My greatest regret is that I didn’t try hard enough in
school. I always found a way to “get by” and do the bare minimum. This had a
lot to do (as I look back) with the fact that I didn’t believe I could do
anything extraordinary. I was average and didn’t have anything unique to offer.
Where does this mentality come from? Definitely not from my parents, who always
encouraged me to be an astronaut or the President. As I spend my summer days on
Capitol Hill, observing the policy process, I continue to hear one word echo in
education discussions – competition. This word is the anthem of my high school
and college career. My entire existence has been rated on arbitrary standards.
How well can I score on tests? Am I the best writer, do I have superb study
skills? How do I compare to my peers? Who is the best? Of course I didn’t
believe in myself, because I bought into this rating system that always
reminded me I wasn’t good enough – the truth, there will always be someone
better than me. I never realized how detrimental competition was in education
until I began to reflect on this personal reality.
So, how has competition affected my life? Well…I didn’t try
in fear of being out-done. I am not a competitor, I begged my swim coach to
keep me on the J.V. team so I could avoid tough competition. I simply don’t
like the feeling of being a loser, especially when I worked hard for my
accomplishments. I subjected myself to mediocrity so I didn’t have to be told I
wasn’t as good or not good enough. Competition promotes a hierarchy that
separates the elite from the rejects. As an 18-year-old I had a fundamental
problem with this culture, one plagued with the inability to see each
individual’s uniqueness in the name of SAT, GPA and IQ.
As an educator I have learned a beautiful reality – children
are unique. This is key to understanding why competition doesn’t work in
education. Competition stifles uniqueness; it requires children to conform in
order to be measured on a scale that determines opportunity and accomplishment.
The truth however, education and competition can’t be interchangeable. Finnish
children are not compared to their peers and standardized tests are not the
determent of success. Students are praised for their unique qualities. The lie
my competitive education instilled in me, despite my parent’s attempts, was
that my unique qualities did not make me extraordinary, instead my test scores
and the amount of A.P. scores determined my academic worth. Thank you
competition for making me “average” when I was anything but. Thank you for
constantly reminding me that I wasn’t “good enough” in comparison to my peers,
who had higher test scores.
As I prepare to apply to universities like Columbia, Harvard
and Stanford, these feelings of inadequacy flood too the surface. I begin to
question whether I will have what it takes to compete against the candidates
who are far more qualified and superior then me. I begin to doubt my chances
even before I have tried, all in the name of competition. But, I have to remind
myself (constantly) that my unique qualities and life experiences mean more
than a test score (I hope) and my passion for education will shine through. Any
program would be lucky to have my expertise and drive.
Look around you, everything is consumed by competition and
determining the “best” from the not. Education is NOT a well-oiled business,
simply because it is not a business. I think there is a place for competition,
in the swimming pool, on the field in the business sector – not in education.
Think about this for a minute…that achievement gap we work so hard to close may
perhaps be a great example of the detrimental nature of competition in the
classroom. If it weren’t for my loving parents who believe in my extraordinary
qualities, that make me unique, I would have given up entirely. Not every child
has that support system, and many get lost in the competitive fight for elite
spots in education. Eventually they become another “average” faceless student
who stops trying before they even start because they are unwilling or unable to
play the standardization game.
Every child I teach reminds me of how beautiful the journey
(not production) of education is. They remind me why each child should be
cultivated into a unique individual with their own qualities to contribute.
With that attitude every child has the opportunity to do extraordinary things
in the world and excel in their own way.
**Disclaimer, I didn’t get into my preferred college because
of my lack of effort. I blame no one for this outcome, but me. However, if we
are telling children, at a young age, that their worth stems from a test score
or extracurricular activities we are losing the point of education entirely. We
are setting students up for a lack of interest in education. Here’s a thought,
instead of ranking our students and creating an elite few, let’s work with
every student to make them extraordinary in their passions and future goals.
Isn’t that what the process of education and knowledge is all about?
Call me an idealist, but I refuse to believe that God made
any child anything less than special and remarkable, and with effort and the
desire to succeed every one of my students can accomplish great things!
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