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Should There be a Place for Competition at School?
 | Alla Fontanova,
mother of three adult children, RWCT program certifier, Moscow, Russia |
Does it make sense to promote competition in school?
I do not really welcome this idea, as any competition or contest produces not only winners but also losers. The losers suffer, especially when they are defeated again and again. A chronic loser is likely to end up having no faith in him- or herself at all.
In what spheres do we usually encourage competition at school? Primarily in acquiring knowledge, skills, and leadership qualities. All these can be developed in students in many different ways, with the help of a thoughtful teacher. We can hardly expect to develop leadership skills by demonstrating to someone that he or she is not a leader. And perhaps not everyone even needs to be a leader in life.
As a mother of three children, I know that all children are different, even in the same family. They develop and change greatly, intellectually as well as physically, and amaze us with their thoughts and ideas. But for all of this to happen, children need encouragement, love, and trust. And that, it seems to me, should be the fundamental mission of schools.
Many people would argue that competition is part of our life, so children need to be prepared for it. Still, I do not think that this preparation should consist of endless rivalry. A person doesn’t learn to win by losing over and over again.
To prepare our children for the competition of the adult world we need to value their unique qualities and talents, to help them discover their personal strengths, to have faith in them, and to teach them to have faith in themselves.
 | Artashes Samaryan,
psychologist, Youth Center for Women’s Initiatives in Sevastopol, Ukraine. |
Is there a place for competition in school? Sure there is. While, in theory at least, the supply of good grades is unlimited, other resources, such as the teacher’s attention or social standing among peers, are limited, and the children have to compete for them. The behavior of first-graders is a good example of this point: During recess they cling to their teacher, trying to touch her and ask her questions. The teacher’s attention is a vital resource for them. High school students are more concerned with the respect of their peers. (Of course they compete for their teacher’s attention too, but they do so more discreetly, concealing their bids from their classmates). In fact there are many things—besides grades—for which students may compete in school. And it has to be this way: They must learn to compete, since after graduation not many of them are going to get their place in the sun without fighting.
However the level of competition should not exceed a certain threshold, otherwise the students may tend to push aside others in their struggle for the needed resource. Such behavior becomes a hindrance to the learning process and inevitably results in conflicts that end up involving teachers, parents, and other students. To avoid such conflicts, some intervention is needed.
As a psychologist, I worked for a few years with high school students within a sex education program for boys. At the beginning of our work a predictable problem emerged: the first 10–15 minutes of each session were spent entirely on self-affirmation. The boys were showing off and “strength testing” me. Only after they had affirmed their positions in this competition for prestige among peers, were they ready to start working. As the entire course was only eight hours long, it would have been costly to waste an hour or two on these “male games”. I had to find some way to make this ritual serve our long-run objectives.
Having considered several possibilities I decided in favor of the popular game “Mafia”. If unfamiliar, its rules may be found in the Internet—http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mafia_(game). Now at the beginning of our sessions, instead of squabbling and exchanging caustic remarks, the teenagers were busy finding out who were more resourceful, observant and eloquent, the Mafia or the Townspeople.
How did I benefit from this activity?
As the division of the class into either Mafia or Townspeople was based on chance, the class leaders were placed on par with their less popular, or lower-status peers, creating favorable conditions for further teamwork. The boys’ need for self-affirmation was satisfied, and the activity enabled me to transform what had been blunt competition among the students into a cheerful game which was satisfying to win, but not hurtful to lose.
Employing the natural tendency of students to compete with each other (instead of checking them all the time in a vain effort to restrain the rivalry) and making their competition work in a more productive direction – this is what seems to me the best solution for school. How this can be achieved in a particular classroom depends basically on the teacher’s choice, students’ age, and the subject taught. Of course, the teacher will first have to find time and select the methods and materials that would best fit the purpose, but consider the amount of time and strength it will allow you to save in future! Try it out; I’m sure you’ll soon see the benefits.
 | Ilya Zhivotovsky
is a teacher of Hebrew and Assistant Principal in School #1299 (ORT Jewish school) in Moscow, Russia. |
It was not long ago that a school had only to impart a certain amount of knowledge to its students, without caring too much about the future successes of its graduates. Today, the situation has changed greatly. It’s not that knowledge has decreased in value, but rather that expectations have increased. It is no longer considered sufficient to possess a store of knowledge—an individual today should also be able to analyze facts and draw conclusions, be fluent in several languages and comfortable with modern technologies, and have the social skills necessary for team work. Competitiveness, the ability to demonstrate that “I’m better than the others,” is no less important; and to compete successfully requires skill in defining problems and finding imaginative solutions. A piece of advice sometimes attributed to Einstein is relevant here: “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.”
To fulfill both the requirements of the time and the needs of the children, schools will certainly have to incorporate elements of competition into the teaching/learning process; this can be done by means of business games, or classroom discussions, or student government. Students need to learn not to be afraid of competition; they should know their own worth and be able to accurately assess their own abilities. This is a difficult task, and teachers who want to help students cope with it will have to be highly professional, intellectually flexible, and resourceful.
In the school where I work, elements of competition are a part of our curriculum. We arrange annual intramural competitions—we call them project days or theme weeks (the latter being devoted to particular disciplines); our students also participate in Moscow citywide contests and interdisciplinary tournaments (such as the Lomonosov Science Tournament), where the prizes include inter-national travel and invitations to participate in international competitions. This is a good incentive not only for the participants, but for their friends too. Even students who have never shown much interest in learning tend to become motivated when they see that their friends’ efforts have won them recognition, both inside their own school (which is important enough!), and beyond.
Another serious incentive for our students is our four-month international exchange program with a U.S. school in Detroit. As with similar programs in other parts of the world, it is our best students who are given the opportunity to participate. Now that our first exchange students have returned home and shared their impressions of their trip, we notice that many of the other students are inspired to do their best, in both academics and extracurricular activities. They realize that if they work hard, striving to improve themselves and surpass their classmates, their efforts are not wasted. Along with their teachers’ and parents’ praise, and a possible trip to another country, an important bonus is their own growing confidence and self-reliance.
Thus, the often abstract and intimidating term competition is understood as something concrete and accessible, and can encourage students to make the most of their abilities and resources to become better—to become the best.
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