Client Work Sounds Like a Homework Assignment

[monk_tara]

Hi guys! I'm not sure if I'm asking this question in the right place but if not, maybe you could point me in the right direction? I'm a curriculum developer and specialize in writing lesson plans and educational articles/blogs...I just completed a job for a client who requested a lesson plan for their tutoring service. I thought the lesson plan was needed for their business, but after reading their most recent message, I think the lesson plan I wrote may have been for a college assignment. As a former teacher and assistant principal, this goes against my personal code of ethics and I know it violates Upwork's Terms of Use. I already wrote the lesson plan, so what should I do? Thank you so much for your help in this matter! 

[prestonhunter]

You are welcome to decide for yourself to work on or not work on any type of project as long as it doesn't violate Upwork TOS.

I have no special expertise in your field, by isn't a lesson plan something that teachers and tutors use on a regular basis?

It is reasonable to expect that a lesson plan is not a homework assignment, but is something that is used by a teacher who hands out assignments.

I don't think you did anything wrong by accepting this assignment and doing the work.

If you feel that sending this work to the client would violate your ethics for any reason at all, then you may choose to not send it. But you also need to be willing to not be paid for the work.

This really is between you and the client, and between you and your conscience. You are not going to be able to ask Upwork to do something special on your behalf. You can not ask Upwork Customer Support if this is REALLY a lesson plan, or if it is a homework assignment.

You can tell the client:

"I appreciate the opportunity you gave me to work on this project, but I can not in good conscience send you this work. So I am closing the contract and refunding the money."

if you do that, I think the client will be gracious and let this go.

[monk_tara]

Thank you for your reply! I have written many lesson plans for clients that have been used by teachers and tutors so that is not a problem. 🙂 However, this client just messaged me and wanted me to also write a paper explaining the teaching style/strategies I used in the lesson plan...they sent a screenshot that looked a lot like the directions to a homework assignment. When I was an education major, I had to write lesson plans for most of my classes so this certainly could be for a college class...

[mwiggenhorn · Accepted solution]

If it looks like academic fraud to someone with experience like yourself, it most likely is.  Flag the message and/or the job post as "other" - academic fraud.

[monk_tara]

Ok, thank you!