and I happen to be one of those people… but I can find a way to compete without it being designed into the curriculum. The idea of ‘competition’ in this sense presumes that there is ‘one answer’ and we can measure ourselves against it. This is true in some cases… these are not the cases the article is meant to offer help with. If you are memorizing your timetables… by all means, make it a competition. If you are trying to develop a marketing plan for a non-profit organization, however, it’s pretty tough to decide whose plan is ‘better’.

One further thought from me. What about inherent competitiveness – or is this a learned behaviour rather than inherent?

Some people seem naturally competitive and these are the people who need to measure themselves against others. In many cases, it seems to help them learn.

Jenny

no, i don’t think we need to completely dispense with evaluation, but I also think that their desire to ‘measure up against their peers’ is partially informed by the fact that our educational system has trained them to want to look that way. This makes the transition to the ‘real’ non-school world very difficult. There are few systems for comparitive evaluation in most people’s lives… and being able to assess how your doing by yourself is far more valuable than having someone else tell you that you might be better than the person sitting next to you.

Really a great question… might follow up further on this on the blog tonight

cheers,

dave.