Related Words:

Honor Conscience Honesty Trustworthy
integridad (Spanish) rechtscaffenheit (German) integriteit (Dutch) l'integrita (Italian)
de integridae (Portuguese) l'inte'grite' (French)

I. HOW STUDENTS CAN DEVELOP INTEGRITY:

A. Meaning:

“What Integrity Means” by Terry Cole-Whittaker: Integrity means to be who you are. Being true to one's self, one's values, beliefs, and standards is essential when it comes to spiritual success. Everywhere around us people and situations are pulling at us to forget our priorities and to follow unwanted and unproductive ways. That is why is is difficult to make the changes we would like. If we are to be, do and have what is important to us, we must be strong and courageous and therefore hold our own in any and all circumstances.

B. Personal Application & Examples:
http://www.school-for-champions.com/character/integrity_tcw.htm leads the reader through a few questions to help define integrity in their lives.

1. How can you be who you are and still please others? Is seeking approval worth it?
When we pander for approval from others and trade our values and beliefs for it, we will suffer the consequences. We do this only because we think that others have something that we want and to get it, we must be or do as they want. But let us ask this questions: “What will this cost me? is it worth it?”

2. Goals require sacrifices
Whatever we want to attain, we must let go of the lesser in order to obtain the greater. Old habits of thinking and behaving prevent us from manifesting our topmost desires and goals. There is no way that one can continue to behave as a victim and also become victorious.

3. Be true to yourself
Allowing others to determine what we think, feel, say and do means that we shall become as they are. “To thine own self be true,” is a must if we are to be all that we are capable of becoming. Once we can see how we are swayed this way and that by the desires, words and actions of others, we can begin to make progress. Then an inner resolve to be true to one's self, goals, ethics and principles needs to be made.

In conclusion, points to remember are:

• Avoid compromising situations.
• Keep your conversation on a high level and do not succumb to theirs.
• Keep your goal in mind and act accordingly.

II. HOW PARENTS CAN DEVELOP INTEGRITY:

1. Develop a “Family Code of Ethics” as a family and discuss the issue of honesty. Include consequences for breaking the code. Post the completed code in a central location and refer to it when appropriate.

2. Institute an honor system so that your children learn to monitor their own behavior and come to understand the concept of doing the right thing as its own reward. This could be tied to chores assigned to each family member, with a chart posted where everyone can record the completion of their own tasks.

3. Explain plagiarism to your child. Many students don’t realize that inserting information verbatim from an encyclopedia or the internet is against the law.

4. Don’t allow the burning of CD’s that are copyright protected by anyone in the family.

3. Be true to yourself
Allowing others to determine what we think, feel, say and do means that we shall become as they are. “To thine own self be true,” is a must if we are to be all that we are capable of becoming. Once we can see how we are swayed this way and that by the desires, words and actions of others, we can begin to make progress. Then an inner resolve to be true to one's self, goals, ethics and principles needs to be made.

5. Don’t engage in gossip, and don’t allow your children to do so.

6. Teach your child how to budget their money. A great deal of dishonesty results from the inability to pay debts.

7. All students know it’s wrong to cheat, but often feel pressured into less than honest behavior. Explain to your children that even if they aren’t caught copying someone else’s work, or letting a classmate copy theirs, an immediate problem may be solved but this will inevitably lead to others:

• Not learning important information included in the copied assignments;
• Not getting necessary practice, i.e., math processes, spelling.
• Failing tests based on the copied work, including those required to pass to the next grade.
• Lowered self-esteem that accompanies failure and the knowledge that you had to cheat to pass.

· It also doesn’t lead to any understanding of what they are “writing.” Monitor their work before they turn it in. Ask them questions about the factual content of what they’ve written. Do they know the answers?

III. SCHOOL ACTIVITIES TO DEVELOP INTEGRITY:

A. School Environment:

The Center for Academic Integrity is affiliated with the Kenan Ethics Program at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. the Center for Academic Integrity, has found that more than 75 percent of college students cheat at least once during their undergraduate careers. Particularly alarming is research gathered by Who’s Who Among High School Students indicating that 80 percent of high-achieving, collegebound students have cheated, that they think cheating is commonplace, and that more than half do not consider cheating a serious transgression. Not all the news is depressing. The Center for Academic Integrity’s research shows that campus norms and practices, such as effective honor codes, can make a significant difference in student behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs.

into community flourishes when its “ACADEMIC INTEGRITY IS A COMMITMENT, EVEN INTHE FACE OF ADVERSITY, TO FIVE FUNDAMENTAL VALUES: HONESTY, TRUST, FAIRNESS, RESPECT, AND RESPONSIBILITY. FROM THESE VALUES FLOW PRINCIPLES OF BEHAVIOR THAT ENABLE ACADEMIC COMMUNITIES TO TRANSLATE IDEALS INTO ACTION.”

The document on The Fundamental Values of Academic Integrity makes clear, academic integrity is essential to the success of our mission as educators. It can be ordered for $2.00 per copy or downloaded free at http://www.academicintegrity.org/pdf/FVProject.pdf.

The Center for Academic Integrity has developed seven recommendations that are appropriate to every institution of higher education. An academic institution should:

• Have clear academic integrity statements, policies, and procedures that are consistently implemented.
• Inform and educate the entire community regarding academic integrity policies and procedures.
• Promulgate and rigorously practice these policies and procedures from the top down, and provide support to those who faithfully follow and uphold them.
• Have a clear, accessible, and equitable system to adjudicate suspected violations of policy.
• Develop programs to promote academic integrity among all segments of the campus community.
• Be alert to trends in higher education and technology affecting academic integrity on its campus.
• Regularly assess the effectiveness of its policies and procedures and take steps to improve and rejuvenate them.

B. CLASSROOM EXAMPLES:

At http://www.lee.k12.fl.us/dept/curr/ce/integrity/00/integritybdy.htm# Activities many writing prompts and class activities are listed. Here’s a few for samples:

1. Students write letters to “Dear Abby” concerning issues of integrity/lack of integrity they have observed in their school. Other students answer the letter suggesting what can be done to correct the problem.

2. Discuss the value of integrity and answer the following questions:

• · What is integrity? What is honor? How is it achieved?
• · How does integrity relate to justice?
• · How does integrity create a positive relationship between people?
• · Why is integrity necessary?
• · What are some possible consequences of lack of integrity?

3. Writing Situation: Think about a time in your life when a friend talked behind your back and how you felt about it when you found out. Now write to explain the situation and your feelings.

IV. QUOTES & READING:

“One of the most important ways to manifest integrity is to be loyal to those who are not present. In doing so, we build the trust of those who are present.” by Stephen Covey

“The measure of a person's character is what he would do if he were never found out.” by Thomas Macaulay

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” by Ralph Waldo Emerson

“In matters of style, swim with the current, in matters of principle, stand like a rock.” by Thomas Jefferson

“The integrity of the upright guide them.” Proverbs 11:3

“Make yourself the kind of person you want people to think you are.” by Socrates

“Friendship with oneself is all-important, because without it one cannot be friends with anyone else.” by Eleanor Roosevelt

“It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.” by Andre Gide, 20th-century French writer

“Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.” by Abraham Lincoln

“Character, not circumstances, make the person.” by Booker T. Washington

For suggestions for reading lists http://www.pausd.palo-alto.ca.us/schoolsites/hays/Home/reading_lists/honesty_truth.htm about integrity, honesty and truth with summaries of each book included.

Character Corner compiled by Nancy Caggia, WCPTA Character Education Chair: nancyc121@nc.rr.com