Competition in our schools is much different than it was a decade ago. Many people have very strong views on competition in schools. Some think that it’s bad and that it robs students’ self-esteem and increases their level of anxiety about their education. Then there are those who believe that it is not only beneficial to students, but vital to their overall education.
Competition plays an important role in academic achievement because it often encourages students to pursue excellence. Professional college acceptance is competitive, so students who have worked hard to be at the top of their high school classes only are supposed receive the reward of college admission of their choice.
Academic battles may pin individuals or groups against one another to determine who understands concepts or follows directions most effectively. These initiatives can have a number of positive and negative effects on academic achievement. Academic competition has its downfalls if it leads to high stress and anxiety, especially in younger students who aren’t equipped to handle the pressure.
Academic competition is advantageous when it challenges students to work harder on their studies and helps them get excited about academic content. They might retain more as they prepare for science quiz bowls, math club competitions, spelling bees and standardized tests.
Teachers often use team-based competitions to make academic material more interesting and engaging. It has been observed that team-centered competitive activities often benefit students as long as they all have a chance to win. Team-based competitive activities within the classroom setting may foster productive cooperation between students by unifying them to outperform other teams.
The most academically effective group competitions give students the chance to succeed while limiting the possibility of repeat wins or losses. This competitive approach helps students learn from their successful classmates without reemphasizing their own loss.
Group competitions also boost excitement and interest in tasks that may otherwise seem boring to students. They can make instructional materials engaging and enjoyable.
Competition may negatively affect students who lose games, reducing their interest in academic tasks and performance. The situation worsens when individual students regularly lose in class-based competitions organized by the teacher.
Students who come to expect failure may easily give up when tackling challenging academic tasks in the belief that poor performance is the likely outcome. They can develop a negative perception of school, seeing it as a place where they cannot succeed and do not belong. Individuals who lose in competitive activities may also become the subject of ridicule from classmates who can refuse to work with them, making them feel even more ostracized.
In academic competitions, not everyone wins or receives a trophy. When an academic competition is managed fairly, and winners and losers are treated with kindness and respect, both can feel good about the experience as a whole. Those who didn’t win can learn to be gracious losers without allowing the loss to damage their self-esteem or hinder their willingness to participate in future competitions.
Small disappointments help children become more resilient, students might also gain an appreciation for classmates who are striving to do their best, viewing academic competitions as a way to showcase similar talents.
Academic competitions can be disadvantageous for students when they lead to fear, anxiety and disappointment. Students might worry that they won’t measure up or will disappoint their teachers or parents.
To help reduce anxiety, teachers often promote friendly, age-appropriate games, grade-level-specific exams and academic competitions that encourage students to beat their own previous individual scores.
By focusing on personal academic goals and individualized progress reports, parents and teachers encourage students to do their personal best, rather than competing against peers.
Teachers who use a team-based approach to competition can motivate disruptive students and improve their behavior. The Good Behavior Game is an example of a team-oriented intervention that can reduce disruptive behavior while encouraging on-task work.
During the Good Behavior Game, an instructor urges students to pay attention and promises to reward the class if students cooperate jointly. Rewards such as leisure time or tangible prizes can be offered to groups with the fewest behavioral breaches.
Some students feel so much pressure to succeed at academic competitions that they put everything else on hold. They might give up extracurricular activities, sports, dram or community events to focus solely on academic challenges. Some schools make matters worse by limiting social activities and reducing programs in the arts to make more room for competitive academic courses.
Competition can be negative when it leads to unbalanced living or forces students to give up their other interests. Parents and teachers can encourage students to have a balanced approach to preparing and executing academic challenges, without sacrificing their other passions.
Students who constantly succeed in competitions may become preoccupied with outperforming classmates, which may affect their level of academic achievement. They may value outperforming others more than learning and can even develop a fear of losing competitions. In other words, their comparative, “performance-oriented” goals become more important than the individual, “mastery-oriented” goals.
Mastery-based goals should be preferred to performance-oriented ones because they increase content knowledge, understanding and skills. In the end, it is not important to remember that competition is not all good, nor is it all bad.
When the correct balance is struck, competition is a healthy part of life that helps us to succeed. But, the correct balance must be struck. It is not necessary, nor appropriate for students to feel like they must be the best at everything, and as teachers we must be sure our students learn this essential lesson.
REFERENCE:
January 3,2017.Effects of competition on academic performance.Rising Kashmir. retrieved from
