Creating a Non-Competitive Learning Environment

by Jolene Roelkepartain

We want to motivate young people to learn, but sometimes we actually stifle motivation because we foster an unintentionally competitive environment.

“I don’t encourage competition!” I thought to myself as I was preparing to teach a recent session. And in a sense, I didn’t. I chose cooperative activities. I had intentionally not compared young people with each other. I worked hard to create a nurturing, open environment.

However, after reading Punished by Rewards by Alfie Hohn (who also wrote the book on competition titled No Contest), I began to see subtle ways that I promoted competition by the way I responded to young people.

Kohl suggests four ways to praise young people—without creating a climate of competition.

• Don’t praise people; praise what people do. When you praise a person, he or she then begins to define him or herself according to the praise. Instead of saying, “You’re a good writer,” say, “I like the story you wrote.”
  
• Praise in the specifics. Look for detail that strikes you. For example, it’s even better to say “I like the detail in this paragraph right here” rather than “I like the whole story.” The more specific you are the more young people will learn what’s valuable and what’s not.
  
• Use genuine praise. Too often our praise is contrived in efforts to be “fair.” We think we need to say one nice thing to each young person present. Genuine delight that is spontaneous means much more. Young people often question your motives when praise seems contrived. They think you’re trying to control them or are bribing them to do something in the future.
  
• Avoid praise that creates competition. Never praise someone in comparison to someone else.
  

Learning how to motivate young people is one of our most arduous tasks. We often end up with short-term solutions that appear to deal with the problem, but often these solutions are merely giving us an environment that appears “in control.”

People become more motivated to do something when they get an honest critique of how they are doing. Straightforward feedback, however, is not often promoted in our society. It’s easy to talk about people behind their backs, flee when we feel conflict coming on, and just plain avoid those sticky issues that so obviously sit before us each time we meet with a group of young people. Is this really a gift?

What about the young person who rarely seems to pay attention? Have you ever asked him or her about it? Maybe it’s boredom. Maybe it’s preoccupation due to problems elsewhere. Maybe it’s due to low self-esteem. How can you give this person straightforward feedback in a firm but sensitive way?

What about the group clown? Or the young person who always has the right answer and never loosens up? What about the girl who talks only of guys and nothing else?

And what are you teaching young people by example? How often do you:

• Listen respectfully?
• Lead by being human instead of trying to be perfect?
• Admit when you’ve made a mistake?
• Do a service project (even a small one) with the young people?
• Think out loud as a group to determine what is right and what’s wrong?
• Do activities with young people instead of for young people?
• Focus on solutions rather than problems?
  

You can create an atmosphere of cooperation, trust, and openness. But you don’t need to do it alone. Do it with the young people, not for them.

From Intersection, Teaching Guide for Younger Youth: Volume 11.

Annotated Bibliography
Kohn, Alfie, Punished by Rewards. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1993. 108-111.