by Joyce D. Sinclair

Created on: January 16, 2011

From the time we enter kindergarten, the mantra “You have to do well” is drilled into our heads.   We all notice the “bad” kids with varied avoidance as elementary students.  We talk about them in whispers as we notice they are retained when we all move to the next grade. 

As Americans, we’ve been taught that everything is a competition.  Everything from academics to sports to friends lists.  But is it necessary?  Have we really grown to be so extrinsically motivated that we can’t learn for learning’s sake? 

There are some educational theorists that believe by creating a competitive atmosphere amongst all students in a class, it would motivate the lower-ranked students to work harder to work their ways up through the rankings, thus receiving awards and accolades for their achievements.  But this is not the case for many students.  Many times, it discourages them, as they see that it’s impossible, or extremely difficult to say the least, to attain this kind of attention. 

Some principals and teachers have tried calling out the failing attention in front of the student body, or writing the names of rule offenders on the blackboard for all to see.  For a few, this may be deterrent enough, but for others these attempts at producing good students become psychologically tormenting.  These student start to accept their position as the “bad” kid and eventually start to believe that’s where they will always be. 

Many of the students who struggle academically tend to come from lower socioeconomic families.  Statistics show that many of these families also tend to have parents who struggled in school themselves and only have a high school diploma.  This makes it harder for some to give their children the extra help they may require due to their personal limitations in academics.  These parents may also be working two or three jobs or at night and do not have the time to spend with their children. 

While many businesses also adhere to this competitive atmosphere when it comes to job performance (in order to receive bonuses, raises, or promotions, for example), you will find the same attitudes amongst adults that you do when it comes to students. 

But does this competitive atmosphere make us better students or workers? On a whole, the answer is leaning towards no.  I think there are those whose personalities benefit from a competitive nature, and there are certainly academic competitions that are widely popular.  But there are more types that do not benefit, and in many cases would make it detrimental to learn in this type of work environment.  The best lessons learned and retained are those where there is a personal connection with the lesson and that the learner feels safe enough to make mistakes while learning.  Mistakes are part of the learning process, and not every learner learns at the same pace.  Some students are stronger in different areas than others.  To rank all students and compare them all to each other would be unfair, like comparing apples to beef Wellington. 

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