What
does an award, or a school prize, or a rank confer ? The information
that one had scored better than others. Or that oth``ers have done worse
than oneself.
Is that a reason for celebration ? Could that explain the self centredness and selfishness in mainstream society.
My own schoolday desire for ranks and prizes, sometimes acheived and sometimes not acheived, certianly made me a smaller human being. It took a long long time to undo the subtle perversions, tendency to jealously, a sense of superiority with a matching sense of inferiority, that that process put in place.
Is that a reason for celebration ? Could that explain the self centredness and selfishness in mainstream society.
My own schoolday desire for ranks and prizes, sometimes acheived and sometimes not acheived, certianly made me a smaller human being. It took a long long time to undo the subtle perversions, tendency to jealously, a sense of superiority with a matching sense of inferiority, that that process put in place.
As my friend, himself a teacher of long standing told me, both the winner and the loser lose in this game or ranks and prizes.
Samrat Roy Chowdhuri What
you are promoting is mediocrity. There is competition everywhere, and
no one tries winning for nothing. A prize is a motivation to achieve the
goal, however small it may be.
Aparna Krishnan The village shepherd produces the most melodious songs he can. For the skies and the trees and his sheep.
Aparna Krishnan When
I compliment Nagamani, class 4, in the school on her maths speed she
pulls ahead Jagdish and says, "Madam, ask him the sum, he's so much
faster." Children uncorrupted by need ing to be the 'best in class'.
Samrat Roy Chowdhuri My point is not related to any city or village. It's on prizes and awards.
Aparna Krishnan The desire for prizes creates mediocrity. And kills the essential joy of the activity, for the sake of the activity.
Mark Johnston Everyone
has different strengths and abilities and school awards mostly serve to
make the majority of children feel that they are inadequate by their
too high status and too narrow focus. Why would a child try harder if
the small elite whose parents pay for
the best tuition will always beat them? That sort of pressure risks
driving mediocrity rather than creating widespread ambition.
Teachers telling me (shouting and sarcasm) that I needed to try harder in sports because those who were longer legged and those without TB damaged lungs could sprint faster than me did not promote anything positive.
I work with adults who were failed by schools that did not make an effort to find out how they learn as individuals and therefore they struggle with literacy and numeracy as well as other difficulties. They are not in any respect lesser human beings than those with degrees and doctorates but have been made to feel failures and therefore have not achieved what they could have in their lives.
If school prizes were based on how well they supported their siblings, how frugally they lived or their capacity to love unconditionally most of them would have been top of the class.
Praise for personal achievements based on how much effort or commitment it took a child rather than how they compare to other children may well have some value. Singling out for praise only those whose privilege made success relatively easy for them serves purely to create an unjustified sense of superiority over others.
Teachers telling me (shouting and sarcasm) that I needed to try harder in sports because those who were longer legged and those without TB damaged lungs could sprint faster than me did not promote anything positive.
I work with adults who were failed by schools that did not make an effort to find out how they learn as individuals and therefore they struggle with literacy and numeracy as well as other difficulties. They are not in any respect lesser human beings than those with degrees and doctorates but have been made to feel failures and therefore have not achieved what they could have in their lives.
If school prizes were based on how well they supported their siblings, how frugally they lived or their capacity to love unconditionally most of them would have been top of the class.
Praise for personal achievements based on how much effort or commitment it took a child rather than how they compare to other children may well have some value. Singling out for praise only those whose privilege made success relatively easy for them serves purely to create an unjustified sense of superiority over others.
Aparna Krishnan Mark Johnston
agree totally. Also any 'prize' creates am an uholy happiness that I
did 'better', and that someone else did 'worse'. Subtly destroyes the
heart and soul.
Mamatha Balasubramanian I believe stratification of society begins in school.
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