Draper, T. (2013, October 2). Tim Draper: Positive competition. [Video file]. Retrieved 3 March 2016 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYaWk6a8YMc&app=desktop

First off, let me state that this resource doesn’t have to do with education. It does not contain the words student, classroom, or teacher. However, it does outline several of the key ideas surrounding competition. These are values that bleed down from the business world into the classroom for one simple reason: it is the way the world works. Here are a few keys points highlighting this from Tim Draper’s talk on Positive Competition at an event the TEDxUNPlaza in 2013.

• Competition is good
• Keeps us on our toes
• Creates innovators (in teaching entrepreneurs)
• We we compete, we get the best results (people are motivated)

Now, as this is talk was directed towards venture capitalists and investors, what I feel is the pinnacle of competitiveness, he discussed a key point. Not only is “real life” competitive, but it is something that is a commonality around the world. Every example he gave highlighted the idea of countries competing for a place at the table, a stake or share, an opportunity. There are billions of people jockeying for position and through these example, a message became clear to me. If our students don’t understand this reality, if we shield them from how the world works, they are in for a rude awakening indeed. Now I am not saying that every students needs to have this venture capitalist mentality, elbowing their peers for a shot at the title, but what this showed me is that many people do think this way. I would argue most people in the “real world” think this way. Therefore, it would be doing our students a disservice if they are not prepared. We can do this through many of the methods share on previous posts but this video really highlighted that removing competition entirely is, in many ways, setting our students up for failure.