One of the earliest things that we may learn as a child is to know our right from our left, though judging by the way some drivers use their indicators it would seem many adults have not quite mastered this simple task. Later though we must graduate to the point of knowing what is right from what is wrong. Once again, that is clearly not something that has been mastered by many folk; such folk are like the one who said, “I just finally discovered what’s wrong with my brain: on the left side there is nothing right and on the right side, there is nothing left.”
By Tim Middleton
Let us examine this a bit further. It is exam season, after all! So here is our starter for 10: what is integrity? If we were to answer, “It is when us done bad” we would be wrong in terms of the answer and of the grammar. If we wrote, “It is when we have done something dishonest, unhelpful, demotivating, unnecessary or unkind”, we would be wrong in terms of the definition but right in the manner it is expressed. If we replied, “It is when we good done” we might be deemed to have got the right answer but written it in the wrong way. However, if we say in the simplest terms that “integrity is when we do the right thing correctly, consistently, completely”, we would have hit the integrity jackpot — we would have given the right answer in a right way. However, the real test of that understanding is when we not only say the right thing correctly but do the right thing correctly.
As an example, in an essay, we might write a totally inaccurate (even if extremely interesting) answer in a convoluted, disjointed and inaccurate way; we might produce a brilliantly articulate, reasoned, clever and concise piece which does not answer the question at all; we might provide all the relevant facts, arguments and points but in a clumsy, ungrammatical manner. None of those would bring us a pass. It requires us to say the right things in the right way if we are to achieve the desired consequence; the same is true in life, we must do the right thing right.
In a similar vein, if we look at identifying integrity through the prism of education, we would say that teaching facts through endless rote learning and note taking is doing the wrong thing in the wrong way; doing an outdated syllabus in an exciting, inclusive and relevant way is doing the wrong thing in the right way; finishing the correct syllabus but in an incomplete and inaccurate manner may be the right thing in the wrong way — none of those will help the child. We must provide the children with the right education (one that produces critical thinking, creativity, communication, collaboration and character) in the right way (by processing those same qualities).
The age-old acronym THINK can serve to assist us in, firstly, defining and then achieving integrity: is what we say and do True? Is it Helpful? Is it Inspiring? Is it Necessary? Is it Kind? It all begins and must be based on truth and honesty; so we need to read what is true; we must believe what we read; we must say what we believe; we must mean what we say; we must do what we mean; we must deflect what we do (after all, as CS Lewis once said, “Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching”). Only then will we achieve integrity and avoid its enemy, hypocrisy.
In brief, we might say that if we do the wrong thing in the wrong way, it is iniquity; if we do the wrong thing in the right way it may be seen as immaturity; if we do the right thing in the wrong way, it should be seen as incapacity; however, if we do the right thing in the right way, that is integrity!
We need integrity in education and we need an education in integrity. We need to show integrity and look at the way our schools are run, the way lessons are taught, the way sport is conducted, the way pupils are developed through the simple but profound microscope of integrity. We may well find we are still doing the wrong things wrong; we may be doing the wrong things right; we may be doing the right things wrong; none of those will be of any good. We must do the right things right.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
Winston Churchill once surmised that, “Perhaps it is better to be irresponsible and right, than to be responsible and wrong.” That may be but it is best to be both responsible and right; we must show integrity. We might say, “I could agree with you, but then we’d both be wrong”! Of course two wrongs do not make a right; we must ensure we get two rights. Do the right thing right. Right? And right now, we are looking for integrity — it is the right thing to do, after all. THINK about it.
l Tim Middleton is the executive director of the Association of Trust Schools [ATS]. The views expressed in this article, however, are solely those of the author in his private capacity and do not necessarily represent the views of the ATS.
