Return-Path: <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id f5856Af22411; Fri, 8 Jun 2001 01:06:11 -0400 (EDT) Date: Fri, 8 Jun 2001 01:06:11 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <008e01c0efd8$a269f000$48b18dcf@woods> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Woods" <woods@ncia.net> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-LD:3495] Competition X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4133.2400 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; Status: O Content-Length: 1143 Lines: 25 Carolyn Shepard wrote: >My experience has been that my students enjoy receiving this > acknowledgment of their hard work. Everyone gets one. I think > the key is that no one is competing against anyone else for this > acknowledgment. I agree with you, Carolyn, that competition is an important thing to try to avoid. Further, I believe that if we could remove competition from schools, granting public acknowledgement would be beneficial to the individuals who receive it, and motivating to those who continue to pursue their goals. What would you say are the roots of this competitive nature that seems so pervasive in schools? At the risk of exposing myself as a heretic, I feel a big one is the idea that teachers should have high expectations for their students. Expectations form the basis of success and failure. They create conditions where teachers give -- and students seek -- their approval. Approval is what students compete for. Sadly, expectations also define our notion of learning, and we say students do not learn if they do not measure up to our expectations. But enough of my own editorializing. What do YOU think? Tom
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