Chapter 5: Plagiarism, Poverty, Paucity, and Pastoral Care: Why Do Students Cheat and How Can We Help Them Not to Become Victims of an “Ecology of Vulnerability”?

Academic integrity is “the expectation that teachers, students, researchers and all members of the academic community act with honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility” (TEQSA, 2020). It is particularly manifested in forms of plagiarism and contract cheating (outsourced work for assessment, abrogating the students’ responsibility of authentic individual authorship). Bretag et al. (2020) found that students of non-university higher education providers (NUHEPs) were 12 times more likely than university students to report use of a professional academic writing service; and repeatedly Tracey Bretag and others (Bretag et al., 2019) insist that cheating behavior is a consequence of international students having English as a second language (ESL) rather than of culture. Yet, we have observed a propensity for some groups of international students to cheat with higher incidence than others, and as a Christian higher education (CHE) provider with a high proportion of international students, we are naturally keen to understand why students cheat and to help them adapt as swiftly as possible to the academic expectations of Australia where they are currently studying and may be employed in the future. Strategies, such as “naming and shaming” seem to be ineffective, negative strategies, both from the perspective of educational punishment and navigating the most ethical Christian approach to support and assimilation. Yet Christian ethics also require our unfailing commitment to integrity and equity in the treatment of students, and upholding scholarly quality, living “in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ” (Philippians 1:27), pursuing truth and honesty, teaching with patience and integrity, and modelling by good example (see also Titus 2:7).