List co-owner hat on:
As a broad church list, this thread is of real interest to some members but
not others.
In my view I think we have pretty much exhausted this topic but for those of
you who want to pursue a special interest, do contact Duncan OFF LIST
No censorship here. If anyone has something NEW to add, please post to the
general list, but I know from when we last visited the
examiners-as-publishers discussion more heat than light is generated by
repeating the same points.
And this is a list about teaching and learning. Members mainly want postings
on how to improve the classroom experience.
Regards
Richard Young
AST Teacher of Business Studies, Economics & ICT
Wood Green School
Woodstock Road
Witney OX28 1DX
Tel 01993 702355
Fax 01993 708662
www.woodgreen.oxon.sch.uk
BECTa/Guardian Secondary School Web Site of the Year 2001
[log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: For teachers and lecturers interested in curriculum issues
affecting the te [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Duncan Williamson
Sent: 07 July 2002 07:13
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Chris Sivewright's posting - a topic of interest for sensible
discussion?
Dear All,
The debate on the examiner's role, outside activities and so on has been
interesting for me. For those interested I have prepared a paper on conflict
of interest and insider dealing and at the end of that case I have added a
case study complete with questions that could be of use to many of you.
The case study centres around the contents of the email that Richard
distributed a few days ago: the scenario that Chris Sivewright put together
on the fictitious/anonymous Mr A. With Chris Sivewright's knowledge and
permission I have edited and used this scenario in my paper, I have also
added a series of questions that help the user to tease out the main issues
from the point of view of: the questions are
1 Examine the case study from the point of view of:
a) Potential conflict of interest
b) Potential insider dealing breaches
c) Potential ethical problems
2 If you were the Examinations Board, how would you respond to this case
study?
3 If you were the Government, how would you respond to this case study?
4 If you were a teacher how would you respond to this case study?
5 If you were a publisher and were told that you could not reproduce the
examination papers in Subject X, how would you respond to the revelation
that Mr A has sole publishing rights of them?
6 How would you advise the National Television Broadcasting Company on this
matter?
7 How do you think Mr A should respond if you pointed out to him the
potential problems revealed in your answer to question 1?
8 How should students of Subject X respond to this case study?
I must stress that I am using this case for illustrative purposes only and I
am making no judgement whatsoever on this case. Moreover, as far as I am
aware, I do not know if some or all of it is based on fact: Chris himself
has added the rider that any resemblance to anyone, living or dead ... along
the lines of the disclaimers that we see at the cinema and on the
television.
The paper itself looks at conflict of interest in detail: the overwhelming
conclusion is that all right thinking people and organistaions believe that
the mere POTENTIAL for conflict of interest is suffiicient for people to
act, let alone actual conflicts. I have used conflict of interest
information and policies from
the UBC Centre for Applied Ethics.
the American Society of Exercise Physiologists
ethicalcorp.com
the House of Lords in their judgement on Bolkian v KPMG (House of Lords)
1998
The Guardian newspaper
the House of Commons
As for insider dealing, I have concentrated less on this than I have on
conflict of interest; but there are aspects of insider dealing in the
examiner case. For insider dealing I have used
the Financial Services Authority
http://www.bawe.de
The Washington Post Company
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/business/DailyNews/insidertrading_020624.html
Again, the overwhelming concensus vis a vis insider dealing is that it is
illegal and immoral.
Finally, I am not passing judgement on anyone as far as this case s
concerned: my sole motivation is that these areas became of personal
interest to me and I think Chris Sivewright's case has enormous potential
for debate in the context of the topics I have incorporated in my paper.
Indeed, I have made no comments in the paper to the extent that I think the
examiner in the case has done anything right or wrong. I have written the
paper to be informative and instructive in the hope that it will lead to a
useful debate for anyone using it.
My paper will be posted on my site, of course, but if anyone would like a
copy of it sent direct to their InBox, write to me OFF LIST and I'll happily
oblige.
Best wishes as always.
Duncan Williamson
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Riley" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, July 04, 2002 3:07 AM
Subject: Re: Chris Sivewright's posting - a topic of interest for sensible
discussion?
> At the risk of appearing completely thick (or confirming your suspicions)
> [delete as applicable]....
>
> ...what exactly is the "Valuable Information" that can be gleaned from
> paying to spend a few hours in the company of the AQA Chief Examiner
> Business Studies?
>
> Surely the Chief Examiner has a contractual obligation to his employer not
> to disclose any information that might prejudice the integrity of any
> forthcoming examination.
>
> If there is any real evidence that Mr A has breached his contract by
> disclosing such information, then it is a disciplinary issue that should
be
> brought to the attention of the AQA and other relevant bodies. There
would
> also be public interest issues raised in such a case. In which case we
> should be passing the issue onto some appropriate educational journalists.
>
> On the other hand, it might just be that these subscription conferences
are
> all about raising educational standards. Identifying (the many) ways in
> which candidate performance can be improved. Providing new insights into
> both the teaching of Business Studies and the real-life issues faced by
> businesses. By bringing students and/or teachers together, such
> conferences might also be successfully building a stronger sense of
> community amongst people with an interest in Business Studies. Raising
the
> profile of the subject and bringing like-minded people together.
>
> In which case we should applaud such initiatives, not ridicule them.
>
> So the question is more about what Mr A actually says (or writes) than
what
> he "could" say or write
>
>
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