Episode 1: Ethics in Education — Cheating

What does it really mean to “cheat” in education—and why does it happen so often?

In this first official episode of The Edge, educators Deborah “Debbie” DeLisle and Ponnie take a hard look at cheating—not as a simple moral failure, but as a signal of deeper systemic breakdowns. Drawing from lived experience across education systems in the U.S. and communities connected to Johannesburg, they explore the pressures, fears, and inequities that push students and families into survival-mode decision-making.

This conversation asks difficult questions: Who is truly responsible when cheating occurs? What happens when success is valued more than learning? And how do policies and institutional expectations quietly incentivize dishonesty?

Rather than focusing on punishment, this episode examines the real roots of cheating—and what it would take to repair trust, restore integrity, and create education systems where people no longer feel the need to cheat to survive.

Because when cheating becomes common, it’s not just an individual problem.
It’s an ethical one.

Episode 1: At the Edge of Education

Welcome to The Edge—a new podcast where honest conversation meets global perspective.

In this first episode, educators Deborah “Debbie” DeLisle (Tennessee, U.S.) and Ponnie ( Johannesburg, South Africa) introduce themselves, share how this cross-continental collaboration came to be, and name the questions that pulled them to the edge of conventional thinking about education.

This isn’t a podcast about lesson plans or test scores.

It’s about education as a force that shapes families, policies, power structures, and the future of our world—often in ways we fail to acknowledge. Together, we explore why so many systems meant to serve children feel broken, why families everywhere are struggling in eerily similar ways, and why real solutions may require conversations that feel uncomfortable, unconventional, and deeply human.

The Edge is a space for thoughtful tension, ethical inquiry, and bold questions—where we examine what happens when education is driven by fear and control… and what becomes possible when it’s rooted in trust, care, and responsibility.

This episode sets the tone.
The edge is where clarity lives.
Let’s begin.