By Madison Narain
“Comparison is the thief of joy,” a quote attributed to Theodore Roosevelt suggests that weighing one's accomplishments against those of others can cause one to lose a sense of pride in their work. While competition is significant in many educational settings, its ability to motivate students as well as inflict stress results in varying opinions regarding its value in education.
Intense competition can have several negative effects on students such as creating additional pressure and stress, shifting students’ focus from learning to winning, preventing collaboration and damaging students’ mental health. This often causes a competitive mindset to be adopted by students, leading them to devote excessive amounts of time to studying to maintain grades higher than their peers. As elaborated on by Psychologs Magazine, a monthly publication focused on personal development, emotional wellbeing, and mental health for women, “Consistent academic pressure has the potential to bring about serious issues of self-esteem, since students will tend to personalize their performance as a measure of personal worth.” As students become overly focused on academic success to the point of immense stress, they begin to doubt who they are as a person upon failure. Their goal becomes not understanding their course material, but solely scoring highly in the course. Competition within schools can often be so prevalent that it “creates a culture where academic success will usually come before individual success, bolstered by pervasive social pressures and rigid peer criticism.” Rivalry between students to maintain outstanding grades and perform best often results in an environment that discourages intellectual curiosity beyond what is explicitly stated in the curriculum. Moreover, competition also discourages collaboration between students, an essential component to effective group work, as it allows for people to build off of one another's ideas and continue to make progress. Without the ability to work with others, or see the larger picture, students may struggle upon graduation when professional, real-world settings often require communication and collaborative skills.
While competition can often have a negative association, it is also important to recognize the many positive effects of competitions within schools. As detailed by Johnny Holland, academic rivalry can build resilience, prepare students for real-world situations, motivate them to work harder and encourage them to set goals. Competitions cause students to face and overcome challenges to feel accomplished and confident. Furthermore, losing in academic competitions can be just as valuable, as it teaches students how to navigate failure. According to Holland, “Students learn to persevere, adapt, and improve their performance over time. These qualities are essential for success in any endeavour, and promoting academic rivalry can help students build a strong foundation of confidence and resilience.” He discusses the importance of competitive environments for students to build confidence and resilience, topics that are necessary in the real world. Often, competition can be seen in later professional situations in life and when students learn these skills, they will be much better prepared for those roles. In addition to this, students are oftentimes motivated by rivalry . They become more willing to push themselves to improve and achieve higher performance. Competition allows for students to see beyond themselves instead of using others as motivation to continue. As students want to improve, they set expectations and goals for themselves. Therefore, competitive pressure can encourage students to strive for improvement. By doing so, it encourages students to succeed and pushes them to be the best versions of themselves.
The question of whether or not competition should be encouraged within educational systems is up for debate. It is clear that it has both negative and positive effects on students, but which are stronger is up to personal opinion. If Roosevelt is correct, and comparison can truly steal joy, then the place of competition in education becomes a complex issue, one that leaves people to consider whether it helps students grow or holds them back.