Competition or Collaboration?
Competition or Collaboration?
Competition has been touted as human nature, but is it? This idea was first brought into question for
me by a book by the author and educator Alfie Kohn. It is called “No Contest: The Case AgainstCompetition.” I encourage anyone reading
this entry to check out this book and read it for yourself. He puts it more clearly than I would be able
to in this short post. It may be difficult
for many to accept the idea of eliminating competition from schools without
having read the book. I know it was for
me. If you don’t have the time to read
it, he has a great video lecture that touches on some of the points laid out in
the book. Long story short, competition is not only not
human nature, but it is detrimental to the classroom. Part of the reason this belief has gone so
long is because of who benefits from it.
By placing a culture of competition at the base of society, the people
at the bottom are constantly working against each other and so distracted from
looking at the true source of their issues, which are usually stemming from the
top. One false connection that is
constantly used is that of humans to the competitive and sometimes violent chimpanzees. Although we are both primates we should be
looking towards a closer cousin, the bonobo, for better understanding of our
nature. To learn more about this I would
recommend the book “The Bonobo and the Atheist,” by Frans de Waal. We are also constantly bombarded with media
that works to justify and encourage competition in every area of our lives.
So how has competition affected us in modern day society? You can see it in every aspect of our society
from business, to sports, to even dating.
We buy more and more expensive accessories and clothes, makeup and
hairstyles in order to beat out competitors in the dating world. We even have television dating games that
glorify this at a whole new level. In
business we have larger companies eliminating other businesses that we label as
competitors, either through putting them out of business or buying them
out. One good example of this is
WalMart. An in depth documentary
showcasing the cost of this practice is WalMart: The High Cost of LowPrices and here is a Frontline episode as well. Even within companies there are
winners at the top and losers at the bottom.
According to an article in Fortune magazine, American CEOs are making
more than 300 times that of the average worker in their company. Here is a list of the top 5 highest paid CEOs
in the US. While they make this much, their employees lack in health care benefits and
even in a livable wage. So why is all of
this acceptable? It’s because we have
grown accustomed to winners and losers in our schools. We are taught at an early age that it’s just
how the world works. Students get that
message at every level in every class, but it’s not how it has to be.
We can turn this trend around by transitioning our schools
to a collaborative environment. I’ve
been able to do this in my classroom by changing my review games from
competitive to collaborative. In P.E.
some might find it difficult to take competition out of the curriculum. Elementary school is many students’
introduction to different sports and activities so I see no need to make it
competitive at all. When I played
varsity basketball in high school my favorite activity was collaborative. Here is a video explaining that drill. And this can be done to teach the
fundamentals of all sports. In middle
and high school, P.E. teachers may insist on competition but I would say that
collaboration should still be what is emphasized throughout all of the
activities. So teams are constantly
mixed up and the challenge is not beating the other team, but figuring out how
to work together with a new group of people quickly. At the end the coach could debrief students
on what went well and what didn’t go so well and why. Then encourage students to thank the
classmates they were playing against for giving them this opportunity. In games now, that is when we say “good game,”
but I feel as though it loses more meaning each year as competition gets
stronger and the significance is not explained.
I would also
recommend that P.E. teachers teach dance as well, which could be taught in
collaboration with the Music teacher. That
would be even better because that models collaboration between adults to the
students. Dance is not only an exercise
in collaboration between dance partners, but also would benefit the children in
other ways. It would help prepare them
for social situations, like parties or school dances. I know I had a lot of anxiety growing up
because I didn’t know how to dance to certain songs. Dance can also teach students about local
and foreign culture.
I would get rid of all awards systems, such as student of
the month and even teacher of the year.
The issues with such programs are addressed in “No Contest,” and are
discussed in more detail in his other book, “Punished By Rewards.” These awards have a tendency to create
competition and resentment for those who beat out others. I noticed that in my schools, even with the
teachers who won the label of “Model Teacher.”
Instead students could practice personally showing appreciation for each
other. In my student teaching, I had the
pleasure of working with an amazing mentor who introduced me to the “Cheer Box.” The students would write a cheer to a
classmate. It would be in response to
help that was given, or well wishes, or get wells if someone was sick. This eliminated competition and helped to
improve the relationships between the students.
This could even be done with the teachers. In my
last title one school, the administrators encouraged teachers and staff to
submit acknowledgements of coworkers that we felt we wanted to celebrate for
whatever reason.
Now some may say that we are taking away all of the fun celebrations
and parties from the teachers and kids, like the cherished Award Ceremony. I think we should transition away from the Awards Ceremony, which celebrates all
of the winners over the losers.
In its place we could have another celebration celebrating learning. What I imagine is a table at the entrance
with notecards for students to write down what they were most proud of learning. They fill it out then paste it to a big wall
in the gym. Then the whole night is
celebrating how much the students learned throughout the year. There could even be a cheer or gratitude wall
where students wrote messages to teachers or staff who helped them in their
learning. And this event could double as a dance. This is a celebration that
every child could participate in and feel good about.
I have not touched on how we can move to collaboration in
every area of our schools, but that doesn’t mean the discussion has to end
here. I challenge you to think outside
the box and submit more ideas in the comment section. And if you disagree I also challenge you to voice your disagreement with some explanation so I can understand where you are coming from. Thank you for reading!
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