I was recently talking to a colleague over lunch about some purely spectacular geography projects submitted by the most unlikely candidates. Some had subheadings dreamed up by a team of marketing execs while others rivalled last month’s feature article in National Geographic in terms of in-depth analysis and startling facts. What made them all the more surprising was that some of the projects belonged to students who normally functioned at a level 1. It was obvious that the parents had been extensively involved in the project and was made all the more evident when one called in to get some additional feedback.
We talked a lot about how to grade such an assignment and how it’s an awkward situation if one actually confronts the parent. One way to avoid the problem entirely is to break the project down into components (pre-research, graphic organizers, rough drafts, etc) all of which are graded and completed in class. That way, you can assume it is actually the students’ work and that there is not a miraculous transformation into a Nobel Prize-winning final copy. Although I was quick to condemn the many negative implications of the parents’ involvement, when I actually started to think about it, I remembered a few of my own school projects where my parents were definitely a part of the process. Without doing my actually work, they nonetheless made it a more enriching experience by taking me to museums, art galleries and the Science Centre to compliment my research. Thinking back to my own experiences made it less clear cut in my mind. Obviously it’s not ethical for the parents to actually be doing the work but at the same time, is it wrong for them to participate constructively from the sidelines to provide a more enriching and complimentary experience for their children?
