The+Cheating+Culture

A nonfiction book in which the author argues that cheating, while ostensibly condemned by American culture, is actually rewarded, and even encouraged in many places in our nation. The book offers numerous examples of this with the middle part looking at the Enron and Worldcom scandals and the last part of the book focussing on cheating in schools on both state tests and the SAT and AP tests. Recommended for high school students, grades 10-12 in a setting where they are looking at controversial issues. Might work best in small reading groups, or for a class to read only sections of it as the middle section on corporate scandals is not something the students remember and as such feel the author drags his point out.
 * __ THE CHEATING CULTURE: WHY MORE AMERICANS ARE  DOING WRONG TO GET AHEAD  __ **  **Author: David Callahan; Copyright 2004** **Katherine Bouta and Margaret Salisbury**


 * Links to various articles and sites dealing with issues from the book:**

//Interview with author in which he discusses his book:// []

//Site discussing the book in general:// [|http://www.cheatingculture.com] [|/]

//Site which discusses plagiarism and students as well as other ethical issues:// **Can Ethics Be Taught?** [See his web site for further discussion]

//Last part of book discusses the issue of cheating on state and national standardized tests. Some articles that are about that issue in different states:// [] []

REVIEWS:The following discusses the book and also addresses the problematic "solutions" raised by Callahan in chapter 9. []

Without infringing on copyright, this article outlines substantive support for critical inquiry in defining ethics. Quoting from the American Association of American Colleges and Universities definition of critical thinking as “as a habit of mind characterized by the comprehensive exploration of issues, ideas, artifacts, and events before accepting or formulating an opinion or conclusion” (34) Henning discusses and outlines two classroom strategies. In Ms. Henning’s article she outlines the following areas taken from Richard Johnson-Sheehan in //Technical Communication Today:// She then discusses and reproduces a visual //representation of// Lloyd Bitzer’s Rhetorical Situation for Ethical Inquiry. Her classroom strategy contains six questions of ethical inventory as they connect to Johnson-Sheehan’s ethical categories. (37) She then segues into the ethical question star, with explanations of how the class develops and explores an ethical question and establishes their own list of values. (37-39) I would suggest that when planning a unit on some of the issues suggested by Callahan’s book, Dr. Henning’s lesson cited below would be an effective beginning for developing introspective discussion among the students before assigning or studying a specific ethical issue. By facilitating meaningful class discussion, collaborative peer writing and finally individual writing, the opportunity for students’ cognitive development becomes possible. Depending on your class construct, the lesson includes additional resources that you may find effective to develop persuasive writing activities beyond the Callahan book. READ WRITE THINK CONNECTION: []
 * Recommended article as a primer to teaching a unit on ethics:**
 * “Ethics as a Form of Critical and Rhetorical Inquiry in the Writing Classroom” Teresa Henning**
 * //English Journal// 100.6(2011):34-40**
 * //English Journal// 100.6(2011):34-40**
 * 1) “personal ethics,” which are defined as “values derived from family, culture and faith” (Johnson-Sheehan 96);
 * 2) “social ethics,” which are defined as “values derived from constitutional, legal, utilitarian, and caring sources” (96); and
 * 3) “conservation ethics,” which are defined as “values that protect and preserve the ecosystem in which we live” (96).

http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson-docs/EthicalInventoryQuestions.pdf http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson-docs/EthicalQuestionStar.pdf


 * POSSIBLE PERSUASIVE WRITING ASSIGNMENT** (used in an AP Composition class): have students analyze the persuasive techniques Callahan uses in his book. Some possibilities are his use of telling his background to establish ethos, use of statistics, explanation of where his statistics come from, stories of individuals, citing ethicists and historians. His bibliography at the end is extensive as well. One can look at his tone and vocabulary after identifying his audience (middle to upper class, educated) and see how he uses that to be persuasive as well. At the end the student can discuss whether he/she found the techniques personally persuasive (did he/she agree with Callahan?).