The Jason Arday scandal, part deux

[KatiePricesKnickers]

As the book launch is coming, let the discussion continue.

First thread: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5563599-the-jason-arday-scandal?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=share
This is lifted from the thread in the education section, which is an interesting summary
https://www.ian-leslie.com/p/the-great-and-unfortunate-story-of?r=8w0woc&triedRedirect=true

Or AIBU with not letting this fade away?

In the long term he has done us a huge favour. We all know that there are structural barriers in society that create disadvantage to different members of our society and we need to positively address these. But he has shown that that shouldn't be done at all costs to bypassing checks and standards, because if it is, it becomes meaningless and ultimately negativity impacts on others. Also, maybe the elite that sit on these panels might start having to take some accountability for their decisions.

The stories he told are so unbelievable I've seriously considered if this is the case and he's an actor playing a part for the experiment.

I am certain that there are plenty of white fantasists out there, and their frauds are just as egregious and should be equally pursued and punished.

But many people, me included, are particularly disappointed with this case because Arday deliberately and cynically exploited a desire to address inequalities, and those employing him and bestowing all these unearned honours could not see beyond of their nose because of this desire, with standards and academic integrity lying well down the list of priorities.

I thought the same
I mean just how far could he have pushed it. ?

He could have made Vice Chancellor of Cambridge 🤔

There are undoubtedly racists leaping in to comment on this (and it is extremely unfortunate that the first vocal complaint was by an outright racist).

But it should also be noted that race was a feature of positive conversation around Arday when he was appointed to the professorship (youngest black professor will work to widen university access to black students etc), therefore when questions are being asked about how someone so woefully unqualified for the position - even before you start on the fraud - was appointed, race does arise as a potential question. It would be dishonest to ignore that.

"Welcoming the appointment, Professor Bhaskar Vira, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education at the University of Cambridge, said: "Jason Arday is an exceptional scholar of race, inequality and education. He will contribute significantly to Cambridge’s research in this area and to addressing the under-representation of people from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds: especially those from Black, Asian, and other Minority Ethnic communities."
"His experiences highlight the barriers faced by many under-represented groups across higher education and especially at leading universities. Cambridge has a responsibility to do everything it can to address this by creating academic spaces where everyone feels they belong."
"We are making extensive efforts in this regard – including the expansion of the ‘Get In Cambridge’ programme which provides financial support to address systemic disadvantages and the lack of social and educational capital which often constrains the ability of minority ethnic students to continue with their education. A great deal remains to be done and Jason’s expertise will inform and enhance these ongoing endeavours.""

https://faculty.educ.cam.ac.uk/230223-jason-arday

You want to know how he achieved his deception
Because anyone who questioned it was labelled racist without any objective investigation and still are in some quarters. The first response from Cambridge was it is a 'vile racist vendetta'. A well known way of shutting down scrutiny. A response to genuine questions from a respected journalist in the field of acedemia was to make a report to the police, there was a letter of support from colleagues days before he resigned saying it was all racially motivated, students who said he wasn't up to the job were labelled racist and shut down.
So that's the fundamental problem. What basis did those colleagues have for writing that letter. They just defaulted to it must be racist and we need to offer support. Why did the Met investigate a journalist for sending an email asking questions. Why were student complaints dismissed. Why was Cambridges first response to say it was all racist.
That's why this is different. Shutting down the scrutiny because of unfounded accusations of racism.

Oh, you don't like people you think are better than you.

Indeed but fantasists and fraudsters always exploit human vulnerabilities. Many white men or white women are believed because they are white men or white women and they exploit that. So it is not so much the race, it is about the skill of these people in executing such deception and our human vulnerabilities in buying their lies.

Looking at it through a slightly different lens; why were some of the most famous serial killers so effective at charming their victims?

Fantasists leave a world of destruction in their wake. We should not measure the devastation of the victims based on why the were fobbed off. We should be outraged by these people regardless of their colour or gender. Not all black men would have gotten away with what Jason Arday has done. Not all white men would have gotten away with what Abagnale did. There is something about Arday, as with other fantasists that make them very good at conning people.

There should be better systems and checks in place that reduces the risk of so many people falling for this nonsense. However, fantasists and con artist will always be with us. Jason Arday today, there will be more tomorrow. Stopping "woke" won't change that. It may reduce the possibility of a non-white fantasists achieving this wide scale deception (and potentially make it easier for other fantasists as the human vulnerability will now be a hyperfocus on non-whites).

He did not achieve it through cries of racism. You mean the deception lasted longer than it should have because accusation of racism was used to try and silence people. However, that clearly did not work. There is always a reason why these fantasists carry on their deception for longer than they should have. So if racism is the reason why a black man or black person is able to carry on their deception, what are the reasons why you think the others I have name were able to carry on their deception for so long? Is accusations of racism a worse reason for why fantasists are able to carry on their harmful ridiculousness? Or should we only be outrage when accusations of racism is the reason for the deception to carry on for a length of time?

There is always a reason why whistleblowers are intimidated into silence. Are you only outraged when it is racism? Do you feel just as aggrieved when it is sexism or religion or when the person is a powerful white man?

And it's not just the obvious plagiarism - the piece of work itself is very poor indeed. His data comes from a sample of only 4 students and is based on "discussions" with them. It's poorly written and absolutely riddled with sentences that do not make sense.

The thesis title and premise is well below even undergraduate degree dissertation standard.

So his research methodology was unsubstantial?

He's stuck a number of quotations in, allegedly from 4 trainee teachers. Some of his quotations are extraordinarily similar to ones in the thesis he has massively plagiarised.

As data, quotations are extremely subjective (and not verifiable...).

The whole thing stinks. As does LJM carrying out a 'private' investigation into accusations of plagiarism. Damage limitation for them. Charlatans.

Completely agree. Arday won’t be the only one. My mother was a lecturer (at a former poly university) in her early 40s and managed 3 years before trying to return to her previous line of work. She’s one of the most down to Earth people I know and I’m unsurprised she didn’t feel like she fitted in. The stories she told me about the one colleague in particular reminded me of what I’ve read about Arday. I met this colleague once and he was an obvious fantasist/bullshitter. You would have thought the guy was a superhero by night the way he went on.

I briefly did a support job at another university supporting the investigation of student complaints and conduct issues. I struggled to keep a straight face most days.
I was amazed the academics I dealt with managed to survive outside of the university’s walls. Naïve doesn’t even begin to come close to describe them!

Oh that’s utterly convincing

What did you think of Arday’s claim of a masters from Birkbeck on the video you watched?

I was reminded of Gilbert and George.

4 students! Yet the gormless lady greeting him said his research was the best of the best. What planet was she from. Perhaps her CV is a similar load of twaddle?

Great sample size that 😆 🤣

Hounding this man and making the reason something to do about the university being "woke" conveniently ignore the myriad of instances where reputable organisations and people have been conned by white men
It is because of all those white conned men exposed in the past that institutions are now operating under a myriad of policies to significant reduce the risk.

So the question is: did this outrageous case manage to skip through it all on a majestical scale because of him meeting at least 4 protected characteristics that as the name indicate means he was prote Yes?

If so, it's become a high profile case because of the implications of the law protective people that are at risk of committing crimes, and where does protection of that person falls Vs the protection of the public and society.

Didn’t get that far. Kept falling asleep. I couldn’t stay awake in one of his lectures tbh.

As I said yesterday, I investigated 7 Up - or 14 Up 2000 and he is the right age. The Mail and Telegraph trumpeting that the documentary was made DECADES before he was born is erroneous. Or wilful misinformation.

I’m not an investigative journalist but if I had time I bet I could debunk every silly exaggeration.

It’s all speculation. Like Meghan’s wedding bouquet endangering Princess Charlotte. All gibberish. Witch hunt.

As for the nonverbal thing, I used to teach diagnosed nonverbal twins; only they weren’t: selectively mute but I often heard them chatting to each other and to friends.

The human brain can convince itself of anything if it’s motivated enough and there’s nothing more motivated than a gutter journalist sent to dig dirt.

Silly season news.

Remember when Ed Milliband’s dad was “The Man Who Hated Britain”? ( Daily Mail, October, 2013) or when they drove teacher Lucy Meadows to suicide? Daily Mail, Richard Littlejohn, March 2013. Evil Bastard.

This is how it works : find a little fault or inconsistency, cite a school friend, a neighbour, ex employee, anyone really, who “prefers not to be named” and low and behold you’ve built a case.

Give it a double page spread, splash it on the front page, get the bots to say the same witty little jibes over the socials and it must be the truth.

Tell a lie often enough and it will become the truth. I used to think that was Banksy but apparently it was Joseph Goebbels.

It’s shameless what the right wing press do and IPSO stands by and does nothing.

I don’t even care much about Jason Arday, he seems like another dull education pundit who writes long winded theses that have little to do with the reality of teaching. But I do care about the spread of lies, half truths and disinformation because it’s holding everyone except the ruling classes down.

If you watched it, the guy sounds genuine enough. I mean, he’s risking being sued by Carter-Fuck if he’s slandering Arday.

Well, this Times Higher Education journo, politely asked a few searching questions of Arday as he suspected plagiarism. He got a a call from the cops, suggesting that his enquiries were racially motivated. I doubt any student would have dared question Arday'a credentials. https://www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/i-was-reported-police-over-arday-case-i-was-just-doing-my-job

You’re wrong about the 14up. 14 up was a follow up of 7up (2000). Arday is too old to have been part of it.