There is quite a bit of research that shows that collaboration and cooperation in the classroom (not competition) leads to kids who are inquisitive and not afraid to take risks. This is to be compared to classrooms that produce kids primarily interested in getting the “right” answer, or winning, or besting their peers.

Happily, our school generally embraces a collaborative philosophy. These episodes were not indicative of climate in general.

As an aside, competition is a part of life and I don’t know how to change that. I have an anxiety disorder myself and used to feel very anxious about competing, so I feel that pain.

But I do take issue with teacherpatti’s suggestion that competition is a good thing in the classroom. I have found quite the opposite. When my avid reader was made to complete a “reader’s log,” and encouraged to fill it up in a race with the class, she became stressed out and anxious, and what was an extremely enjoyable activity that she did without prompting became a source of daily stress. When a competitive speed-math game was introduced in her classroom, she went from enjoying multiplication to deciding that she was bad at it, and dreading what she perceived as public humiliation in the game.

This is the same kid who plays competitive soccer, and loves it, win or lose. There’s a difference. She gets the most out of school when collaboration and cooperation are the norm. Sports are a different story.

In my experience, kids *like* competition. Give me two struggling readers (oh hey, I have dozens!) and put them in a race to read something and they leap to the occasion. The one who “comes in second” isn’t any worse for the wear and they have both completed the assignment.

On a personal note, I was and am NOT an athlete, so Field Day (and gym class) was like torture for me, but I knew that once we got back in the classroom and did the spelling bee, I’d finish in the top few people. Therefore, I wasn’t crushed when people didn’t rush to pick me for a team or when I came in near the bottom of the stupid egg-spoon balance thing. My parents instilled a nice sense of self esteem in me and I just knew that there were things I wasn’t good at…so what? Like John says, let the kids who struggle academically but excel athletically have their day of awesome.

I honestly can say that I worry about what will happen when some of these “unique snowflakes” with the helicopter parents stumble their way into their first jobs…bosses don’t give you ribbons and the only reward you get, generally, is to not be fired on Friday. I realize how harsh that sounds, but like I said above *not everyone gets a ribbon*