The world is inherently competitive. That is an argument expressed by many who are proponents of the model of winners and losers, victories and defeats. Due to this viewpoint (as it has been one that has reigned supreme for centuries), when it comes to competition, it is a phenomenon that inspires extremely powerful emotions from people who exist on either side of the debate on whether it is a “healthy” thing. It has been extraordinarily interesting to hear people’s responses to the idea of involving competition in a classroom. The responses are varied and full of passion, as most people have, in their lives (both educational and otherwise), when they’ve had a strong relationship with competition. When we think about the role competition plays in social relationships, it is often remarked how competition creates divides and alienates students who don’t fit into the system. Now we have discussed this previously, so that isn’t the point of this reflection, but what is, is that competition also acts in the inverse of this alienation. It can bond, solidify, and bring people together. The connections that competitions breads are incredible and are links that can last for decades.

So here I am. At the same impasse I was at a few weeks ago. My path towards collaborative competition has led me to a new place. A place I couldn’t have predicted when I started this exploration. Collaborative Competition. Now again, as I have previously stated, this could change my inquiry question, but it doesn’t. It is a means to an end. What is one way we can engage our students in positive competition in the classroom? Collaborative competition. So if this is a viable solution, let’s look at some interactions, albeit they are fairly limited still, that some educators have had with collaborative competition.

Bevacqua, J. (2013). Collaboration and competition. Connected Principals. [Web log post] Retrieved from http://connectedprincipals.com/archives/8186

On the blog Connected Principals, Johnny Bevacqua explore the concept of collaborative competition. He highlights some key concepts that I have discussed in previous blog posts but are nonetheless worthy of repetition. In terms of the downsides to competition he states “Competition without collaboration promotes closed systems.  It closes classroom doors and prevents innovation and new ideas.” This summarize a negative feature of competition we have all witnessed. But as he states this isn’t the be-all-and-end-all. The two can intermingle and support each other. In truly elegant fashion he states:

There is a place and a time for both.  My nuanced take on this “dance” is that to be competitive in today’s world you must find ways to effectively collaborative.  In other words, to be competitive, you must be collaborative.

Competition encourages time efficiency. Cooperation encourages accuracy. To be successful you must find a way to foster both. What was particularly interesting is that, in a study referenced by Bevacqua from ZeitNews, is that student associate self-esteem with the system they exist in. If they exist within a system of competition, then competition raises self-esteem. The inverse is also true with cooperation.  If they exist within a system of cooperation, then cooperation raises self-esteem. Therefore, through magnificent logic, if we instilled a system of collaborative competition in our classrooms, wouldn’t our student associate collaborative competition with self-esteem? An idea to ponder.