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Kohn was right about one type of competition. But that's not the whole story.
Over two decades ago, Alfie Kohn put educators and psychologists on notice about the dangers of competition. In his powerful and cogent book, No Contest: The Case Against Competition (1986), he summarized a century of research, all of which buttressed the distressing conclusion that fostering competition is ill-advised. Contrary to popular belief, Kohn argued, competition is not an inherent part of human nature, nor does it enhance our performance or productivity. In fact, Kohn cited study after study to illustrate that competition interferes with creativity, narrows thinking, promotes conformity, and diminishes self-esteem and other dimensions of mental health. And the social consequences are even worse. Place people in contests, and you promote prejudice. Put groups in competition, and the likely result will be hostility sometimes even outright cheating, aggression, and violence.
The educational implications of Kohn 's provocative literature review are profound. They touch every corner of school life, from the playing fields to the classrooms, from science fairs to debate clubs. Should students compete for a place in the orchestra, for grades, for recognition? No, according to Kohn. Yet, competition remains pervasive in both school and society. It is time to take a fresh look at Kohn's disturbing conclusions and see how well they hold up.
THE CASE AGAINST COMPETITION
There is an abundance of anecdotal as well as scientific evidence supporting Kohn's conclusions. The negative consequences that he predicts are evident on campuses and playing fields across the country. Just consider school sports. Within the span of a few days after we started writing this article, several stories appeared in local newspapers. A 14-year-old soccer player punched a 54-year-old volunteer referee after a questionable call in a game in Oak Park, Calif. In a St. Louis suburb, a coach was caught on tape shoving an 11 -year-old opposing player during a postgame high-five ritual. A Pineville, Ky, man spent the night in the Whitley County Detention Center after allegedly knocking a referee off his feet during a middle school football game. Isolated incidents?
Several recent surveys have shown that these types of events are not the norm, but they are still dishearteningly common (for example, Shields et al....