As a recent Masters of Education graduate from University of Vancouver Island, Canada, I am writing this blog to share a project I created. In the onset of my program, I began to explore current research and academic discourse on the state of academic integrity in post-secondary institutions (and with Canadian institutions in particular). With the program encouraging a focus on equity in our research, I began to look at the current practices and policies of academic integrity through a critical transformative lens. This enabled me to gain an understanding of the ways in which these practices and policies at times contribute to negative academic integrity outcomes in these same institutions.
From this I decided to look at potential other models of academic integrity, and how restorative and decolonized practices may help staff, faculty, and institutional leadership reimage out current practices. From a desire to encourage further discussion and reflection, I decided to create a resource through which research and practices could be shared.
Resource: Decolonizing Academic Integrity
This resource aims to propose possible methods and means by which we can shift current practices in the classroom, in the administration of academic integrity policies and procedures, and among institutional leadership to create a more equitable and decolonized approach to academic integrity. This is an essential and urgent need within post-secondary institutions, due to the pivotal nature that they play to the well-being of our youth and our communities. If our educational institutions have positioned themselves as a “moral body” when determining the need for academic integrity, then there is also a requirement to ensure that these institutions are dedicated to equity and reconciliation.
The main purpose of this resource is to encourage reflection on the current concept and perceptions of academic integrity and our practices around fostering, discussing, and responding to academic integrity and academic integrity concerns in our institutions. More than anything the hope is that this resource will serve as a “jumping off point” for larger and more diverse discussions as to how we can decolonize our practices, both in regards to academic integrity and our larger assumed best practices regarding epistemological and pedagogical traditions in post-secondary.
Audience
The website has been divided into sections based on the reader. After some information around context, author positionality, terminology, and academic integrity worldviews readers may then review the section that best aligns to their sphere of influence in their own institution. There are sections for those who work in the classroom, those who would in academic integrity administration (such as academic integrity casework), and institutional leadership.
While these sections are offered to provide some clarity and accessibility, it’s also incredibly important to note that these silos often do not exist in practice. For example, the work of institutional leadership absolutely impacts the work of faculty and administrators – and often creates the environment for those other areas to flourish (and vice versa).
It’s important that we recognize the interconnected nature of our roles within institutions, move away from siloing practices, and understand the importance of a “whole-school approach”. This is a call to live relationally in our lives and work and to recognize that “all flourishing is mutual” (Kimmerer, 2013, p. 21).
Project Values
In the creation of this resource, there were three values that I sought to embed and uphold. These values were often a reflection as my 15-year experience as a university and college administrator. Those values were:
This resource is not meant to be the final say on the topic, nor is it meant to be prescriptive and universal. Post-secondary institutions throughout Canada (and throughout the world) are diverse in their needs, with different community needs and relations, and the work will need to be addressed to reflect the land in which the work is being done. My hope is that we can use this resource to make actionable steps in our own communities and share actions with others – to encourage us to truly and fully consider what a decolonized practice of academic integrity could be.
References
Kennedy, A., McGowan, K., & El-Hussein, M. (2019). Indigenous Elders’ wisdom and dominionization in higher education: barriers and facilitators to decolonisation and reconciliation. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 27(1), 89-106. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2020.1829108
Kimmerer, R. (2013). Braiding sweetgrass: Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge and the teachings of plants. Milkweed Editions.
Smith, L. T. (2022). Decolonizing methodologies (3rd ed.). Zed Books.
Erin Hagen is academic integrity specialist at the UBC Sauder School of Business, Vancouver, Canada.
The author’s views are their own.
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