At the risk of sounding socialist and anti-free market, I find this ad somewhat unsettling. I saw it on the subway on my way home last night and snapped this quick blurry picture.
Why does school always have to be about competition? Does the message suggest that competition is implied in our current market driven environment and that kids just have to get used to it before they get to the real world and face the ravenous global industrial complex?
Being a kid is about exploration, play and collaboration. About making sense of the world. Let’s be honest: Kids don’t really learn just to take tests and compete with other kids for grades. That’s just something that’s imposed upon them by adults (teachers and parents).
I’m no primary education expert, but my semester spent thinking about the electronic learning record really had me doubting the value I gained from formal test-centered schooling.
This ad certainly does not make me want to apply to become a Chicago teaching fellow.
I agree that test-centered schooling and competition is pretty futile. It focuses on transferring knowledge in favor of teaching kids how to learn, which is pretty myopic and, frankly, kind of stupid. You can find a presentation by Tony Buzan describing this very phenomenon here.
Still, healthily managed, I think competition can be a good motivating force. This weekend, I went to appraise (judge, really) at the Destination ImagiNation competition this weekend. While this year’s technical challenge ended up kind of a disaster, this competition based on actual achievement encourages students to actually learn (though parents often have a hard time to resist interfering). After all, having gone through this experience has inspired me ever since.