By continuing you agree to eChinacities's Privacy Policy .
Sign up with Google
Sign up with Facebook
Q: What do you do when you ctach a kid cheating on his test?
I caught a kid cheating for the second time in the semester. The first time I gave him a warning. This time I just took his paper and wrote a big "F" on it. I made a copy and gave him the copy and told him to have his mother come see me. The snobby rich mother came to see the principal instead of me and said she'd pull the kid out of the program if her kid got anything less than a B for subject (The test I failed him for would drop him into a C). The mother also reamed out the Principal for letting me embarrass her kid in front of his classmates. I did that deliberately so the other kids would not also think they could cheat without consequences. Are all principals so spineless in China?
9 years 11 weeks ago in Teaching & Learning - China
The way I see it is...
If you stop the kids cheating you will only make problems for yourself. Nobody will appreciate the positive life lesson you're trying to teach the kids, or what you're trying to do for academic integrity.The school, the student, the student's parents and friends and all the Chinese staff will say you're being unreasonable, it's not fair, you're bullying him, you don't understand China 
You'll probably piss off and alienate everyone, lose your job and the worthless brats who never went to class will still pass with A grades. What you see as a responsible work ethic they will see as some sort of attack on them, and therefore China.
If you look the other way you will be seen as a good teacher and employee, and maybe as a friend.
If Chinese society wants worthless idiots who never even went to class let alone passed a test being their doctor, designing their buildings and high speed railways, educating their kids,running their country and taking China into the future that's their choice, and their problem.
in the wet the kid would e made to do the test again or repeat the class
in China he will graduate with as many awards as his folks can buy
I'm glad to hear you sticking to your principles. Too bad the only principle the principal has is money. Keep making the bratty kid lose face until he shapes up. I hope you'll give an update on this situation.
Are you teaching at an international school? One where the fees are upwards of 100,000 annually? It sounds like it.
If so, then, in that case, yes, all the principles would be similarly spineless.
Why didn't you just do what I always do.....that is simply chuck the little bastard out the window.
it's best to look up the CFTU online handbook and operate according to that! In this type of situation the general response is to bend over and put your head between your legs and kiss your you know what. You'll probably get an official letterhead in the mail ASAP sorta like how Harry potter got them every time he broke a rule.
expatlife26:
Seems to me the best thing to do would be to execute the teacher as a traitor/cheater.
Good students can only know what their teacher tells them, so if they cheat there is no place else to learn from than their teacher who is then wholly responsible.
If it can make you feel better : I had the same thing in a public university/engineering school. Not kids, but 20 years old (students) to 30 years old (evening/week-end classes) guys
* Two guys who never went to my lectures somehow showed up at the exam. They looked very much in distress (open exam, all material authorized, zero rote learning questions). They gave an empty answer sheet, apart from their names and student ids. I gave them zero. They ended-up passing the exam, and got their diplomas. They were 2 university administration officers, who had to get a master diploma because of a new directive that above a certain level, all administration officers should have a master diploma. That's one way to fix problems and enforce laws...
* One guy who just got the answers from his neighbor. I came to them and asked WTF it was all about. I got the paper they used to exchange answers. I saw the guy who cheated was in such a deep shit (close to the end, it could at most score 1/10th points), I just scared them by noting their students IDs.
I don't have an answer for you, but you might consider finding a new job. I don't mean because you don't/won't like it where you are, but because of this incident, they might now be advertising your position for an immediate hire.
You said you were quitting this site. Are you a liar? Or have too many of your sock-puppet accounts been called out that you need to revert back to this one?
ScotsAlan:
yup. I have been accused of being a sockpuppet before, and I fought back against my accusers to clear my name. Some people just keep posting inane questions to sully the esl profession. And I post this as a non esl person. Lots of people out there believe in what they are doing. I support them. Not the dudes trying to drag the profession down. This is a general comment, not a targeted attack against the OP.
I make them squirm and knock off a noticeable part of their grade, but I do not fail them. If your students fail, you are a bad teacher because you did not teach your students how to pass your class.
China is easier when not taken seriously sometimes, I am afraid.
I had similar situation at a special public high school. I say this as they must pay tuition 20,000¥. Anyways, had one particular who didn't do shit, homework, participation, lied, skipped class, etc... While other students were diligent. I berated him in class, and basically made him make a public self criticism. Guess what, my thoughts were sound, confirmed he was the worst student in the school, confirmed by the Chinese staff. What I didn't know at the time is his mommy is vice mayor of the city, therefore you can conclude the rest of what happened to me. Lesson learned for me the teacher.
The way I see it is...
If you stop the kids cheating you will only make problems for yourself. Nobody will appreciate the positive life lesson you're trying to teach the kids, or what you're trying to do for academic integrity.The school, the student, the student's parents and friends and all the Chinese staff will say you're being unreasonable, it's not fair, you're bullying him, you don't understand China
You'll probably piss off and alienate everyone, lose your job and the worthless brats who never went to class will still pass with A grades. What you see as a responsible work ethic they will see as some sort of attack on them, and therefore China.
If you look the other way you will be seen as a good teacher and employee, and maybe as a friend.
If Chinese society wants worthless idiots who never even went to class let alone passed a test being their doctor, designing their buildings and high speed railways, educating their kids,running their country and taking China into the future that's their choice, and their problem.
Yes....they all cheat one way or another......agree with Stiggs....you will lose your job quick.....you don't want that to happen.....start looking now.....FUCK them before they FUCK you.....
Yes....they all cheat one way or another......agree with Stiggs....you will lose your job quick.....you don't want that to happen.....start looking now.....FUCK them before they FUCK you.....
Yes....they all cheat one way or another......agree with Stiggs....you will lose your job quick.....you don't want that to happen.....start looking now.....FUCK them before they FUCK you.....
You can reassure yourself with these 2 facts:
-Chinese diplomas are worth peanuts on the international market, every other countries know that the education system in China passes everyone. Chinese have 2 options to emigrate, money and marriage. Whatever skill they have can be found anywhere else, there is no remaining unique handcraft skills in today's China.
-He will very likely fail and give up during his first semester if he intends to go abroad to get a REAL degree later. Most Chinese students fail really hard when they enter REAL education systems in the West, less than 1% of them go beyond the first semester, most give up and go back to China with their head between their legs. In fact the only reason why most universities still accept students from Mainland China is money and the fact that most end up freeing a seat for another pigeon after a semester.
NiceBrice:
Do you have a source for that less than 1 percent figure? Seems kind of unlikely
royceH:
Yeah, 1% is not true but he's on the right track. The % is pretty high. I don't know but I'd guess...50%...maybe.
The thing is, most students studying abroad have such poor English that they spend their time in 'foreign' classes. And all the time paying plenty to do not much more than play with themselves on their phones.
Those that do succeed in graduating have usually spent their time leading 'Chinese' lives, studying 'b/s' degrees and return to China having wasted their parents' money.
They often return home only to cop a beating from their parents, as if this can somehow fix the problem.
A year later they're still living at home with nothing to do other than play with themselves.
Some will accept reality and take a job that they didn't need their o/s degree to obtain.
coineineagh:
Over 50%? Not likely. You're forgetting the motivation of money. I've met Chinese abroad, studying while hemorrhaging cash on education and other expenses. They know they must succeed, so they don't dick around. Their prior education didn't prepare them, but they have a hunger for those high grades and teacher approval that puts western students to shame. Overachieving uni students are possibly one of the few positive images China exudes that isn't all myth. Most Chinese families have an understanding of their kid, as being a spoiled unmotivated brat, or a kid with potential. Most families won't be so stupid as to send useless brats to real western education, where their guanxi can't buy degrees. International Schools in China are better to house brats and buy a western-equivalent degree.
It's a cultural issue. Losing face is big in Chinese culture. I've caught kids cheating, made contact with them discreetly during the test, pull them over after and told them:
1. I know you're cheating. I know how, and I pointed it out to you during the test.
2. Next time you do it I'll tell your parents.
3. ...Or the whole class (and I'd describe doing what you did to that kid).
Cheating is common in Chinese schools so such an immediate harsh punishment may come as a surprise.
It's a matter of culture. If they thought like us they'd hate themselves.
I did a small test with some students today...informal. Beforehand we talked about this 'culture' and they agreed that for this test they would not cheat.
Of course they couldn't help themselves. I told them I expected just this and, sadly, bad luck for them. Being Chinese, that is.
