Academic Integrity in Poland: A Culturally Sensitive Code of Ethics Proposal

The chosen topic does not appear to be a central social problem in Poland, but it is an area in which certain characteristic features are manifested. It is possible that this has to do with a certain 'habit of finding solutions' and a desire to avoid supervision by superior authorities. Starting from the historical legacy of the struggle against totalitarianism, the article explores the difficulties that have arisen in shaping attitudes of honesty among pupils and students. Poland, as a country with a rich history, faces a unique challenge related to the perception of cheating as a manifestation of resourcefulness and sometimes even heroism. The aim of this article is to explore the problem of cheating in Polish schools as a significant social phenomenon. Specifically, to understand why some students choose to cheat, and what social mechanisms drive them to do so. Furthermore, what is aimed at is to show the perspective of different actors involved in education, such as students, teachers, parents and the educational system as a whole. The article is based on an analysis of literature, statistics, results of ground research and case studies. What is wanted is to draw attention to the specific challenges of shaping academic integrity. Also, in order to get a comprehensive perspective of the problem, the experiences of students, teachers and parents are examined. Based on the collected data, it is proposed to create a culturally sensitive code of ethics developed on the principles developed from the documents of Catholic Social Teaching that takes into account the specificities of Polish society and educational culture. The proposal is based on the solutions found in the documents of the Catholic Social Teaching presented in Table 1 presented in the appendix to this article, which resulted from studies at The Faculty of Social Sciences, CREATE CST Toolkit as part of the CREATE programme at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas. The article also presents the methodology of Catholic Social Teaching in the key: see, judge, act, which in this case meant identifying possible solutions.