Is Competition Ever Appropriate in a Cooperative Classroom?

By Alfie Kohn

Of the numerous benefits of cooperative learning (CL), the one that first appealed to many of us was its status as an alternative to competition.  Some combination of observation, personal experience, and research has made it painfully clear that setting children against one another is destructive.  However, a significant proportion of educators who share this belief nevertheless feel compelled to add that, of course, they are not saying all competition is inappropriate; offered in moderation and kept in perspective, there is room for some win/lose activities.

Discipline is the problem, not the solution!

In the few months I taught at a state school I was able to observe the battle for power between the students and the teachers as it took place in front of my eyes. Despite my attempts, which were sometimes quite desperate, to create a cooperative relationship with the kids, I finally understood that such a mission hasn’t got any chances of being fulfilled in the traditional system. No matter how good of a teacher you are, no matter how progressive your thinking is and no matter how much you love children, there are just too many outside coercions which you simply cannot override (the curriculum, the age segregation, the tests, the grades etc.). Not surprisingly, it’s these coercions that undermine any effort for creating an appropriate  environment for learning.

Down with homework!

by Alfie Kohn

After spending most of the day in school, students are given additional assignments to be completed at home. This is a rather curious fact when you stop to think about it, but not as curious as the fact that few of us ever stop to think about it. It’s worth asking not only whether there are good reasons to support the nearly universal practice of assigning homework, but why it’s so often taken for granted—even by vast numbers of teachers and parents who are troubled by its impact on children.