical people these days. Pakapalan na yata ng mukha ngayon e.

Bayi Intellectual piracy is deplorable. We must fight it. Especially when I am pushing for excellence to avoid mediocrity.

Anonymous said...

kuya RO! :)

korek ka dyan, tennis partner! kaya nga lang, in this age everyone desires SUCCESS and FAME but only a handful is willing to pay the cost. that's why they end up becoming pseudo successful! (KAWAWA!) and they are willing to become such AT THE EXPENSE OF THEIR DIGNITY! (kung meron man)

ATE WI

Anonymous said...

kuya RO! :)

korek ka dyan, tennis partner! kaya nga lang, in this age everyone desires SUCCESS and FAME but only a handful is willing to pay the cost. that's why they end up becoming pseudo successful! (KAWAWA!) and they are willing to become such AT THE EXPENSE OF THEIR DIGNITY! (kung meron man)

ATE WI

Jhun Billote said...

kontrobersyal 'tong incident na to Tito Rolly...mas naintindihan ko ang issue ng sinundan ko lahat ng links. tsk, ano kaya ang naramdaman o reaction ng taong nangopya at the time na nagreact na ang author which was Sassy? Nakakahiyang gawain...tsk tsk tsk!!!

Cerridwen said...

one day in the future, there will be an international internet law that will be applied to registered internet users & PC owner.... and people who does things like this will be liable for the law that they break. Right now, there is not much that can be done... which makes it frustrating.

Ver said...

Very well said!

E. S. de Montemayor said...

though I advocate dvd piracy because as a member of the struggling middle-class, we deserve a break. and besides, everyone knows that those pirated stuff are not original... But I don't agree with people copying other people's work and making it their own. I hate that kind of plagiaristic piracy. Good if that person tracksback to the site but if he doesn't have the decency to at least acknowledge that that work is not his, then todo na to!! kelangan pa ba imemorize yan?? ahehehe :)

Mec said...

:)

Sabi naman nga ni Jojo, you're very magaling in Art

and super congrats for having stopped smoking... it was a gift you gave yourself... most probably, an extended lease on life... :)

Anonymous said...

they probably lack the capacity to create something original. hence, they steal someone else's idea.
downright pathetic.

a mere acknowledgement would suffice just to give due credit to the owner.

malas nga lang nila nahuli sila ni sassy.

sachiko said...

Ey! Thanks for dropping by my site..(^_^** )//

{illyria} said...

right on, rolly! give them a piece of your mind. a true teacher you are.

Nick Ballesteros said...

Tito Rolly! Question po. Pag yung student nag-submit ng work nya na di maintindihan tapos sasabihin nya, abstract art, ano grade nya? hehehe. Nanggugulo lang po, isa kasi ako sa mga quiet during my schooling years, humahabol ngayon. :-)

I have this frustration with an instructor in St. Louis. Kasi back in college I had the highest scores in English and Filipino, even Public Speaking! And then we had Technical Writing. Our instructor was so stingy with her grading system! We once submitted an essay we wrote in the classroom, and mine has do errors whatsoever. Binigyan ako ng 84! She said we can write about anything of interest to us, and I wrote about the coelecanth. I was glad it was over when it did, but my grade was really low. Sa inis ko, naaalala ko pa rin yun pag grades ang napag-uusapan hahaha. Hwag mo nalang tanungin grade ko sa Math :-)

rolly said...

Ate Wi Oo nga e. Marami pa ring mahilig sa mabilisang trabaho, kung matatawag ngang trabaho yun? Trabahong pabalbal. In this day and age, our greatest enemy as a people is mediocrity. We need to pursue excellence talaga.

Metal Nakakahiya talaga. Sana naman nahiya nga yung may kagagawan nito. Kasi mukhang dumadami makakapal na mukha ng Filipino e.

Cerridwen Even if there's a new law against these copycats, it would be a long time before they heed the call for they are just plain hardheaded. Supposedly, if these guys have done their homework, they would know that claiing somebody else's work as their own is forbidden by the academic world. And that's being taught as early as elementary...

Ver Maramomg salamat ha.

Julsitos There seems to be a slight difference between your dvd piracy and plagiarism. With the piracy you're advocating, the artists are being deprived of more income. But there is no attempt in making people believe the authorship be made bogus. May pagkakaiba , di ba?

Mec Thanks ha. Oo nga, malaki nawala saking risks. Atsaka gumanda pakiramdam ko. hehe

Mari, Talagang pathetic. kaya lang nadadaan yata sa suhol yung mga authorities e.

Sachiko None at all! That was long overdue, actually.

Transience Thanks. Once a teacher, always a teacher, i guess.

Bugsybee I will have to disagree. We do emphasize morals and ethics in schools... it's just that the learners don't seem to imbibe it. Syempre pa,nakikita sa mga political intercourse. Thanks for dropping by.

Watson I will have to qualify my answer. Hndi porke abstract e free for all na. We still have to look at certain criteria like balance, volume, color harmony, etc. That is a big misconception na porke abastract yung trabaho pihado pasado na. Akala nang marami ganon ka simple yun.

rolly said...

Bugsybee I have a different opinion. Yes, we do have a lot of run-of-the-mill schools but I have yet to see one that openly declares what you're saying, at least in basic education, ha. i would like to believe that the morals they teach are basic, it's jsut that the students don't listen as they can't find the relevance of what they're being taught as reality is a far harsher tutor of life than sugar-coated curricula n schools.

Dyempot Went to visit the site you linked here. I have a pretty good idea who you are but would not like to bet my bottom dollar just yet as it might explode on my face. hehe

Thanks for dropping by and leaving a line or two guys.

rolly said...

Renan I was trying to look at your post and the comments but I don't think I have enough time. i'm at work and kaya isinisingit-singit ko lang sa trabaho para di ako antukin. Can you provide me na lang yung exact words?