Using the Low Ground to Get High: The Pedagogic Value of Teaching Plagiarism

The discourse around plagiarism usually advocates a range of approaches from punitive to developmental. I argue, however, that the practice of plagiarism is a rational response to the complexity of learning academic discourse, and that it presents a student-owned learning asset that teachers should exploit. Instead of suppressing plagiarism as the first resort, its techniques should be taught as a platform for the acquisition of legitimate...