by J.C. Vogen

Created on: November 12, 2008   Last Updated: March 23, 2011

What does it mean to place the act of competition into an educational setting? Are students competing for knowledge, or perhaps intellectual supremacy? To answer this question, one needs to examine the end result of this competitive process, namely the grades and test scores received by students. Students are not competing for the actual knowledge which is being presented, the goal is to give all students access to this knowledge. Nor are students competing for any form of intellectual supremacy since the reward received is in the form of a grade or test score which does not necessarily accurately reflect the intellectual proficiency a student possesses. It then seems that the only object which students are competing are the test scores and grades which a student earns.

If a student is forced to stay up all night before an exam by a scenario outside of the student's control such as personal family issues, an illness, or perhaps an unfavorable living situation which results in a poor exam grade the next day, the student's performance will still be viewed in comparison to his or her classmates whose circumstances may have been more ideal to optimizing their performance. Yet the grade received by the sleep deprived student is still marked down on paper as a representation of the intellectual attributes this student possesses. If this process happens on a consistent basis for any given student, they may find themselves suddenly being put into classes which cater to 'slow learners', when in reality this will only result in a student feeling demeaned and will prove detrimental to his or her self confidence.

Third grade was the first year which my school began giving standardized tests. I thought these endless sheets of circles which you are forced to fill in were not important since they did not affect your grade in the classroom. Needless to say, I soon found out that standardized tests do not test your ability to make patterns on a bubble sheet. My parents were shocked when they were informed that I needed to attend a class designed to help students who lack adequate reading comprehension skills. I dreaded the twice weekly shame I encountered as the special reading assistant would come pick me up from class. Even though I knew my reading skills were above that of the average third grader, I also knew my peers viewed me as intellectually inferior since I had to attend special sessions with the learning facilitator.

I do not believe competition cannot coexist with

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