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.