I do my best every day to keep competition away from my students' learning.
Success and learning should never be artificially scarce. And it sure as hell shouldn't be defined as something you have a better chance of experiencing as long as others don't get it.
When kids see their own success as something dependent on others' failure, things go bad. Very very bad.
And when things go bad, it's all somehow because of the kids.
ReplyDeleteThe blame game may be one of the biggest obstacles to improvement. When we blame, we are really saying we don't need to reflect on ourselves. Responsibility seems to always find itself external of ourselves...
ReplyDeleteJoe, can't there be a balance between healthy competition that doesn't see success as dependent on another student's failure, and the reality of a competitive world they will emerge into when they leave your charge?
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