A Discussion on Competition
Chris, You wrote:
“Personally, I don’t think competition is fun.”
I use a fair number of competitive games in my kids’ classes and have also incorporated some of the principles of cooperation and non- competition you have been talking about on this list and on your website. As others have mentioned, adding an element of competition can spice things up and generate a high level of anticipation and emotional involvement that may or may not improve actual learning. Recently, however, the behavior of several of my students has been prompting me to question the wisdom of using competitive games at all. Two of my students in particular, one 5 years old and one 9, both boys, break down into tears and even throw tantrums at even the slightest indication that they will lose a game. They will resort to lying, cheating, or giving up completely to avoid losing a game. Even simple games such as a Card Track race (commonly used in FO) or the wildly popular (but competitive) Switchit game created by David Lisgo, can prompt strong reactions in these two boys. If they are winning they LOVE playing, but ONLY if they are winning. Just a few weeks ago, the 9-year old sensed that he might come in second. He grabbed his piece, pulled it off the table and burst into tears, “Aaaa, yaruki nakunatta.” He spent the entire remainder of the lesson sulking in his chair. I was at a loss as to what to tell him. Despite efforts by myself and classmates to bring him back into the fold, he stubbornly refused. Not exactly a healthy learning experience. Disturbing, in fact. These aren’t antisocial kids. When playing cooperative games or doing other activities, songs, pairwork, etc. that involve helping other students or participating as a group, they are fine.
So… my question, or call for advice to you as an educator is, what strategies would you recommend in dealing with examples like the above, AFTER the fact. Besides not introducing the element of competition in the first place, I would be interested in hearing from you and learning how to help these kids get beyond the unhealthy and counterproductive “Winning at all costs” outlook.
Kaj Schwermer
Osaka
Note: The following discussion originally took place on the ETJ Owners list. I thought it would be good to bring it to a wider audience. I’ve added it to this blog section so that additional comments can be posted. I’ve arranged the posts in the order in which they came in. This is an amalgamation of several threads, though not all posts are here. Permission was sought before reposting and some authors preferred that their posts not be used. I’ve edited the timestamp so that it shows the original date of each post. My thanks to everyone involved.
Chris (Hunt)
21 February 2006
December 31st, 2005 at 12:33 pm
Hi Kaj,
A 5-year old child lying and cheating to win is disturbing indeed. Assuming that there are no underlying emotional problems, the situation that you describe is not a reflection on the competitive nature of your games, but instead is a direct reflection of the lack of home training that these children are receiving outside your classroom.
Competition, winning and losing are parts of nearly every aspect life from getting a job; to finding a wife; to getting into that great building to hold classes in; to reserving the window seat. In fact, we owe our very existence on this planet to competition as we were all born from the race of sperm to join egg. It would seem that part of our responsibility as adults is to equip our children to deal with the realities of life. Therefore, for me the question is not how to avoid competition, but how to deal with it in a healthy manner.
Sorry, no advice just observations.
Keep swinging,
Keith
P.S. I loved “Never Eat Alone.”
December 31st, 2005 at 12:36 pm
Kaj and all,
Even simple games such as a Card Track race (commonly used in FO) or the wildly popular (but competitive) Switchit game created by David Lisgo, can prompt strong reactions in these two boys.
Well, Switchit is less competitive than ’snap’, perhaps more in line with ‘rummy’. I’ve never seen this reaction in my classroom while playing the game, most students concentrate on the process and not on the end result, I would suggest giving “these two boys” something else to do while other children are playing Switchit. I often give the children a choice of continuing a writing activity or finishing off the lesson with a game of Switchit, if they (the boys) choose to play, then they should play by the rules.
As to the “Card Track Race”, there are many versions, which are not necessarily competitive, though the idea of competition can be very subjective and some students may perceive and act out a cooperative game as if it were competitive and indeed, they have changed it so.
Try playing “Survivor” in lieu of the usual track race. Here is how to play.
Now say we want to practice the 26 alphabet sounds. Lay your cards, two sets if possible, around a big table alternating the cards face up and face down (letters/pictures). Split your class into two teams, one team has only one member and the other team has all the other players and set the timer at two minutes (longer for slow classes). A student looks at the first card and says “apple”, the card is turned over and the sound “/a/” is read, then he or she moves onto the second card in a clockwise direction and says “/p/”, turns the card over and says “panda” and a second student follows immediately behind him or her reading the sounds and naming the pictures, then the third student and so on. In the meantime, the solo student goes in a counter clockwise direction and begins reading his or her cards. This is all done at a very relaxed pace so that I can ensure they are playing the game to the rules and that they are getting plenty of correct practice in reading the letters (the new sounds are put in the middle of the track, this gives more practice of these sounds). When the two teams meet, then they do “Stone, scissors, paper.” The loser goes back and starts again. The odds are stacked against the solo student because he or she is alone, as it’s many against one so he or she must survive until the timer goes, the student nearly always survives because the timer is set at only two minutes. Sometimes I will take the place of the solo student and increase the time to three or four minutes and then go as quickly as I can, this speeds up the game tremendously and hopefully everyone gets a lot of practice and the only person to lose is me against the clock. This game often keeps the excitement of a competitive game but there are no real winners or losers. My students always enjoy it.
Another way to play the “Card Track Race” is to lay all your cards in a circle on the floor. You need a question and answer format for this version. Split your class into three teams, if possible, give them a dice and a chip and have them start at different points around your track, all moving in the same direction. All teams roll their dice and move forward, then a team calls out “Kaj!”, and you go over and listen, then one student asks “What is it? and another student answers “It’s a horse.”, if the answer is good, put a chip on the card, if not they can move on or try again, but they must first call out your name. In the meantime the other two teams are probably screaming for you, so move over to the next team in line. I usually use different coloured chips for each team and allow only one chip on each card, so one colour can sometimes replace another, this is certainly a competitive element. The game ends when the timer goes and then I ask for the chips to be put back in the box, the highly competitive students try to count the chips, but they rarely succeed. You could of course count all the chips and put the total number on the board.
I find that keeping a competitive element in the game but not declaring a winner or keeping the result indefinite is the best. This satisfies students who love competition as they can believe that they won, whether or not they did, and those who hate competition certainly don’t feel like losers.
I often play Tic Tac Toe or Gridlock with two teams but I sometimes give them chips of three colours so they cannot play against each other.
Best wishes,
David
December 31st, 2005 at 12:59 pm
COMPETITION
I couldn’t agree more, Keith.
We play competitive games at our school as well as non-competitive ones. We make sure to play a variety of competitive games so that winning is achieved through different means, such as by being the best at the language structure, by being the best at a physical activity (throwing a beanbag etc), by having the loudest voice, by having the best memory, by being the luckiest, by having the best concentration skills etc. Usually, all the children, not just the most academic children, have an opportunity to win.
Sometimes it doesn’t work out as planned. Some kids are just good at everything and lucky to boot. But over the long term, it usually more ir less evens out.
Some children are not well-equipped to handle what they perceive to be failure - I would imagine Keith, that it has more to do with the child’s innate personality than inadequate parenting. I handle each situation differently but my general attitude toward the child is ‘I understand how you feel. But you need to learn how to handle those feelings.’ I see my job as teaching them how to deal with disappointment. Some children take longer than others, but they all get it eventually.
Children need to learn skills that will see them through life as smoothly as possible. Competition as Keith pointed out, is a large part of life. I fail to understand the latest educational trends towards removing competition from classrooms. Better that children are taught how to handle competition in the controlled environment of a classroom, than having to deal with it in the work place or in the sports arena.
LYING AND CHEATING
Some 5-year old children lie and cheat with impunity as their sense of right/wrong is not fully developed. While it is true that most children of this age group understand the difference between the two, some fail to understand (yet) the magnitude of lying and cheating. If I catch someone lying or cheating in class (and it happens from time to time), I simply say to them in a serious voice, ‘You mustn’t lie/cheat. Don’t do it again.’ BEHAVIOURAL ISSUES I’ve been following with interest the discussion on behavioural issues. When we come across a child with bad behaviour all the staff members discuss how to handle the child. If applicable, we involve the parent as well.
Consistency is so important. All children respond to the right environment and I believe it is the job of the teacher and relative staff members to create that environment. Most children if dealt with properly show a big improvement within 3 months.We have had over 1000 children at our school, and I have never had to ask a child to leave for bad behaviour (although I have asked 3 mothers to do so.)
When one of our teachers has a problem with a child’s behaviour and is on the verge of giving up, I always tell them ‘There are 2 people in this equation - the teacher and the student - and only one of them is an adult.’
Laura Yoshida
December 31st, 2005 at 5:40 pm
I can certainly empathize with your situation. I was recently made aware that the sometimes baffling dynamics in my classroom can actually originate from other settings and places where the kids are encountering one another during the week. To make a long story short, I recently found out that one of my kinder kids was being verbally belittled as “not as smart” by a faster-maturing classmate who is experiencing a recent break-through in understanding. (Phonics has begun clicking for him.) However, his unfortunate choice of “I’m-smarter-than-you” behavior has recently tried to creep into my class. I’ve found that bullying can be quite stealth-like and hard to detect before the damage is done. So, for the time being I decided we’ll need to take care to really de-emphasize the competition aspect of our class activities… especially due to the age factor. Perhaps after a time, we can occasionally introduce those types of games/activities again. Hopefully, next year those two boys will end up in different classes due to creative scheduling.
AFTER the incident…? Well, when this particular incident took place the manager was able to console and counsel the offended party–can’t remember the precise Kinder-logic that was used–but it seemed helpful in aiding his understanding that the other kid was just a kid, after all, and it’s really not worth dwelling on a fellow-student’s opinion who is not fluent in English either. The teacher thinks he is very smart! etc… Probably the greatest value of the conversation was that we were able to uncover the history of the situation. Since the problem runs deeper than and beyond my classroom, I’ll need to work harder than ever to achieve a feeling of camaraderie amongst that group of kids.
Cooperation is important, yes. Very important. And, I know many of you disagree, but, I still think healthy competition is important, too. Especially as kids get settled into elementary school. I really believe that it’s part of my job to help my students learn good sportsmanship. They need to be able to show good sportmanship whether they “win” or “lose”. This is not the focus of my classes, by any means. But, it is a small, important part. I don’t want my students to shy away from occasional, friendly competition in life. I want ALL of my students to have the kind of inner self esteem and self-confidence that enables them to walk with their heads held high regardless of the score board. Life is full of ups and downs. Knowing best how to respond to the ups and downs doesn’t always happen naturally. This, too, needs to be modeled and learned– somewhere.
My two cents,
Michelle
December 31st, 2005 at 6:30 pm
Happy new year All!
I’m convinced competition should be avoided at all costs. There’s nothing “natural” about competition, it doesn’t bring out the best in people, it destroys relationships, and causes tremendous psychological and spiritual harm, especially to children.
(In fact, one thing about Japan I like is how much LESS competitive the culture is, compared to the west. An irony: I thought it would be the opposite.)
Anyway, I recommend Alfie Kohn’s NO CONTEST: the case against competition.
Peace for 2006
Sam.