competition in education essay

The Role of Competition and Culture in our Education Systems

By kate ericksen.

Recently, I watched a video on You Tube 1  showing 5 North Korean kindergarten children playing classical guitar together. They were playing them like pros with (dare I say it) plastic smiles and synchronized turning on their chairs. The performance was very polished and I watched with both a sense of awe and disbelief. I was wondering if the footage was really genuine, as it just did not seem possible that such young children could be playing such complicated classical guitar with such flourish and perfection.

However, what I found even more interesting was to read though the comments that people had written below the video. This video definitely sparked a powerful trigger with many people around the world and some rather heated arguments and discussions ensued. They ranged from awe and admiration, to disgust at how the parents must have pushed them so much, to a criticism of communist state education, which doesn’t allow children to experience childhood. A grown-up child performer wrote, who had been forced to practice for hours a day on the guitar, talking about how he would have bleeding hands, and the sacrifice that this required. Others admired the development of the brain which would have occurred due to this musical training and wished that in their culture, they took education as seriously as in Asia. These viewers’ comments echoed many of the sentiments that have passed through my head in the last few days, as I reflected upon a performance that I took part in judging recently in a school in the Philippines.

My purpose in writing this article is to explore the issues that surround competition in schools, across cultures and to reflect on whether the inclusion of competition at a young age encourages healthy development and promotes our neo-humanistic vision, or whether it goes ultravires to it. I will look at how cultural perceptions influence the way in which schools function and how we can encourage more “buy in” by staff at our schools to truly model the values we say we teach, of which our views on competition are one such value.

1  (http://tinyurl.com/68qxrmr)

Competition and Education

Competition is considered by many as healthy, a fact of life, and is an implicit part of education, in which grades are regularly assigned and students ranked against each other in class reports in many countries. We are all subjected to competition when we enter the workforce –competing against others to win the job, so the earlier we are exposed to it, the reasoning seems to go, the better prepared we will be to meet the challenges it poses. Thus, we should learn how to deal with disappointment – a natural consequence of competition – since there is only ever one winner and many losers.

As a classroom teacher, I have observed how having an element of competition in certain activities definitely does enhance interest and concentration. It seems a natural element in growing up, for example children regularly organize their own informal competitions at home, from simple activities, like who can make their ice-cream last the longest, to who can get the ball into the basket the most times.

Kids love guessing games, and I regularly employ “breathers” during formal lessons, in which we hold silly competitions to re-energise the class and provide a break from the challenges of academics. I wonder though how to tailor programs so that “healthy” competition does not become unhealthy. Where do you draw the line? How do you create competitions that encourage and motivate students, yet do not mean that some students’ self esteem will be damaged? What role would the assessment systems in a true neo-humanist school have on student self esteem and willingness to participate and learn? How, as neo-humanist educators, do we reflect our values in the different cultures in which we run our classes and schools?

Education theorists do not agree on whether competitive desires should be encouraged or constrained. One theory claims that, since competition is part of every culture and since education should transmit culture, it is necessary to incorporate competition into education to help children get used to it in later life. Another theory views competition as opposed to collaboration and, therefore, as an evil element in culture that should be curtailed. At school this often results in an ambiguous attitude towards competition, which confuses students, who will then try to compete successfully without making it appear they compete.

“It may help to distinguish two views of competition. In one view, all other competitors are perceived as the focus of competition; they need to be defeated. In the second view, the focus is oneself or some external entity (such as the clock or a mathematical problem). The latter view is more conducive to teamwork, which has become even more important in modern society.” [my emphasis][i] 

School counselors invariably are against the absurdity of some of the competitiveness that occurs in schools, because they have to deal with the fallout – distraught students whose hopes have been dashed, those who can’t face their peers or teachers after being judged negatively, and those who become suicidal due to extreme pressures of competition – a well-known side effect of the stringent Japanese education system.

Many of the comments related to the Korean children’s performance referred to earlier, reflected the cultural bias of those from different education systems and their concept of a “proper” childhood. As our AMSAI schools are often run by international personnel, we have the benefit of looking at things from a different perspective to the local culture, but we also need to maintain a balanced view and remember that every culture has both positive and negative aspects, including our own “home” culture. How do we sieve out and use the different positive aspects of both to enhance our curriculums and systems of school management, whilst reducing the negative ones? How do we influence the teachers’ styles of teaching to reflect these values? If our teachers don’t understand our values or don’t place importance on them, what do we do?

Education reflects the culture of society in its current evolution

The most memorable education paper I read at the University talked about the development of the concept of childhood as being only a very recent phenomenon. Prior to about 1850, children in the Western world were viewed as tiny adults, who were expected to undertake the same responsibilities and tasks as adults, albeit imperfectly, due to their undeveloped physical structures – thus earning them repeated beatings and scoldings. Child labour was the norm and “education” was the domain of rich children who received private tuition from hired subject tutors and governesses.

This system is still the norm in many “undeveloped” countries of the world today, where older girls do not attend school, or attend intermittently, because their main responsibility is to assist the mother in the raising of younger siblings, cooking, cleaning, feeding and caring for sick infants etc. Boys may be expected to help out in the farm instead of going to school, or be withdrawn from school at key times in the agricultural calendar to help the father, or as an apprentice in his chosen profession. A child (and subsequently a teacher) raised in this type of world is going to have quite a different set of values and expectations than those of a child raised in a society which views childhood as a prolonged period of dependency and the opportunity to “have fun” without worrying about livelihood, where children are raised on a diet of TV, computer games and out of school hobbies are encouraged. (The teachers whom I worked with in Ghana did not understand the word “hobbies” and what it implied).

Only in the last two hundred years, since the Industrial Revolution, has formal education become the domain of the common person. With the rise of factories, there arose a system of “factory” education in which students are mass produced, much like material commodities. Our schooling systems today reflect this global emphasis on capitalism, competition and materialism – the ostensible aim is to produce happy and balanced children who will slot into the workforce with a minimum of effort from employers. Needs should meet the demand. When there is a gap between the two, then the education system must change to accommodate this. Verhoef, author of an interesting article on the different types of competitions included in educational practise explains further:

“As the demands on a society change, its culture changes, and consequently also its educational practices must change. Though difficult to understand in detail, this process of change appears to be a never-ending, self-propelling cycle. In order for a system with feedback to be stable, the response to change must be delayed. Education, therefore, always seems too late in its adjustment. Currently, the knowledge and skills to survive in what has become known as the information society are being incorporated.”[iii]

School driven missions and objectives

The public school in New Zealand, where I have worked for the last few years, last year undertook professional training in a program called PB4L – Positive Behaviour for Learning. This program has been used successfully in difficult and low socio-economic schools in Australia, US and around the world. Part of this program meant the school had to go through considerable consultation processes with parents, teachers and children to identify those core values felt to be important by the community. Once identified, then it is the role of teachers to transmit them and make students very conscious of them. Parents are expected to follow up on this back home too.

We came up with the “3 B’s” – Be respectful, Be responsible, Be safe. It was important that the values were simple and easy to remember. This then meant that we looked at ways in which we could promote this message. Certificates are now issued on a weekly basis at school assemblies to those students who display these core values. Students who display these values at lunchtime have their names put in a raffle which is drawn at each weekly assembly, of which prizes include educational books. Lessons in social graces and being a helpful citizen were designed during staff training sessions, where we broke into different groups and looked at different behaviours we wished to see our students modeling. These behaviours (such as sitting whilst eating or standing in a line before moving quietly through the school) were then explicitly taught, rather than students being expected to learn them through osmosis.

How does this relate to competition in schools? For me, it shows that it is important to take the time to sit down with teachers and stakeholders at the school to really identify those values which we deem to be important, and to then use these as a guide against which to judge the various programs we implement across the school. Having all people contributing in the process means that those initiatives will then be taken on board by more people, rather than it just being a decree that comes down from management. So – the values in a Neo-Humanist school are intricately linked with Yama and Niyama. What about actually looking at our school programs in the light of two or three of these principles and really reflecting on and thinking deeply about what we are doing. I mean a deep reflection, not a superficial one. If you were to choose three values, what would they be? Would “be respectful” then influence your policies on competition? How?

Despite groaning about it at times, it has meant that head teachers have been provided with a clear insight into how to guide the teams of teachers beneath them in the implementation of these values. Many insightful discussions amongst teachers have been initiated and plans of action formed, which I would say deeply reflected neo-humanist values and a respect and empathy for the students in their care. It has altered the way that we run sports competitions at our school and infiltrates every aspect of the school programs and systems that are put in place. It affects the way a teacher sets up her classroom, and the way that problems are dealt with between students when they are encountered.

Shrii PR Sarkar on Competition

What does the founder of Neohumanist Education have to say about the role of competition in education? When I questioned the benevolence of competition, I was told by some that Shrii PR Sarkar was very much pro-competition. I came across this quote early on in my research on competition amongst Sarkar’s extensive writing:

“Kaos’ikii [a yogic dance for physical health] is beneficial for both men and women. Competition in tándava [men’s yogic dance] and kaos’ikii is very good and encouraging. I strongly support it. There should be competitions wherever there are Ananda Margiis [practitioners of a specific system of yoga and meditation]. There should be competitions even where there are no Ananda Margis. There is no harm in it; rather it is beneficial in all respects.” [iv] 

I understand this quote to relate directly to the performance of kaoshikii and tandava competitions, not as a blanket statement about the beneficial nature of competitions across all areas. It is this quote however, which I suspect is being referred to, when I am told that Shrii PR Sarkar approved of competitions. If the last two sentences are taken out of context, then certainly, it would seem that he approved of all types of competition.

I delved deeper to see if I could find other statements, which would either support the assumption that all competitions are beneficial, or whether it is relating to purely tandava and kaoshiki. This is what I came across:

“…to bring about the real well-being of humanity, greater attention has to be paid to the psychic and intellectual expressions of human beings, for that will lead to perfect spiritual composure and all-round fulfilment in human life. Competition in the realm of physical pabula may bring satisfaction in material enjoyment, but it leads human beings far, far away from inner tranquility.”[v] 

So, in this quote Shrii PR Sarkar is saying that competition may bring about material benefits, as economists have proven to be true, and winners of Olympic medals, may vouch for this too – but for those trying to develop “perfect spiritual composure” and “inner tranquility” it will lead them far away. This then, seems to be key to our education system– where greater attention has to be “paid to the psychic and intellection expressions of human being.” This would then imply that we should carefully look at the types of competition we encourage in our schools, and gear them more towards competition to better one’s own performance rather than against another child.

In conclusion, I would encourage directors of our neohumanist schools across the globe to initiate discussions with their staff, in which they were not preaching at them and trying to change them, but rather recognizing them as fellow travelers on the path to realization. Take the time to seek their valuable opinions and expertise in the culture in which they are teaching. Together plan or alter programs to fit in alignment with a set of shared values which is co-created by all stakeholders in the school, and which then become part of the school’s motto and is displayed visibly around the school.

As both an educator and a spiritual aspirant, it is valuable to take time out to reflect on our actions and systems and how they either nurture or conflict with the values we say we espouse. By promoting the type of competition which focuses on improved self-performance, rather than against a competitor, it actually encourages colloboration and co-operative learning, which are surely aspirations for our neo-humanist schools.

• Search Menu
• Browse content in Arts and Humanities
• Browse content in Archaeology
• Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Archaeology
• Archaeological Methodology and Techniques
• Archaeology by Region
• Archaeology of Religion
• Archaeology of Trade and Exchange
• Biblical Archaeology
• Contemporary and Public Archaeology
• Environmental Archaeology
• Historical Archaeology
• History and Theory of Archaeology
• Industrial Archaeology
• Landscape Archaeology
• Mortuary Archaeology
• Prehistoric Archaeology
• Underwater Archaeology
• Urban Archaeology
• Zooarchaeology
• Browse content in Architecture
• Architectural Structure and Design
• History of Architecture
• Residential and Domestic Buildings
• Theory of Architecture
• Browse content in Art
• Art Subjects and Themes
• History of Art
• Industrial and Commercial Art
• Theory of Art
• Biographical Studies
• Byzantine Studies
• Browse content in Classical Studies
• Classical History
• Classical Philosophy
• Classical Mythology
• Classical Literature
• Classical Reception
• Classical Art and Architecture
• Classical Oratory and Rhetoric
• Greek and Roman Papyrology
• Greek and Roman Epigraphy
• Greek and Roman Law
• Greek and Roman Archaeology
• Late Antiquity
• Religion in the Ancient World
• Digital Humanities
• Browse content in History
• Colonialism and Imperialism
• Diplomatic History
• Environmental History
• Genealogy, Heraldry, Names, and Honours
• Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing
• Historical Geography
• History by Period
• History of Emotions
• History of Agriculture
• History of Education
• History of Gender and Sexuality
• Industrial History
• Intellectual History
• International History
• Labour History
• Legal and Constitutional History
• Local and Family History
• Maritime History
• Military History
• National Liberation and Post-Colonialism
• Oral History
• Political History
• Public History
• Regional and National History
• Revolutions and Rebellions
• Slavery and Abolition of Slavery
• Social and Cultural History
• Theory, Methods, and Historiography
• Urban History
• World History
• Browse content in Language Teaching and Learning
• Language Learning (Specific Skills)
• Language Teaching Theory and Methods
• Browse content in Linguistics
• Applied Linguistics
• Cognitive Linguistics
• Computational Linguistics
• Forensic Linguistics
• Grammar, Syntax and Morphology
• Historical and Diachronic Linguistics
• History of English
• Language Evolution
• Language Reference
• Language Acquisition
• Language Variation
• Language Families
• Lexicography
• Linguistic Anthropology
• Linguistic Theories
• Linguistic Typology
• Phonetics and Phonology
• Psycholinguistics
• Sociolinguistics
• Translation and Interpretation
• Writing Systems
• Browse content in Literature
• Bibliography
• Children's Literature Studies
• Literary Studies (Romanticism)
• Literary Studies (American)
• Literary Studies (Asian)
• Literary Studies (European)
• Literary Studies (Eco-criticism)
• Literary Studies (Modernism)
• Literary Studies - World
• Literary Studies (1500 to 1800)
• Literary Studies (19th Century)
• Literary Studies (20th Century onwards)
• Literary Studies (African American Literature)
• Literary Studies (British and Irish)
• Literary Studies (Early and Medieval)
• Literary Studies (Fiction, Novelists, and Prose Writers)
• Literary Studies (Gender Studies)
• Literary Studies (Graphic Novels)
• Literary Studies (History of the Book)
• Literary Studies (Plays and Playwrights)
• Literary Studies (Poetry and Poets)
• Literary Studies (Postcolonial Literature)
• Literary Studies (Queer Studies)
• Literary Studies (Science Fiction)
• Literary Studies (Travel Literature)
• Literary Studies (War Literature)
• Literary Studies (Women's Writing)
• Literary Theory and Cultural Studies
• Mythology and Folklore
• Shakespeare Studies and Criticism
• Browse content in Media Studies
• Browse content in Music
• Applied Music
• Dance and Music
• Ethics in Music
• Ethnomusicology
• Gender and Sexuality in Music
• Medicine and Music
• Music Cultures
• Music and Media
• Music and Religion
• Music and Culture
• Music Education and Pedagogy
• Music Theory and Analysis
• Musical Scores, Lyrics, and Libretti
• Musical Structures, Styles, and Techniques
• Musicology and Music History
• Performance Practice and Studies
• Race and Ethnicity in Music
• Sound Studies
• Browse content in Performing Arts
• Browse content in Philosophy
• Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art
• Epistemology
• Feminist Philosophy
• History of Western Philosophy
• Metaphysics
• Moral Philosophy
• Non-Western Philosophy
• Philosophy of Language
• Philosophy of Mind
• Philosophy of Perception
• Philosophy of Science
• Philosophy of Action
• Philosophy of Law
• Philosophy of Religion
• Philosophy of Mathematics and Logic
• Practical Ethics
• Social and Political Philosophy
• Browse content in Religion
• Biblical Studies
• Christianity
• East Asian Religions
• History of Religion
• Judaism and Jewish Studies
• Qumran Studies
• Religion and Education
• Religion and Health
• Religion and Politics
• Religion and Science
• Religion and Law
• Religion and Art, Literature, and Music
• Religious Studies
• Browse content in Society and Culture
• Cookery, Food, and Drink
• Cultural Studies
• Customs and Traditions
• Ethical Issues and Debates
• Hobbies, Games, Arts and Crafts
• Lifestyle, Home, and Garden
• Natural world, Country Life, and Pets
• Popular Beliefs and Controversial Knowledge
• Sports and Outdoor Recreation
• Technology and Society
• Travel and Holiday
• Visual Culture
• Browse content in Law
• Arbitration
• Browse content in Company and Commercial Law
• Commercial Law
• Company Law
• Browse content in Comparative Law
• Systems of Law
• Competition Law
• Browse content in Constitutional and Administrative Law
• Government Powers
• Judicial Review
• Local Government Law
• Military and Defence Law
• Parliamentary and Legislative Practice
• Construction Law
• Contract Law
• Browse content in Criminal Law
• Criminal Procedure
• Criminal Evidence Law
• Sentencing and Punishment
• Employment and Labour Law
• Environment and Energy Law
• Browse content in Financial Law
• Banking Law
• Insolvency Law
• History of Law
• Human Rights and Immigration
• Intellectual Property Law
• Browse content in International Law
• Private International Law and Conflict of Laws
• Public International Law
• IT and Communications Law
• Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law
• Law and Politics
• Law and Society
• Browse content in Legal System and Practice
• Courts and Procedure
• Legal Skills and Practice
• Primary Sources of Law
• Regulation of Legal Profession
• Medical and Healthcare Law
• Browse content in Policing
• Criminal Investigation and Detection
• Police and Security Services
• Police Procedure and Law
• Police Regional Planning
• Browse content in Property Law
• Personal Property Law
• Study and Revision
• Terrorism and National Security Law
• Browse content in Trusts Law
• Wills and Probate or Succession
• Browse content in Medicine and Health
• Browse content in Allied Health Professions
• Arts Therapies
• Clinical Science
• Dietetics and Nutrition
• Occupational Therapy
• Operating Department Practice
• Physiotherapy
• Radiography
• Speech and Language Therapy
• Browse content in Anaesthetics
• General Anaesthesia
• Neuroanaesthesia
• Clinical Neuroscience
• Browse content in Clinical Medicine
• Acute Medicine
• Cardiovascular Medicine
• Clinical Genetics
• Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics
• Dermatology
• Endocrinology and Diabetes
• Gastroenterology
• Genito-urinary Medicine
• Geriatric Medicine
• Infectious Diseases
• Medical Toxicology
• Medical Oncology
• Pain Medicine
• Palliative Medicine
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Respiratory Medicine and Pulmonology
• Rheumatology
• Sleep Medicine
• Sports and Exercise Medicine
• Community Medical Services
• Critical Care
• Emergency Medicine
• Forensic Medicine
• Haematology
• History of Medicine
• Browse content in Medical Skills
• Clinical Skills
• Communication Skills
• Nursing Skills
• Surgical Skills
• Browse content in Medical Dentistry
• Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
• Paediatric Dentistry
• Restorative Dentistry and Orthodontics
• Surgical Dentistry
• Medical Ethics
• Medical Statistics and Methodology
• Browse content in Neurology
• Clinical Neurophysiology
• Neuropathology
• Nursing Studies
• Browse content in Obstetrics and Gynaecology
• Gynaecology
• Occupational Medicine
• Ophthalmology
• Otolaryngology (ENT)
• Browse content in Paediatrics
• Neonatology
• Browse content in Pathology
• Chemical Pathology
• Clinical Cytogenetics and Molecular Genetics
• Histopathology
• Medical Microbiology and Virology
• Patient Education and Information
• Browse content in Pharmacology
• Psychopharmacology
• Browse content in Popular Health
• Caring for Others
• Complementary and Alternative Medicine
• Self-help and Personal Development
• Browse content in Preclinical Medicine
• Cell Biology
• Molecular Biology and Genetics
• Reproduction, Growth and Development
• Primary Care
• Professional Development in Medicine
• Browse content in Psychiatry
• Addiction Medicine
• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Forensic Psychiatry
• Learning Disabilities
• Old Age Psychiatry
• Psychotherapy
• Browse content in Public Health and Epidemiology
• Epidemiology
• Public Health
• Browse content in Radiology
• Clinical Radiology
• Interventional Radiology
• Nuclear Medicine
• Radiation Oncology
• Reproductive Medicine
• Browse content in Surgery
• Cardiothoracic Surgery
• Gastro-intestinal and Colorectal Surgery
• General Surgery
• Neurosurgery
• Paediatric Surgery
• Peri-operative Care
• Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• Surgical Oncology
• Transplant Surgery
• Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery
• Vascular Surgery
• Browse content in Science and Mathematics
• Browse content in Biological Sciences
• Aquatic Biology
• Biochemistry
• Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
• Developmental Biology
• Ecology and Conservation
• Evolutionary Biology
• Genetics and Genomics
• Microbiology
• Molecular and Cell Biology
• Natural History
• Plant Sciences and Forestry
• Research Methods in Life Sciences
• Structural Biology
• Systems Biology
• Zoology and Animal Sciences
• Browse content in Chemistry
• Analytical Chemistry
• Computational Chemistry
• Crystallography
• Environmental Chemistry
• Industrial Chemistry
• Inorganic Chemistry
• Materials Chemistry
• Medicinal Chemistry
• Mineralogy and Gems
• Organic Chemistry
• Physical Chemistry
• Polymer Chemistry
• Study and Communication Skills in Chemistry
• Theoretical Chemistry
• Browse content in Computer Science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Computer Architecture and Logic Design
• Game Studies
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Mathematical Theory of Computation
• Programming Languages
• Software Engineering
• Systems Analysis and Design
• Virtual Reality
• Browse content in Computing
• Business Applications
• Computer Security
• Computer Games
• Computer Networking and Communications
• Digital Lifestyle
• Graphical and Digital Media Applications
• Operating Systems
• Browse content in Earth Sciences and Geography
• Atmospheric Sciences
• Environmental Geography
• Geology and the Lithosphere
• Maps and Map-making
• Meteorology and Climatology
• Oceanography and Hydrology
• Palaeontology
• Physical Geography and Topography
• Regional Geography
• Soil Science
• Urban Geography
• Browse content in Engineering and Technology
• Agriculture and Farming
• Biological Engineering
• Civil Engineering, Surveying, and Building
• Electronics and Communications Engineering
• Energy Technology
• Engineering (General)
• Environmental Science, Engineering, and Technology
• History of Engineering and Technology
• Mechanical Engineering and Materials
• Technology of Industrial Chemistry
• Transport Technology and Trades
• Browse content in Environmental Science
• Applied Ecology (Environmental Science)
• Conservation of the Environment (Environmental Science)
• Environmental Sustainability
• Environmentalist Thought and Ideology (Environmental Science)
• Management of Land and Natural Resources (Environmental Science)
• Natural Disasters (Environmental Science)
• Nuclear Issues (Environmental Science)
• Pollution and Threats to the Environment (Environmental Science)
• Social Impact of Environmental Issues (Environmental Science)
• History of Science and Technology
• Browse content in Materials Science
• Ceramics and Glasses
• Composite Materials
• Metals, Alloying, and Corrosion
• Nanotechnology
• Browse content in Mathematics
• Applied Mathematics
• Biomathematics and Statistics
• History of Mathematics
• Mathematical Education
• Mathematical Finance
• Mathematical Analysis
• Numerical and Computational Mathematics
• Probability and Statistics
• Pure Mathematics
• Browse content in Neuroscience
• Cognition and Behavioural Neuroscience
• Development of the Nervous System
• Disorders of the Nervous System
• History of Neuroscience
• Invertebrate Neurobiology
• Molecular and Cellular Systems
• Neuroendocrinology and Autonomic Nervous System
• Neuroscientific Techniques
• Sensory and Motor Systems
• Browse content in Physics
• Astronomy and Astrophysics
• Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
• Biological and Medical Physics
• Classical Mechanics
• Computational Physics
• Condensed Matter Physics
• Electromagnetism, Optics, and Acoustics
• History of Physics
• Mathematical and Statistical Physics
• Measurement Science
• Nuclear Physics
• Particles and Fields
• Plasma Physics
• Quantum Physics
• Relativity and Gravitation
• Semiconductor and Mesoscopic Physics
• Browse content in Psychology
• Affective Sciences
• Clinical Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Criminal and Forensic Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Evolutionary Psychology
• Health Psychology
• History and Systems in Psychology
• Music Psychology
• Neuropsychology
• Organizational Psychology
• Psychological Assessment and Testing
• Psychology of Human-Technology Interaction
• Psychology Professional Development and Training
• Research Methods in Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Browse content in Social Sciences
• Browse content in Anthropology
• Anthropology of Religion
• Human Evolution
• Medical Anthropology
• Physical Anthropology
• Regional Anthropology
• Social and Cultural Anthropology
• Theory and Practice of Anthropology
• Browse content in Business and Management
• Business Ethics
• Business Strategy
• Business History
• Business and Technology
• Business and Government
• Business and the Environment
• Comparative Management
• Corporate Governance
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Entrepreneurship
• Health Management
• Human Resource Management
• Industrial and Employment Relations
• Industry Studies
• Information and Communication Technologies
• International Business
• Knowledge Management
• Management and Management Techniques
• Operations Management
• Organizational Theory and Behaviour
• Pensions and Pension Management
• Public and Nonprofit Management
• Strategic Management
• Supply Chain Management
• Browse content in Criminology and Criminal Justice
• Criminal Justice
• Criminology
• Forms of Crime
• International and Comparative Criminology
• Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice
• Development Studies
• Browse content in Economics
• Agricultural, Environmental, and Natural Resource Economics
• Asian Economics
• Behavioural Finance
• Behavioural Economics and Neuroeconomics
• Econometrics and Mathematical Economics
• Economic History
• Economic Systems
• Economic Methodology
• Economic Development and Growth
• Financial Markets
• Financial Institutions and Services
• General Economics and Teaching
• Health, Education, and Welfare
• History of Economic Thought
• International Economics
• Labour and Demographic Economics
• Law and Economics
• Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics
• Microeconomics
• Public Economics
• Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics
• Welfare Economics
• Browse content in Education
• Adult Education and Continuous Learning
• Care and Counselling of Students
• Early Childhood and Elementary Education
• Educational Equipment and Technology
• Educational Strategies and Policy
• Higher and Further Education
• Organization and Management of Education
• Philosophy and Theory of Education
• Schools Studies
• Secondary Education
• Teaching of a Specific Subject
• Teaching of Specific Groups and Special Educational Needs
• Teaching Skills and Techniques
• Browse content in Environment
• Applied Ecology (Social Science)
• Climate Change
• Conservation of the Environment (Social Science)
• Environmentalist Thought and Ideology (Social Science)
• Natural Disasters (Environment)
• Social Impact of Environmental Issues (Social Science)
• Browse content in Human Geography
• Cultural Geography
• Economic Geography
• Political Geography
• Browse content in Interdisciplinary Studies
• Communication Studies
• Museums, Libraries, and Information Sciences
• Browse content in Politics
• African Politics
• Asian Politics
• Chinese Politics
• Comparative Politics
• Conflict Politics
• Elections and Electoral Studies
• Environmental Politics
• European Union
• Foreign Policy
• Gender and Politics
• Human Rights and Politics
• Indian Politics
• International Relations
• International Organization (Politics)
• International Political Economy
• Irish Politics
• Latin American Politics
• Middle Eastern Politics
• Political Behaviour
• Political Economy
• Political Institutions
• Political Methodology
• Political Communication
• Political Philosophy
• Political Sociology
• Political Theory
• Politics and Law
• Public Policy
• Public Administration
• Quantitative Political Methodology
• Regional Political Studies
• Russian Politics
• Security Studies
• State and Local Government
• UK Politics
• US Politics
• Browse content in Regional and Area Studies
• African Studies
• Asian Studies
• East Asian Studies
• Japanese Studies
• Latin American Studies
• Middle Eastern Studies
• Native American Studies
• Scottish Studies
• Browse content in Research and Information
• Research Methods
• Browse content in Social Work
• Addictions and Substance Misuse
• Adoption and Fostering
• Care of the Elderly
• Child and Adolescent Social Work
• Couple and Family Social Work
• Developmental and Physical Disabilities Social Work
• Direct Practice and Clinical Social Work
• Emergency Services
• Human Behaviour and the Social Environment
• International and Global Issues in Social Work
• Mental and Behavioural Health
• Social Justice and Human Rights
• Social Policy and Advocacy
• Social Work and Crime and Justice
• Social Work Macro Practice
• Social Work Practice Settings
• Social Work Research and Evidence-based Practice
• Welfare and Benefit Systems
• Browse content in Sociology
• Childhood Studies
• Community Development
• Comparative and Historical Sociology
• Economic Sociology
• Gender and Sexuality
• Gerontology and Ageing
• Health, Illness, and Medicine
• Marriage and the Family
• Migration Studies
• Occupations, Professions, and Work
• Organizations
• Population and Demography
• Race and Ethnicity
• Social Theory
• Social Movements and Social Change
• Social Research and Statistics
• Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility
• Sociology of Religion
• Sociology of Education
• Sport and Leisure
• Urban and Rural Studies
• Browse content in Warfare and Defence
• Defence Strategy, Planning, and Research
• Land Forces and Warfare
• Military Administration
• Military Life and Institutions
• Naval Forces and Warfare
• Other Warfare and Defence Issues
• Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution
• Weapons and Equipment

• < Previous chapter
• Next chapter >

25 Competition in Education

Fabrizio Butera, Professor of Social Psychology, Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne

Wojciech Świątkowski, University of Lausanne

Benoît Dompnier, Senior Lecturer, Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne

• Published: 08 December 2021
• Cite Icon Cite
• Permissions Icon Permissions

In this chapter, the authors delineate how competition circulates through education. First, the authors show how competitive ideologies, values, and norms are transmitted from society to educational institutions, in particular ideologies and values such as meritocracy, the belief in a fair free market, and neoliberalism, as well as norms such as productivism and employability. Second, the authors review the competitive structures and climates within educational institutions that shape students’ values, goals, and behaviors, in particular structures such as normative assessment, tracking, and numerus clausus , as well as climates such as classroom climate, goal structures, and error climate. Third, the authors report research that documents the impact of students’ competitive values, goals, and behaviors on educational outcomes, from learning and achievement to social relations. Finally, the authors conclude by reflecting on how such a socialization of students may impact society in a feedback loop, either in terms of maintenance of the status quo or in terms of social change.

Competition in Education

Competition is a ubiquitous factor in educational institutions, from their organizational values and norms to the socialization of students. In the present chapter we adopt a social influence approach and discuss how competitive values and norms are transmitted from society to educational institutions; how competitive structures within these institutions shape students’ values, goals, and behaviors; and how such a socialization of students may impact society in a feedback loop (see Figure 25.1 ). In doing so, we limit our analysis to mechanisms at work in industrialized countries, as it is in these countries that the vast majority of studies have been conducted.

Competitive Societies

Educational systems (from kindergarten to higher education) are the institutions in charge of the transmission of knowledge and skills through the generations, and as such they are deeply rooted in the social functioning of the societies in which they are embedded. As a matter of fact, the history of modern educational systems has been one of dependency from state-driven policies and specific demands from the economy. In several historical accounts of the development of educational systems, the emergence and rise of generalized education appears to be linked to the development of nation-states (e.g., Archer, 2013 ). For example, Green (1990) notes that from the nineteenth century onwards, “education system came to assume a primary responsibility for the moral, cultural and political development of the nation” (p. 13), by forging the country’s national identity through the promotion of dominant values, habits, language, religion, and political and economic creeds. Such a tight relationship between the development of the nation-state and the formal organization of education is apparent in the training of the ruling class, but also in the expansion of mass education. For example, a study carried out with enrollment data of over 120 countries for the period 1870–1980 revealed that “mass education spread around the world with the spread of the Western system, with its joined principles of national citizenship and state authority” ( Meyer et al., 1992 , p. 146). Actually, archival data showed that well before the modern organization of educational institutions, during the Middle Ages, higher education was controlled by power-holders (kings, princes, popes) and used as a means to shape the political and administrative organization of a given territory, “by training individuals for specific professional statuses” ( Goastellec, 2020 , p. 287, our translation).

A Multi-Level Depiction of Competition in Education

It is therefore unsurprising that educational systems evolve as a function of the historical, political, cultural, and economic context of a given country, both in terms of the specific policies that lie at the core of its organization and in terms of the dominant culture it vehiculates (e.g., Perry, 2009 ). Indeed, several authors have noted that education transmits the dominant values and ideologies of a given society ( Zajda, 2009 ) and socializes children in such values and ideologies ( Apple, 2018 ; Bronfenbrenner, 1977 ). In particular, as far as competition is concerned, it has been argued that competitive values and ideologies at the societal level spill over into educational policies and practices ( Rich & DeVitis, 1992 ), and that there is a growing call in industrialized countries for increased competitive selection and excellence in education ( Van de Werfhorst, 2014 ). Which are, then, the competitive ideologies and values of industrialized countries that surround their educational systems?

Competitive Ideologies and Values

System justification theory posits that people are motivated to justify the existing social order of the society in which they live, both to reduce uncertainty in life and avoid questioning the legitimacy of the social system ( Jost et al., 2004 ). People living in industrialized, capitalist countries are therefore motivated to adhere to a set of interrelated competitive ideologies such as meritocracy and the fairness of free-market economy ( Jost & Hunyady, 2005 ), as well as neoliberalism ( Beauvois, 2005 ).

Meritocracy

The belief that upward social mobility is available to the entire population also called the “American dream,” lays its foundations on the ideology of merit: People are rewarded as a function of their effort and ability, and not because they belong to a specific (privileged) social group (e.g., Son Hing et al., 2011 ). In other words, meritocracy refers to the belief that in a competitive society—where privileged positions in terms of wealth, power, and prestige are scarce—all citizens can potentially access such positions, provided they display greater levels of effort and ability than others ( Butera, 2006 ). This ideology is so pervasive in industrial societies, and the “rhetoric of rising” so widespread, that support spans the entire political spectrum from left to right ( Sandel, 2020 ). However, although democratic societies are in theory permeable and allow upward social mobility, research showed that belonging to an underprivileged or discriminated group represents in fact a disadvantage ( McNamee & Miller, 2004 ), as competition does not take place in a level playing field but rather reproduces existing inequalities ( Haney & Hurtado, 1994 ; Son Hing et al., 2002 ). Nevertheless, people believe in meritocracy and justify existing inequalities in terms of lack of ability or effort ( Son Hing et al., 2011 ), even when they belong to an underprivileged group ( Jost et al., 2003b ).

The same applies to educational systems. Merit, and not wealth, has been the basic principle used to assess and promote pupils in schools, ever since the American and French revolutions ( Butera et al., 2021 ). Merit is also the principle that justifies equal access to all children in primary education, following the call for generalized, free, and compulsory education formulated in the Universal Declaration of Human rights: Children are granted equal opportunities, and then relative ability and effort determine the subsequent educational path that they will follow ( Batruch et al., 2019a ). Again, even though the school system appears to reproduce existing social disparities ( Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977 ; Falcon, 2012 ), pupils and parents by and large believe in school meritocracy (Darnon et al., 2018a , 2018b ; Duru-Bellat & Tenret, 2012 ; Wiederkehr et al., 2015b ), even disadvantaged pupils ( Wiederkehr et al., 2015a ). According to these authors, belief in school meritocracy plays a palliative role for disadvantaged pupils in dealing with an uncertain future. Indeed, school meritocracy feeds the belief that class boundaries are permeable and that at least some disadvantaged pupils will be able to achieve upward social mobility (a phenomenon also called tokenism , cf. Wright, 2001 ). To conclude this section with a quote from a famous article on merit in education by Deutsch (1979 , p. 379), “merit based on individual performance will be the dominant principle of distributive justice in situations where an economic orientation predominates”; that is where competition predominates.

Fair, Free Market

The association between the economy and competition is epitomized by the free-market ideology. Although markets in capitalist countries can be more or less regulated by state institutions ( Hall & Gingerich, 2009 ), the concept of free market has become an ideology. As noted by Piketty (2020) , markets, profits, and capital are historical constructs, mainly coined and used for political motives. Importantly, Jost et al. (2003a) have remarked that, although market-driven inequalities have been on the rise for the past four decades ( Frank & Cook, 1995 ; Piketty, 2020 ), the free-market ideology seems well accepted by the general public. Jost et al. (2003a) even noted that in a large-scale Gallup poll, the majority of American respondents considered that the economic system is fair, including more than a half of the low-income respondents (p. 56). Thus, because free-market ideology represents the status quo , people who are motivated to justify the existing social order are likely to accept such an ideology as being fair ( Jost & Hunyady, 2005 ).

Several scholars have noted that, in industrialized countries, the corporate models of the market economy have been used to shape the competitive functioning of, and values transmitted in, public education (e.g., Apple, 2006 ; Engel, 2000 ). Entrepreneurial efficiency, unconstrained competition, and the market’s permanent quest for performance are metaphors that school managers have adopted to promote the idea that competition in education can boost performance just like it can in the marketplace ( Apple, 2006 ). This state of affairs has produced two intertwined trends of public and scholarly debate. On the one hand, the question of “school choice”—parents’ freedom to choose the best school for their children—has fueled the debate on whether or not a market of freely competing schools leads to a more efficient and effective education system (e.g., Dudley-Marling, 2020 ; Jabbar et al., 2019 ). On the other hand, the question of merit pay for teachers—paying teachers as a function of their results—has fueled the debate on whether or not paying teachers as a function of performance does indeed promote their performance (e.g., Dee & Keys, 2004 ; Nathaniel et al., 2016 ). Whatever the answer to these questions, and the jury is still out, research shows that there is a clear tendency to transfer market-level policies, in particular competitive ones, to education-level practices.

Neoliberalism

“Neoliberalism, originally a loose economic theory, has evolved into a sociopolitical ideology and extended its hegemonic influence to all areas of life ( … )” ( Bettache & Chiu, 2019 , p. 9). This quote is taken from the introductory article to a special issue on the social psychology of neoliberalism in the Journal of Social Issues , and it summarizes how yet another competitive ideology has spilled over well beyond the political and economic spheres. As noted by Plehwe (2009) , since its inception in the 1920s, and through its formalization by the Mont Pélerin Society, neoliberalism promoted the idea that only effective competitive markets and decentralized control can foster individual liberty, via freedom to choose one’s employment or means of production, select ways and goods to consume, and manage one’s life choices and outcomes. The transfer from the emphasis on the importance of economic exchange in a free marketplace to the entrepreneurialization of all personal activities and social relationships is also a major feature of the depiction of neoliberalism made by several philosophers and psychologists, from Foucault (1984/2010) to Beauvois (2005) .

Although neoliberalism has been criticized for having generic political, economic, and philosophical underpinnings, its influence has been steadily growing, with a peak in the 1980s and the advent of the Thatcher–Reagan era ( Bettache & Chiu, 2019 ). If we focus on the psychological consequences of living in a neoliberal environment, research has shown that making neoliberalism salient reduces feelings of bonding with, and trust toward others, both in traditionally capitalistic countries ( Hartwich & Becker, 2019 ) and in a transition economy like China ( Zhang & Xin, 2019 ). Kasser et al. (2007) made a similar analysis and showed how what is called American corporate capitalism—an ideology whose description is similar to that of neoliberalism—promotes a set of goals, namely self-interest, financial success, and competition, that conflict with pro-social goals such as being helpful, honest, loyal, and caring for other. Some authors have even noted that such an influence is also apparent in the way mainstream psychological science has developed: “Neoliberal systems build on and reinforce characteristic psychological tendencies of liberal individualism—including radical abstraction of self from context, an entrepreneurial understanding of self as an ongoing development project, an imperative for personal growth and fulfillment, and an emphasis on affect management for self-regulation” ( Adams et al., 2019 ).

Neoliberalism’s “hegemonic influence to all areas of life” extends to education. Two trends of research that have emerged to study such an extension are of interest for the question of competition in education. On the one hand, it has been noted that teachers are increasingly under pressure to abide by the representation of their profession as an entrepreneurial activity, with enhanced accountability as regards their productivity (e.g., Attick, 2017 ). On the other hand, the competitive climate that permeates schools and universities in neoliberal societies has prompted in students a representation of education as a means of prevailing in the struggle for a valuable position in the marketplace, thereby maximizing their future salary (e.g., Busch, 2017 ). These trends underline that the neoliberal ideology has far-reaching consequences in the educational systems of countries that espouse it, from the representation of what teaching is worth to the representation of what learning is for.

Ideologies and Values

In the above sections, we have discussed the links between competitive ideologies and values on the one hand and educational systems on the other hand. This may have suggested that we treat ideologies and values as interchangeable concepts, and we must now specify the relationship they entertain with each other. Values are defined as higher-order life goals at the individual level ( Schwartz et al., 2012 ), but they are influenced by a country’s dominant higher-order social goals that are part of the dominant ideologies in that country. Such a relationship is illustrated in a study on the link between the level of deregulated capitalism in industrialized countries and the adherence of these countries’ population to competitive values ( Schwartz, 2007 ). More precisely, this study has correlated the degree to which a set of OECD countries pursue neoliberal free-market capitalism (on an index ranging from strategic to competitive market coordination) with the level of self-enhancement values of power and achievement reported by people living in those countries. The results have shown a positive association between the neoliberal pursuit of competitive market coordination and the adherence to competitive self-enhancement values. In sum, there appears to be a link between ideologies that regulate the political and economic life of a country, and the values that its citizens adopt.

Competitive Norms

In addition to the competitive ideologies and values reviewed above, educational systems are also submitted to the influence of competitive norms. Unlike ideologies and values, which provide the cultural context in which educational institutions are embedded, norms provide direct guidance as to the desired outcomes that education should deliver. Most modern industrialized countries have developed tools aimed at monitoring the performance of students, schools, and local authorities, and use those tools as a means to regulate their educational systems. Indeed, several studies have shown that international standardized testing, such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), has fulfilled this specific role in most OECD countries ( Mons, 2009 ). In this respect, we refer here to injunctive norms, i.e., those that specify the behaviors and outcomes a given society approves or disapproves of, along with the set of measures intended to reward or punish normative and counter-normative behaviors ( Cialdini et al., 1991 ). Two competitive norms appear to be particularly relevant for educational institutions: productivism and employability.

Productivism

Productivism, also called performativity, refers to the call for schools and universities to train pupils and students to acquire skills needed in the job market ( Lyotard, 1984 ). The development of knowledge is therefore subordinated to the criteria of usefulness, salability, and efficiency of the training ( Segal, 2014 ). Productivism has been identified as a fundamental norm in modern societies because the production of useful skills in pupils and students is seen as a guarantee of economic growth ( Anderson, 2008 ). As a consequence, the evaluation of schools, teachers, and students is based on the same competitive criteria as in the job market, in particular their potential economic worth.

Employability

Parallel to productivism, employability is an indicator of performance for educational institutions, in particular vocational training (e.g., Kratz et al., 2019 ) and higher education (e.g., Morley, 2001 ). Employability is to be considered as a norm because it exerts pressure on the educational system to produce individuals that will be useful and adaptable to the job market ( Masdonati et al., in press ). Human capital is “the stock of individual skills, competencies and qualifications” ( Morley, 2001 , p. 132), and in industrialized countries higher education is meant to provide these skills, competencies, and qualifications, following an input-output logic. In this respect, employability is an end for higher education, but also a means for society, to the extent that higher employability is seen as competitive advantage in the global market ( Knight & Yorke, 2004 ).

Competition from Society to Educational Systems

In this section we have discussed the competitive ideologies and values—in particular, meritocracy, free market, and neoliberalism—that constitute the backbone of most capitalist countries. Given their pervasive nature and the need for system justification that they induce ( Jost & Hunyady, 2005 ), they appear to permeate all areas of activity in a given society, including education. We have also discussed the competitive norms—in particular, productivism and employability—that define the quality of an educational system as a function of its ability to produce outcomes that will serve the competitive nature of the marketplace. But how does competition flow from society to education?

The link between competition at the social and educational levels has been well documented in a comparative study with more than thirty countries. The higher the economic competition and the influence of diplomas on salary, the stronger the implementation of competitive structures in the educational system ( Dubet et al., 2010 ). Two major features of educational systems account for such a transfer of competition: competitive selection structures and competitive climates. On the one hand, competitive ideologies and norms promote a hierarchical representation of society whereby some individuals and groups are seen as having higher worth than others. For instance, meritocracy requires that some individuals receive greater rewards because of their higher level of effort and ability ( Mijs, 2016 ). As a consequence, educational systems are equipped with tools that allow educators and assessors to measure differential merit and distribute differential rewards. The next section will focus on three such tools, namely normative assessment, tracking, and numerus clausus . On the other hand, competitive ideologies and norms are internalized by teachers who transmit them to their classrooms ( Pérez Gómez, 1998 ). Teachers know that students should be able to adapt to a neoliberal economy ( Davies & Bansel, 2007 ), and that their worth will also be judged based on their ability to present themselves as independent, autonomous, and accountable individuals ( Pansu et al., 2008 ). As a consequence, teachers reproduce in their classroom the competitive ethos present in society at large ( Nicholls, 1989 ) by creating a competitive climate. The next section will focus in particular on classroom climate, goal structure, and error climate (see Figure 25.1 ).

Competitive Educational Systems

In the context of competitive societies, educational systems have developed two intertwined sets of competitive features, namely competitive selection structures and competitive teaching climates.

Competitive Structures

The educational function of educational systems—the role of improving the knowledge and skills of pupils and students—is probably their most relevant, salient, and noticeable feature, almost a tautology. However, a number of studies have noted that selection is an equally central feature of educational systems, as it corresponds to the function to “provide a rational means of selecting persons in order that the most able and motivated persons are sorted into the highest status positions” ( Dornbusch, 1996 , p. 405). In line with the meritocratic principle, such a function is considered to help society match abilities and effort with more or less valued positions in the social hierarchy (e.g., Dubet & Duru-Bellat, 2004 ). It also acts as a filter that assigns students to the economic roles that they merit, based on their educational performance ( Arrow, 1973 ). Although not advertised as the most desirable function, selection is so well rooted in the educational system that students recognize that pursuing competitive goals is indeed useful to succeed in the system ( Darnon et al., 2009 ; Dompnier et al., 2008 ). Because selection is a major role of educational systems, several structures have been developed to ensure that selection actually takes place. Here we discuss three such structures, namely normative assessment, tracking, and numerus clausus .

Normative Assessment

Educational critic Alfie Kohn recently reported that, according to Harvard political science professor Harvey Mansfield, “the essence of grading is exclusiveness” ( Kohn, 2019 ). This blunt statement summarizes the strong relationship between grades and normative assessment. Grades take different forms in different systems—letters, numbers, percentages—but they all aim at quantifying pupils’ and students’ performance ( Glaser, 1963 ). Whether or not grading systems that are, and have been, used accurately represent the students’ performance is still under debate (e.g., Rom, 2011 ). In this chapter, however, we focus on the functions of grading, rather than its accuracy, and in particular its contribution to the selection function of educational systems.

Grades can be used to represent the extent to which a student has learned, as compared to a desired standard; this is generally termed “criterion-referenced assessment” (e.g., Glaser, 1963 ). For example, a grade of seventy-five percent may indicate that three-quarters of a lesson has been learned or that three-quarters of the answers in a test were correct. Grades can also be used to provide a formative feedback, accompanied by detailed comments, aimed at providing the students with useful information as to improve their learning; this is generally termed “formative assessment” (e.g., Black & Wiliam, 2009 ). However, in the vast majority of systems, grades are used because they make performance easy to compare across students ( Knight & Yorke, 2003 ), which in turn allows teachers to make selective and competitive decisions such as retention, awards, and ranking. In this respect, grades are used most of the time as “norm-referenced” or “normative” assessments (Pulfrey et al., 2011 ; 2013 ). In other words, competence is considered as other-based in normative assessment—unlike criterion-referenced and formative assessment, where competence is task-based and self-based, respectively ( Elliot et al., 2011 )—which encourages and justifies comparison across students ( Butera & Darnon, 2017 ).

The competitive nature of normative assessment has two important consequences on assessment itself. First, if assessment is comparative, teachers’ judgment of each of their pupils depends on the average level of the relevant group of pupils, usually the classroom. This phenomenon is known as the “context effect” and is defined as the fact that “after factoring out actual performance, it appears that a pupil is judged better in a classroom in which the average achievement level is low than another pupil in a classroom in which this level is high” ( Dompnier et al., 2006 , p. 120). The second, related consequence is that such comparative effects can also be found at the school level, whereby “equally able students earned higher grades in lower ability schools” ( Marsh, 1987 , p. 280). Thus, normative assessment leads evaluators to distribute grades as a function of the need to produce a ranking among students, rather than as a function of actual performance.

This state of affairs explains why “the essence of grading is exclusiveness”: As soon as grading is used as a normative assessment tool, and it is most of the time, only some students can get the highest grades and the benefits in terms of academic and social positions that will follow from those grades. Such an association between selection and grades is clearly perceived by students. Autin et al. (2015) showed that the more students believed that the role of the educational system is to select, the more favorable they were toward the use of normative assessment. In a nutshell, normative grading is the tool that facilitates decision-making in a competitive and selective system.

Decision-making in a competitive and selective system often implies tracking (also called streaming), which is defined as “the practice of assigning students to instructional groups on the basis of ability” ( Hallinan, 1994 , p. 79). In other words, students compete to access the more prestigious instructional groups or curricula. All OECD countries implement one type of tracking or another ( OECD, 2013 ). Some countries divide students of the same class, school, or curriculum into ability groups, that is groups in which the same subject is more or less demanding depending on the group. Other countries send students of different ability to different schools or curricula, for instance to vocational or academic programs ( Batruch et al., 2019b ).

Although it has been argued that tracking allows the provision of a better fit between specific curricula and the students’ specific needs and ability ( Chmielewski, 2014 ; Hallinan, 1994 ), the difference between tracks is not merely descriptive or functional. Different tracks lead to different diplomas that give access to more or less prestigious professional and social positions. And, indeed, research has shown that tracking systems reproduce existing social hierarchies, as students from privileged social classes are overrepresented in more prestigious tracks (e.g., Duru-Bellat, 1996 ; Van de Werfhorst & Mijs, 2010 ). It is worth noting that research on tracking reveals a network of strong relationships between meritocracy at the ideological level, and normative grading and tracking at the structural level. In countries where meritocracy is a dominant ideology, more or less prestigious professional and social positions are occupied as a function of more or less prestigious diplomas, earned by attending more or less prestigious curricula whose access is determined by higher or lower grades (a mechanism also called “predictive assessment,” assessment that provides information for decisions about admission, cf. Allal, 2010 ).

Numerus Clausus

Another way to select students is numerus clausus , a Latin expression that means “closed number” and refers to a curriculum that accepts only a fixed number or proportion of students ( Spence, 1981 ). In most OECD countries, numerus clausus has been mainly used to regulate the number of students that enter medical and nursing training ( Moreira & Lafortune, 2016 ), but it can be found in many high-prestige curricula in higher education, such as Law and Business Administration, as well as in private schools of all levels. Each school and university has its specific rules, but two main types of numerus clausus can be found ( Sommet et al., 2013 ). On the one hand, pre-curriculum selection takes place when students must take an exam (and/or must present their past grades) to enter a specific curriculum. As a function of the needs and requirements of that curriculum, only a certain number or proportion of the students will be allowed to enter, selecting those with the highest results on the admission exam. On the other hand, in-curriculum selection takes place when students are evaluated on the basis of the results of their first year. In this case, many institutions standardize grades in order to make comparison and selection easier ( Kaufman, 1994 ).

Interestingly, as far as competition is concerned, the students who are confronted with such systems clearly perceive the competitive pressure, even though quite often—especially in the case of in-curriculum selection— numerus clausus is hidden. Indeed, in a series of three studies with university students, Sommet et al. (2013) showed that students in departments with numerus clausus developed lower levels of self-efficacy than students in departments without numerus clausus . The same was found when comparing students who believed or not that numerus clausus was in force in their department (in a department where it was hidden), and when comparing students in an experiment where the presence vs. absence of numerus clausus was manipulated. Self-efficacy is an interesting measure because it highlights the effect of numerus clausus : Students understand that they are in a relation of negative interdependence with the other (aspirant) students, and their self-efficacy is therefore reduced because their chance of succeeding is not only determined by how much they study, but also by how much their contenders do. A structure that creates objective negative interdependence perfectly fits the classic definition of competition ( Deutsch, 1949 ).

Competitive Climates

Competitive structures in educational institutions are shaped by democratic deliberation and political decision-making, at least as far as public education is concerned. There is, however, a less institutionalized mechanism that promotes competition in education, namely the implementation of competitive climates in schools and especially classrooms. Teachers are socialized to adopt a competitive ethos and to apply the neoliberal principle of performance accountability in their professional practice ( Webb et al., 2009 ). In this respect, not only do they work in and with the existing competitive structures (normative grading and tracking), but they also create competitive climates. In this section, we discuss how this is done through classroom climate, goals structure, and error climate.

Classroom Climate

Narrative and meta-analytical reviews of work on classroom climate have documented the relationship between this construct and a wealth of academic, behavioral, and socioemotional outcomes ( Fraser, 1989 ; Wang et al., 2020a ). They have also documented the important variations in how classroom climate has been operationalized—for example, teaching quality, classroom organization, teacher–student relationship—although the variability found in the literature can be reduced to three basic components that refer to teacher–student interactions: instructional support, socioemotional support, and classroom organization and management ( Wang et al., 2020a ). School-level mechanisms have also been identified as important in the development of specific climates ( Wang & Degol, 2016 ), but Wang et al. ( 2020a , 2020b ) have noted that proximal processes, like those occurring in the interaction between teachers and students, are more likely to yield substantial and long-lasting influence, as they are the ones that students experience daily and over an extended period of time.

In their meta-analysis, Wang et al. (2020a) report that performance-based and socially comparative instructional practices appear to negatively affect important psychological needs such as competence and relatedness ( Ryan & Deci, 2000 ; see also Wang, 2012 ). As noted above when discussing numerus clausus , the presence of a competitive structure affects the representation of students’ own competence, to the extent that one’s competence is negatively interdependent with the competence of others—the same holds for competitive climates.

Goal Structure

Instructional practices also influence the specific goal structure of a given classroom (e.g., Kaplan et al., 2002 ). The work initiated by Ames and Archer (1988) , and formalized by Ames ( 1992a , 1992b ), identified five key dimensions in such practices that are likely to influence the goals of the students socialized in a given class. Her TARGET system proposed that the five organizing dimensions are task assignments (T), authority relations (A), recognition systems (R), grouping procedures (G), evaluation practices (E), and use of time (T). Based on this work, Midgely and colleagues developed an instrument, the Patterns of Adaptive Learning Survey (PALS) that measures how students perceive the goal structure in their classroom ( Anderman & Midgely, 2002 ; Midgely et al., 2000 ): Their research showed that students concur in their perception of the surrounding goal structure, which also happens to be in line with the goal structure that teachers report about their class (see also Urdan et al., 1998 ).

Importantly, the literature review conducted by Meece et al. (2006) reveals that there is a consistent relationship between the goal structure in which the students are embedded and the goals they endorse. In particular, they found ample evidence that students who perceive that their teachers promote competition for grades and social comparisons of ability—e.g., “My teacher calls on smart students more than on other students” or “My teacher tells us how we compare with other students”—also develop competitive goals of their own, such as for instance “I want to do better than other students in my class.” Thus, the competitive goals that teachers set for students of their class through their instructional practices create a competitive goal structure that the students perceive and recognize, and with which they align their own goals. Actually, subsequent research has shown that classroom goal structure and personal achievement goals may be tied in three different ways: (a) classroom goal structure predict personal achievement goals, as noted above; (b) they can be parallel processes; and (c) they can interact ( Murayama & Elliot, 2009 ). Interestingly, repeated exposure to a competitive structure may create a self-sufficient competitive ethos that requires little additional input from the teachers. Indeed, a recent study has shown that when students have internalized competition (trait competitiveness), they project competition onto their environment (perceived environmental competitiveness): “ … a highly competitive person may enter an achievement situation, construe it as highly competitive, and behave accordingly, which may lead others in that situation to respond with competitive behavior in reciprocal fashion. In this way, competitiveness projection can be self‐fulfilling” ( Elliot et al., 2018 , p. 361).

Error Climate

Among instructional practices, teachers’ interpretation of the nature and consequences of errors appears to be highly important for their students in decoding the possibly competitive climate of a given classroom. Although errors have been described by several scholars as an opportunity for learning (e.g., Kapur, 2008 ; Zamora et al., 2018 ), they are used in everyday assessment as a basis for grading, especially in standardized, end-of-the-year or summative tests, as well as in predictive assessment. Thus, students know too well that errors may have far-reaching consequences on their grades and the future of their education. Teachers, however, do not hold uniform attitudes toward errors, and students perceive that errors may be more or less tolerated or even encouraged. This corresponds to what has been called “perceived error climate” ( Steuer et al., 2013 ). These authors have described perceived error climate as a “bundle of interrelated, but nevertheless distinguishable aspects of the learning environment” (p. 198). Four aspects relate to the teacher (Error tolerance by the teacher, Irrelevance of errors for assessment, Teacher support following errors, Absence of negative teacher reactions), two aspects relate to the reactions of classmates (Absence of negative classmate reactions and Taking the error risk), and two aspects relate to the process of learning from errors (Analysis of errors and Functionality of errors for learning). Importantly, their multi-level analysis revealed that these dimensions also appear at the class level, thereby suggesting that such perceptions indeed constitute a climate. Their results also showed that perceived error climate is related to, but separate from perceived classroom goal structure, and uniquely predicts learners’ individual reactions to errors.

The role of teachers in the development of the error climate has been documented by several correlational and observational studies ( Santagata, 2005 ; Tulis, 2013 ), and more recently by an experimental study ( Soncini et al., 2021 ). In the latter, the manipulation of error handling via a fictitious teacher (more punitive vs. more supportive) significantly affected the pupils’ perception of the error climate between a pre- and a post-test. In sum, errors are routinely used to rank and select students, as they provide an important basis for grading, but they may be used to promote learning. This line of research shows that students adapt their reaction to errors as a function of the more punitive and selective vs. promotive and supporting view of errors conveyed by their teachers.

Competition from Educational Systems to Students’ Characteristics

In this section we have discussed the educational structures—in particular, normative assessment, tracking, and numerus clausus —that promote competition among students. We have also discussed the climates implemented by teachers’ instructional practices—in particular, classroom climate, goal structure, and error climate—that encourage more or less competitive reactions in students. Now, how does competition move from the educational environment, with its structures and climates, to the functioning of students? In this section, we have already noted that the environment in which students are embedded (e.g., goal structure) is likely to affect students’ functioning (e.g., the goals they endorse).

This is consistent with work on educational socialization. In particular, regarding socialization with competitive ideologies, a cross-sectional study showed that people who have studied business are more likely than those who have studied social sciences to endorse the dominant ideology ( Baer, 1990 ). Moreover, a longitudinal study showed that university students enrolled in a commerce department (but not students in social sciences) became more favorable to capitalism and more prone to attribute poverty to internal dispositions over the course of their curriculum ( Guimond & Palmer, 1996 ; see also Guimond, 2001 ). Such socialization processes also concern other constructs, for example competitive goals ( Świątkowski & Dompnier, 2017 ), and in fact any other individual factor. Indeed, the Social Comparison Model of Competition holds that individual factors (e.g., individual differences in competitiveness) are embedded in contextual factors (e.g., incentive structures such as grading), and together they elicit social comparison concerns and competitive behavior ( Garcia et al., 2013 ). In line with such a socialization approach, four studies revealed that competitive goals are effectively transmitted from leaders (coaches, PhD supervisors, team leaders, and teachers) to followers (soccer players, PhD students, video-games players, and pupils) over time ( Sommet et al., 2017 ). The next section will focus on individual-level competitive values, goals, and behaviors (see Figure 25.1 ).

Competitive Students

In a complex and integrated system such as the circulation of competition within society, it is important to consider the role of individual-level variables such as values, goals, and behaviors. On the one hand, they are influenced by the surrounding ideologies and structures through the socialization of students, as noted above. On the other hand, they represent sometimes stable dispositions that ensure long-lasting consequences of the socialization or contextual effects.

Competitive Values

The study of values has a long history in psychology; here we will only focus on the Schwartz (1992) theory of basic human values because it is by far the most widespread framework, and because it organizes values in a structure that explicitly identifies competitive values. In this framework, values are defined as “trans-situational goals, varying in importance, that serve as guiding principles in the life of a person or group. ( … ) basic values are organized into a coherent system that underlies and can help to explain individual decision making, attitudes, and behavior” ( Schwartz et al., 2012 , p. 664). Schwartz and colleagues have shown that the structure of values is the same across situations and cultures ( Schwartz et al., 2001 ), and that it comprises nineteen values (in the latest version of the model, Schwartz et al., 2012 ). These values are organized in a circumplex that opposes four higher-order goals: openness to change values are opposed to conservation values, and self-transcendence values are opposed to self-enhancement values. The latter is the most relevant category for the present chapter. Self-enhancement higher-order values refer to the pursuit of one’s own interest, and their core basic values are achievement and power. In this respect, not only are self-enhancement values individualistic values, but they are also competitive values in that power implies domination over others.

The stable structure of values notwithstanding, their relative importance varies across individuals, situations, and countries. Actually, the theory holds that it is the relative importance of values that guides behavior ( Schwartz, 1992 ). For example, self-enhancement values are present in all value systems, but it is the prioritization of these values over the others that accounts for competitive behaviors. Interestingly, and as noted above, Schwartz (2007) showed that self-enhancement values are endorsed to a higher extent in countries adhering to neoliberal free-market capitalism. A recent study tested the idea that in all fields of study in higher education self-enhancement values are predominant, which is at odds with values prioritized by female students, thereby reducing their feelings of belonging ( Aelenei et al., 2020 ). The results indeed showed that if success was defined in terms of self-enhancement values, female—more than male—students expressed a lower sense of belonging, reported lower self-efficacy, and were less likely to pursue a given academic opportunity, whatever the field of study. In sum, competitive ideologies lead educational systems to prioritize self-enhancement values, which creates unequal chances between students who prioritize these values to a lower or higher extent.

Competitive Goals

Goals are crucial in guiding individuals toward a specific action, given their dispositional tendencies and situational constraints ( Elliot & Niesta, 2009 ). This area of research is vast, and here we focus on achievement goals, defined as the “purpose ( … ) or cognitive-dynamic focus ( … ) of competence-relevant behavior” ( Elliot & McGregor, 2001 , p. 501). These goals vary as a function of their definition—whether they are mastery goals, focusing on intra-individual standards of competence, or performance goals, focusing on normative and comparative standards. They also vary as a function of their valence—whether they are directed toward approaching success or avoiding failure. Performance goals, be they approach- or avoidance-oriented, are relevant in competitive situations, especially in educational contexts ( Darnon et al., 2012 ), as they focus on relative competence and seek to position one’s competence within a pertinent social hierarchy (i.e., outperform other students vs. being outperformed, respectively). Accordingly, a meta-analysis by Murayama and Elliot (2012) has shown that competition—structural, perceived, or dispositional—predicts the endorsement of both performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals.

We have already noted that competitive goals, in particular performance-approach goals, are considered as useful to succeed at university by students (e.g., Dompnier et al., 2008 ). Moreover, it has been shown that utility judgments made by teachers are particularly favorable in the appreciation of students ( Dompnier et al., 2007 ). It is therefore unsurprising that students express performance-approach goals to a higher extent when the selection function of the educational system is salient ( Jury et al., 2017 ). Moreover, the second study presented by these authors revealed that students endorsed performance-approach goals when selection was at stake because they considered that these goals were useful, in that they allow them to show teachers that they are students “who possess all the qualities to succeed at university” ( Jury et al., 2017 , p. 244). Performance-avoidance goals are also endorsed to a higher extent in selective contexts, but for different reasons. A study by Pulfrey et al. (2011) manipulated the presence or absence of normative grading for an academic task, and observed that performance-avoidance goals were more adopted when grades were present. This effect appeared to be mediated by a reduction in autonomous motivation; in other words, grading—because it is an extrinsic incentive—reduces the students’ feelings of being in control of their engagement in a task, and results in higher strivings to avoid failure. Performance goals thus clearly proceed, for different reasons, from competitive and selective environments.

Competitive Behaviors

Several competitive behaviors, relevant to education, have been shown to proceed from competitive ideologies, structures, and goals.

Cheating at school and at university is an extremely prevalent behavior. For example, Teixeira and Rocha (2010) , in an international study with students from more than twenty countries, found that ninety percent of the respondents had observed others cheating at least once. Cheating is a competitive behavior to the extent that it amounts to increasing one’s performance or achievement without paying the price that the educational community has set for recognizing competence (e.g., studying). And indeed, numerous lines of research have shown that several factors related to competition do predict individual cheating. Murdock and Anderman (2006) have reviewed a great deal of such studies on cheating and have summarized the results in a motivational framework (p. 130). These authors observed that pressure for grades (from teachers, parents, and peers), competitive social comparison in classrooms, and performance-oriented classroom goal structures all concur in eliciting extrinsic and performance-oriented personal goals, which in turn result in a greater propensity to cheat. In line with this framework, Pulfrey and Butera (2013) showed that self-enhancement goals predicted leniency towards cheating through performance-approach goals, and directly predicted cheating behavior. It is noteworthy that all the above studies focus on individual cheating. Collective cheating appears to be predicted by a different set of values, namely benevolence values, which refer to the defense and promotion of one’s group ( Pulfrey et al., 2018 ). Interestingly for the present chapter, benevolence can be a competitive set of values when the defense and promotion of one’s own group occur in an intergroup context.

Sabotage resembles cheating in that it is also an unethical behavior based on succeeding without paying the set price. However, while cheating entails unduly increasing one’s performance, sabotage aims at reducing the others’ performance. Research has shown that sabotage is also predicted by competition, for example by status-seeking ( Charness et al., 2014 ) and the need to protect one’s status ( Garcia et al., 2010 ).

Exploitation

Exploitation of others’ work is another anti-social behavior that is reinforced by competitive factors. Poortvliet et al. (2007) showed that performance goals predicted exploitation of others in information sharing (see also Poortvliet et al., 2009 ); Sommet et al. (2019) found that this effect is stronger when selection is salient, and it is explained by controlled reasons connected to performance goals. Thus, selection as a competitive structure and performance goals as competitive strivings contribute to the emergence of exploitation behaviors.

Finally, moving from covert anti-social behaviors to explicit aggression, bullying has also been described as a consequence of competitive environments. Bullying refers to the repeated physical, verbal, or social (ostracism) aggressions performed by one or several persons on a chosen victim. Di Stasio et al. (2016) , for example, modeled the teaching practices in dozens of classrooms and measured bullying outcomes at the student level. Their results revealed that classroom-level social comparison and competition predicted student-level self-reported bullying. In another study, Sutton and Keogh (2000) showed that competitive tendencies in the classroom, in particular the desire for social success, are related to a self-report measure of bullying. Moreover, as far as competitive values are concerned, a study by Menesini et al. (2013) showed that self-enhancement values predicted both cyber and traditional bullying in high-school students. In sum, a series of anti-social behaviors—here, cheating, sabotage, exploitation, and bullying—appear to be the result of competitive ideologies, competitive classroom structures and climates, and competitive values.

Outcomes of a Competitive Education

The above review leaves unanswered the question of the educational outcomes of a competitive education. This section will summarize the links that the reviewed literature has established between competition at various levels (society, educational systems, and intra-individual variables in students) and educational outcomes. The term educational outcomes may seem rather generic, but we use it here to highlight that both Psychology and the Educational Sciences have used a very large array of measures to assess what results from education.

Learning, Performance, and Achievement

Learning is probably the gold standard of what the outcome of education is expected to be. However, studying learning requires educators (and researchers) to measure a difference in competence (before and after), and to define the depth of learning that one wants to assess, from surface learning (reciting, naming) to deep learning (analyzing, generalizing; see for instance Bloom, 1956 ; Butera et al., 2021 ). This is why many studies instead assess performance (e.g., to a test) or collect specific or end-of-the-year grades from schools as a measure of achievement. In this respect, many comprehensive reviews collapse learning, performance, and achievement. We will be no exception.

A thorough meta-analysis of the relation between competition and performance did not find any notable effect ( Murayama & Elliot, 2012 ), and a meta-analysis of four meta-analyses that specifically focused on student learning found a small positive effect that does not exceed developmental and teacher effects ( Hattie, 2009 ). Interestingly, however, a second meta-analysis by Murayama and Elliot (2012) revealed that the null relation between competition and performance hides two opposing processes. Competition predicts performance-approach goals that favor performance, and at the same time performance-avoidance goals that inhibit performance. Thus, not all competitive structures or dispositions lead to increased performance, but this link depends on the performance goals that are prompted by competition (cf. Murayama, Elliot, & Jury, in this volume).

In addition to these comprehensive results, the question of the relation between performance-approach goals and performance, learning, or achievement has been abundantly debated. Some authors have argued that performance-approach goals predict task performance when there is a delay between the measure of performance-approach goals and that of task performance, but performance is impaired in experiments where the measure immediately follows the manipulation (Crouzevialle & Butera, 2013 , 2017 ). This work is in line with studies that showed that evaluative pressure to perform impairs executive functions (e.g., working memory) that are crucial in learning ( Beilock et al., 2004 ). Others have argued that performance-approach goals have a deleterious effect on performance when measured through their appearance (“demonstrate one’s competences”) rather than normative (“outperform others”) component ( Hulleman et al., 2010 ). Some authors have suggested that these two types of performance-approach goals each relate to different kinds of reasons that sustain their endorsement—controlled reasons for appearance and autonomous reasons for normative—which in turn account for the difference in predictive validity of performance-approach goals ( Senko & Tropiano, 2016 ). A parallel effort has focused on uncovering the mechanisms that make performance-approach goals predictive of performance. For instance, Senko et al. (2013) argued that performance-approach goals promote a vigilant state in students, which leads them to look for factors that their teachers seem to find important for succeeding and invest in those; when students correctly spotted the right factors, their achievement was increased. Similarly, Dompnier et al. (2013) found that performance-approach goals positively predicted achievement when students thought that these goals were useful to succeed; however, these goals negatively predicted achievement when students thought that they helped convey a desirable image of themselves in the eyes of their teachers. Finally, a small-scale meta-analysis recently showed that performance-approach goals positively predict performance when students pursue a promotion regulatory focus, that is when they are particularly attentive to the gains that their actions may entail, and focus on positive results ( Świątkowski & Dompnier, 2020 ).

The above debate is mainly concerned with the question of the effect of performance-approach goals on performance/achievement. Regarding their effects on other important educational outcomes, the picture is more homogeneous. Performance-approach goals have been found to predict surface—rather than deep—study strategies, to impair task interest and resistance to failure, and to promote self-handicapping (for a review, see Darnon et al., 2012 ).

Social Relations

At the relational level, we have already noted that performance-approach goals predict cheating and exploitation behaviors; moreover, they reduce the ability to take into account and learn from a partner’s diverging point of view (Darnon et al., 2006 , 2007 ; Sommet et al., 2014 ; see Butera et al., 2019 , for a review). Even when a cooperative structure is in place, a competitive regulation of disagreement between partners leads to reduced peer learning ( Buchs et al., 2010 ).

Moving to more structural variables, it has been shown that competitive settings (negative interdependence) lead to reduced information exchange with partners ( Toma & Butera, 2009 ). In particular, several studies have shown that the presence of normative grading leads students to withholding useful information during cooperative work ( Hayek et al., 2015 ), and to impaired coordination in a collective task ( Hayek et al., 2017 ). Finally, in terms of intergroup relations, the pursuit of performance-approach goals impaired the academic performance of students who experienced low (as compared with high) relative social class ( Crouzevialle & Darnon, 2019 ). Moreover, the use of grading as a selective tool—and more generally, the salience of the selection function of education—were associated with an increase in the achievement gap between higher and lower socioeconomic status (SES) students ( Smeding et al. 2013 ), as well as between boys and girls on a science subject ( Souchal et al., 2014 ). The contribution of assessment contexts to the achievement gap is massive (see Easterbrook & Hadden, 2021 , for a recent review), but these effects are not limited to students. Recent research has shown that normative grading also leads evaluators to artificially increase the achievement gap between higher and lower SES students ( Autin et al., 2019 ; Batruch et al., 2019b ).

To summarize, competition appears to have a null effect on performance, whereas performance-approach goals have a positive effect, under certain conditions that we have reviewed, while performance-avoidance goals have a consistent negative effect. Ideological, structural, and dispositional competition, however, results in an overall impairment of other educational outcomes, be these at the individual level—from task interest to study strategies—or at the level of social relations—from cheating to exploitation, and from information sharing to coordination.

Conclusions: Education as a Feedback Loop

In this chapter we aimed to show that education is an integrated system that resonates with the society in which it is embedded, and that socializes its students to adopt its values and practices. We have shown that, as far as competition is concerned, it is possible to trace an influence pathway that leads from dominant competitive ideologies, values, and norms to the implementation of competitive structures and climates in schools and universities. These educational institutions, in turn, lead students to adopt competitive values, goals, and behaviors. Is this the end of the story?

At some point, students become adults, begin to vote, take up professional positions, and become active agents of society. In this respect, they begin to contribute to shaping their society’s ideologies, values, and norms. What then is the nature of the influence students may yield upon society when they become citizens? At least two scenarios are possible. The first amounts to social reproduction, whereby society perpetuates itself in terms of values and structures because educational institutions socialize students to those values and structures. A few years ago, Attick (2017) wrote: “Teachers today are held responsible for developing in students the skills that the neoliberal economic system requires for its ongoing survival” (p. 42; see also Rikowski, 2001 , for a similar idea). Whether it is skills or values and norms, this idea is in line with the theory of social reproduction, and the observation that school perpetuates the social hierarchies that can be found in society ( Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977 ). It is also consistent with system justification theory, and the observation that people tend to comply with dominant ideologies and norms, even when they are members of an underprivileged group ( Jost et al., 2004 ). Thus, according to the social reproduction scenario, students socialized at school with values derived from the dominant ideologies in society will later contribute to those same ideologies by perpetuating them.

The second possible scenario is that of minority influence, whereby students develop values and norms that are not the dominant ones, and they engage in social activism to replace the status quo. The mechanism through which minorities may produce individual and social change are well known (e.g., Butera et al., 2017 , for a review), but this second scenario begs the question of how students can be socialized with non-dominant values and norms. On the one hand, educational institutions maintain a sufficient degree of freedom, and in some cases instill values that are at odds with those of the surrounding society. Students may be inspired by a Marxist teacher or attend a school that promotes degrowth in their practices. Moreover, at the level of school systems, it should be noted that in the past century a number of schools have been established on the basis of non-competitive ideologies and values. The most well-known and widespread around the world are probably the Steiner-Waldorf, the Freinet, and the Montessori schools, but many other progressive schools can be found at a more local level. The specifics of their pedagogies may differ, but they share a focus of the peculiar development of every child—thereby reducing the weight of social comparison and competition—the encouragement of critical thinking, the promotion of cooperation, and the equal importance given to the cognitive, moral, spiritual, social, and physical aspects of development (e.g., Carnie, 2003 ). Interestingly, these schools are based on the philosophy of their initiators—as well as many other intellectuals such as John Dewey and Jean Piaget—who were equally interested in the promotion of child development and the reform of the overly strict and competitive educational systems in force in their respective countries (for an overview of progressive education systems on the five continents, see Röhrs & Lenhart, 1995 ). In other words, these theoretical and educational frameworks have been conceived as much as pedagogical systems as levers intended to promote different, less competitive forms of society (or even revolutionize society, as in the work by Paulo Freire, 1970 ). However, the number and liveliness of these methods notwithstanding, they remain a very small minority within educational practices (e.g., Pianta et al., 2007 ). In sum, the possibility for schools to transmit alternative values currently relies on the dissident action of some schools or teachers.

On the other hand, it is possible to consider that socialization takes place not only in the family and at school, but also in other circles. Political scientists have long studied political socialization, and several models are currently debated. The important point here is that some scholars consider it possible that political socialization takes place outside of school and family, for example, in local or global social movements (e.g., Filleule, 2013 ). Social media have rendered distant social movements immediately available ( Wray‐Lake, 2019 ); the case of Greta Thunberg and the Fridays for Future movement is a clear example of sudden engagement of thousands of adolescents (and beyond) in a movement in stark contrast with dominant ideologies and values. Therefore, it is possible. Which path—of social reproduction or minority influence—will be followed by students in their contribution to society, and in which contexts and through which mechanisms, is left to future research.

Acknowledgments

The preparation of this work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation. We wish to thank Gaële Goastellec for her invaluable suggestions on a previous draft.

Adams, G. , Estrada‐Villalta, S. , Sullivan, D. , & Markus, H. R. ( 2019 ). The psychology of neoliberalism and the neoliberalism of psychology.   Journal of Social Issues , 75 , 189–216. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12305

Google Scholar

Aelenei, C. , Martinot, D. , Sicard, A. , & Darnon, C. ( 2020 ). When an academic culture based on self-enhancement values undermines female students’ sense of belonging, self-efficacy, and academic choices.   The Journal of Social Psychology , 160 , 373–389. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2019.1675576

Ames, C. ( 1992 a). Classrooms: Goals, structures, and student motivation.   Journal of Educational Psychology , 84 , 261–271. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.84.3.261

Ames C. ( 1992 b). Achievement goals and the classroom climate. In D. H. Schunk & J. L. Meece (Eds.), Student Perceptions in the Classroom (pp. 327–48). Erlbaum.

Google Preview

Ames, C. , & Archer, J. ( 1988 ). Achievement goals in the classroom: Students’ learning strategies and motivation processes.   Journal of Educational Psychology , 80 , 260–267. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.80.3.260

Anderman, E. M. , & Midgley, C. ( 2002 ). Methods for studying goals, goal structures, and patterns of adaptive learning. In C. Midgley (Ed.), Goals, goal structures, and patterns of adaptive learning (1–20). Erlbaum

Anderson, D. ( 2008 ). Productivism, vocational and professional education, and the ecological question.   Vocations and Learning , 1 , 105–129. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12186-008-9007-0

Apple, M. W. ( 2006 ). Educating the “right” way: Markets, standards, God, and inequality . Taylor & Francis.

Apple, M. W. ( 2018 ). Ideology and cultural and economic reproduction. In M. Apple & M. W. Apple (Eds.), Ideology and curriculum (pp. 26–44). Routledge.

Allal, L. ( 2010 ). Assessment and the regulation of learning.   International Encyclopedia of Education , 3 , 348–352.

Archer, M. S. ( 2013 ). Social origins of educational systems . Routledge.

Arrow, K. ( 1973 ). Higher education as a filter.   Journal of Public Economics , 2 , 193–216. https://doi.org/10.1016/0047-2727(73)90013-3

Attick, D. ( 2017 ). Homo economicus at school: Neoliberal education and teacher as economic being.   Educational Studies , 53 , 37–48. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131946.2016.1258362

Autin, F. , Batruch, A. , & Butera, F. ( 2015 ). Social justice in education: How the function of selection in educational institutions predicts support for (non)egalitarian assessment practices.   Frontiers in Psychology , 6, 707. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00707

Autin, F. , Batruch, A. , & Butera, F. ( 2019 ). The function of selection of assessment leads evaluators to artificially create the social class achievement gap.   Journal of Educational Psychology , 111 , 717–735.

Baer, D. E. ( 1990 ). Socialization into dominant vs. counter ideology among university‐educated Canadians.   Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue Canadienne de Sociologie , 27 , 487–504. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-618X.1990.tb00136.x

Batruch, A. , Autin, F. , & Butera, F. ( 2019 a). The paradoxical role of meritocratic selection in the perpetuation of social inequalities at school. In J. Jetten & K. Peters (Eds.), The social psychology of inequality (pp. 123–137). Springer Nature.

Batruch, A. , Autin, F. , Bataillard, F. , & Butera, F. ( 2019 b). School selection and the social class divide: How tracking contributes to the reproduction of inequalities.   Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin , 45 , 477–490. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167218791804

Beauvois, J. L. ( 2005 ). Les illusions libérales: individualisme et pouvoir social (Liberal illusions: individualism and social power) . Presses Universitaires de Grenoble.

Beilock, S. L. , Kulp, C. A. , Holt, L. E. , & Carr, T. H. ( 2004 ). More on the fragility of performance: Choking under pressure in mathematical problem solving.   Journal of Experimental Psychology: General , 133 , 584–600. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.133.4.584

Bettache, K. , & Chiu, C. Y. ( 2019 ). The invisible hand is an ideology: Toward a social psychology of neoliberalism.   Journal of Social Issues , 75 , 8–19. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12308

Black, P. , & Wiliam, D. ( 2009 ). Developing the theory of formative assessment.   Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability , 21, 5–31. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-008-9068-5

Bloom, B. S. (Ed.). ( 1956 ). Taxonomy of educational objectives, Handbook I: Cognitive domain . David McKay Company.

Bourdieu, P. , & Passeron, J. C. ( 1977 ). Reproduction in education, society and culture . Sage.

Bronfenbrenner, U. ( 1977 ). Toward an experimental ecology of human development.   American Psychologist , 32 , 513–531. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.32.7.513

Buchs, C. , Pulfrey, C. , Gabarrot, F. , & Butera, F. ( 2010 ). Competitive conflict regulation and informational dependence in peer learning.   European Journal of Social Psychology , 40 , 418–435. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.631

Busch, L. ( 2017 ). Knowledge for sale: The neoliberal takeover of higher education . MIT Press.

Butera, F. ( 2006 ). La meritocrazia a scuola: Un serio ostacolo all’apprendimento (Meritocracy at school: a serious obstacle to learning).   Psicologia Sociale , 1 , 431–448.

Butera, F. , & Darnon, C. ( 2017 ). Competence assessment, social comparison and conflict regulation. In A. Elliot , C. Dweck & D. Yaeger (Eds.), Handbook of Competence and Motivation ( 2nd Edition: Theory and Application , pp. 192–213). Guilford Press.

Butera, F. , Falomir-Pichastor, J. M. , Mugny, G. , & Quiamzade, A. ( 2017 ). Minority influence. In S. Harkins , K. D. Williams & J. Burger (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Social Influence (pp. 317–337). Oxford University Press.

Butera, F. , Sommet, N. , & Darnon, C. ( 2019 ). Sociocognitive conflict regulation: How to make sense of diverging ideas.   Current Direction in Psychological Science , 28 , 145–151. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721418813986

Butera, F. , Batruch, A. , Autin, F. , Mugny, G. , Quiamzade, A. , & Pulfrey, C. ( 2021 ). Teaching as social influence: Empowering teachers to become agents of social change.   Social Issues and Policy Review , 15 (1), 323–355. https://doi.org/10.1111/sipr.12072

Carnie, F. ( 2003 ). Alternative approaches to education: A guide for parents and teachers . Psychology Press.

Charness, G. , Masclet, D. , & Villeval, M. C. ( 2014 ). The dark side of competition for status.   Management Science , 60 , 38–55. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2013.1747

Chmielewski, A. K. ( 2014 ). An international comparison of achievement inequality in within- and between-school tracking systems.   American Journal of Education , 120 , 293–324. doi: 10.1086/675529

Cialdini, R. B. , Kallgren, C. A. , & Reno, R. R. ( 1991 ). A focus theory of normative conduct: A theoretical refinement and reevaluation of the role of norms in human behavior. In M. P. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 24, pp. 201–234). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60330-5

Crouzevialle, M. , & Butera, F. ( 2013 ). Performance-approach goals deplete working memory and impair cognitive performance.   Journal of Experimental Psychology: General , 142 , 666–678. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029632

Crouzevialle, M. , & Butera, F. ( 2017 ). Performance goals and task performance: Integrative considerations on the distraction hypothesis.   European Psychologist , 22 , 73–82. https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040/a000281

Crouzevialle, M. , & Darnon, C. ( 2019 ). On the academic disadvantage of low social class individuals: Pursuing performance goals fosters the emergence of the achievement gap.   Journal of Educational Psychology , 111 , 1261–1272. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/edu0000349

Darnon, C. , Butera, F. , & Harackiewicz, J. M. ( 2007 ). Achievement goals in social interactions: Learning with mastery vs. performance goals.   Motivation and Emotion , 31 , 61–70.

Darnon, C. , Dompnier, B. , Delmas, F. , Pulfrey, C. , & Butera F. ( 2009 ). Achievement goal promotion at university: Social desirability and social utility of mastery and performance goals.   Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 96 , 119–134. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0012824

Darnon, C. , Dompnier, B. , & Poortvliet, M. ( 2012 ). Achievement goals in educational contexts: A social psychology perspective.   Social and Personality Psychology Compass , 6 , 760–771. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1751-9004.2012.00457.x

Darnon, C. , Muller, D. , Schrager, S. M. , Pannuzzo, N. , & Butera, F. ( 2006 ). Mastery and performance goals predict epistemic and relational conflict regulation.   Journal of Educational Psychology , 98 , 766–776. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.98.4.766

Darnon, C. , Smeding, A. , & Redersdorff, S. ( 2018 a). Belief in school meritocracy as an ideological barrier to the promotion of equality.   European Journal of Social Psychology , 48 , 523–534. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.2347

Darnon, C. , Wiederkehr, V. , Dompnier, B. , & Martinot, D. ( 2018 b). “ Where there is a will, there is a way”: Belief in school meritocracy and the social-class achievement gap.   British Journal of Social Psychology , 57 , 250–262. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12214

Davies, B. , & Bansel, P. ( 2007 ). Neoliberalism and education.   International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education , 20 , 247–259. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390701281751

Dee, T. S. , & Keys, B. J. ( 2004 ). Does merit pay reward good teachers? Evidence from a randomized experiment.   Journal of Policy Analysis and Management , 23 , 471–488. https://doi.org/10.1002/pam.20022

Deutsch, M. ( 1949 ). A theory of co-operation and competition.   Human Relations , 2 , 129–152.

Deutsch, M. ( 1979 ). Education and distributive justice: Some reflections on grading systems.   American Psychologist , 34 , 301–401.

Di Stasio, M. R. , Savage, R. , & Burgos, G. ( 2016 ). Social comparison, competition and teacher–student relationships in junior high school classrooms predicts bullying and victimization.   Journal of Adolescence , 53 , 207–216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2016.10.002

Dompnier, B. , Pansu, P. , & Bressoux, P. ( 2006 ). An integrative model of scholastic judgments: Pupils’ characteristics, class context, halo effect and internal attributions.   European Journal of Psychology of Education , 21 , 119–133.

Dompnier, B. , Pansu, P. , & Bressoux, P. ( 2007 ). Social utility, social desirability and scholastic judgments: Toward a personological model of academic evaluation.   European Journal of Psychology of Education , 22 , 333–350. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03173431

Dompnier, B. , Darnon, C. , Delmas, F. , & Butera F. ( 2008 ). Achievement goals and social judgment: The performance-approach paradox.   International Review of Social Psychology , 21 , 247–271. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12025

Dompnier, B. , Darnon, C. , & Butera, F. ( 2013 ). When performance‐approach goals predict academic achievement and when they do not: A social value approach.   British Journal of Social Psychology , 52 , 587–596. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12025

Dornbusch, S. M. , Glasgow, K. L. , & Lin, I. C. ( 1996 ). The social structure of schooling.   Annual Review of Psychology , 47 , 401–429. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.47.1.401

Dubet, F. , & Duru-Bellat, M. ( 2004 ). Qu’est-ce qu’une école juste? (What is a fair school?)   Revue Française de Pédagogie , 146 , 105–114.

Dubet, F. , Duru-Bellat, M. , & Vérétout, A. ( 2010 ). Les sociétés et leur école. Emprise du diplôme et cohésion sociale (Societies and their schools: influence of diplomas and social cohesion) . Le Seuil.

Dudley-Marling, C. ( 2020 ). School choice and inclusive education. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education . https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.1241

Duru-Bellat, M. ( 1996 ). Social inequalities in French secondary schools: From figures to theories.   British Journal of Sociology of Education , 17 , 341–351. https://doi.org/10.1080/0142569960170307

Duru-Bellat, M. , & Tenret, E. ( 2012 ). Who’s for meritocracy? Individual and contextual variations in the faith.   Comparative Education Review , 56 , 223–247. https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/661290

Easterbrook, M. J. , & Hadden, I. R. ( 2021 ). Tackling educational inequalities with social psychology: Identities, contexts, and interventions.   Social Issues and Policy Review , 15 , 180–236. https://doi.org/10.1111/sipr.12070

Elliot, A. J. , & McGregor, H. A. ( 2001 ). A 2× 2 achievement goal framework.   Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 80 , 501–519. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.80.3.501

Elliot, A. J. , & Niesta, D. ( 2009 ). Goals in the context of the hierarchical model of approach-avoidance motivation. In G. Moskowitz & H. Grant (Eds.), The psychology of goals (pp. 56–76). Guilford Press.

Elliot, A. J. , Murayama, K. , & Pekrun, R. ( 2011 ). A 3× 2 achievement goal model.   Journal of Educational Psychology , 103 , 632–648. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0023952

Elliot, A. J. , Jury, M. , & Murayama, K. ( 2018 ). Trait and perceived environmental competitiveness in achievement situations.   Journal of Personality , 86 (3), 353–367. https://doi.org/10.1111/jopy.12320

Engel, M. ( 2000 ). The struggle for control of public education: Market ideology vs. democratic values . Temple University Press.

Falcon, J. ( 2012 ). Temporal trends in intergenerational social mobility in Switzerland: A cohort study of men and women born between 1912 and 1974.   Swiss Journal of Sociology , 38 , 153–175.

Fillieule, O. ( 2013 ). Political socialization and social movements. The Wiley‐Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social and Political Movements (pp. 1–7). Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470674871.wbespm199

Foucault, M. ( 2010 ). The birth of biopolitics: Lectures at the College de France, 1978–1979 ( G. Burchell , Trans.). Picador. (Original work published 1984).

Frank, R. H. , & Cook, P. J. ( 1995 ). The winner-take-all society: Why the few at the top get so much more than the rest of us . Penguin Books.

Fraser, B. J. ( 1989 ). Twenty years of classroom climate work: Progress and prospect.   Journal of Curriculum studies , 21 (4), 307–327. https://doi.org/10.1080/0022027890210402

Freire, P. ( 1970 ). Pedagogia do oprimido [Pedagogy of the oppressed] (11th ed.). Paz e Terra.

Garcia, S. M. , Song, H. , & Tesser, A. ( 2010 ). Tainted recommendations: The social comparison bias.   Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes , 113 , 97–101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2010.06.002

Garcia, S. M. , Tor, A. , & Schiff, T. M. ( 2013 ). The psychology of competition: A social comparison perspective.   Perspectives on Psychological Science , 8 , 634–650. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691613504114

Glaser, R. ( 1963 ). Instructional technology and the measurement of learning outcomes: Some questions.   American Psychologist , 18 , 519–521. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0049294

Goastellec, G. ( 2020 ). Le sens de la justice dans l’accès à l’université: les apports de la longue durée (Sense of justice in access to university: the contribution of a long-term perspective).   L’Annee Sociologique , 70 , 283–312.

Green, A. ( 1990 ). Education and state formation . Palgrave Macmillan.

Guimond, S. ( 2001 ). Epistemic authorities in higher education: The relative influence of peers, faculty and courses on attitude formation and change. In F. Butera & G. Mugny (Eds.), Social influence in social reality (pp. 211–223). Hogrefe & Huber.

Guimond, S. , & Palmer, D. L. ( 1996 ). The political socialization of commerce and social science students: Epistemic authority and attitude change.   Journal of Applied Social Psychology , 26 , 1985–2013. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.1996.tb01784.x

Hall, P. A. , & Gingerich, D. W. ( 2009 ). Varieties of capitalism and institutional complementarities in the political economy: An empirical analysis.   British Journal of Political Science , 39 , 449–482. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123409000672

Hallinan, M. T. ( 1994 ). Tracking: From theory to practice.   Sociology of Education , 67 , 79–84. https://doi.org/10.2307/2112697

Haney, C. , & Hurtado, A. ( 1994 ). The jurisprudence of race and meritocracy: Standardized testing and “race neutral” racism in the workplace.   Law and Human Behavior , 18 , 223–248. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01499586

Hartwich, L. , & Becker, J. C. ( 2019 ). Exposure to neoliberalism increases resentment of the elite via feelings of anomie and negative psychological reactions.   Journal of Social Issues , 75 , 113–133. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12311

Hattie, J. ( 2009 ). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement . Routledge.

Hayek, A.S. , Toma, C. , Oberlé, D. , & Butera, F. ( 2015 ). Grading hampers cooperative information sharing in group problem solving.   Social Psychology , 46 , 121–131.

Hayek, A.S. , Toma, C. , Guidotti, S. , Oberlé, D. , & Butera, F. ( 2017 ). Grades degrade group coordination: deteriorated interactions and performance in a cooperative motor task.   European Journal of Psychology of Education , 32 , 97–112.

Hulleman, C. S. , Schrager, S. M. , Bodmann, S. M. , & Harackiewicz, J. M. ( 2010 ). A meta-analytic review of achievement goal measures: Different labels for the same constructs or different constructs with similar labels?   Psychological Bulletin , 136 , 422–449. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0018947

Jabbar, H. , Fong, C. J. , Germain, E. , Li, D. , Sanchez, J. , Sun, W. L. , & Devall, M. (2019). The competitive effects of school choice on student achievement: A systematic review. Educational Policy . Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904819874756

Jost, J. T. , & Hunyady, O. ( 2005 ). Antecedents and consequences of system-justifying ideologies.   Current Directions in Psychological Science , 14 , 260–265. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0963-7214.2005.00377.x

Jost, J.T. , Blount, S. , Pfeffer, J. , & Hunyady, G. ( 2003 a). Fair market ideology: Its cognitive-motivational underpinnings.   Research in Organizational Behavior , 25 , 53–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-3085(03)25002-4

Jost, J.T. , Pelham, B.W. , Sheldon, O. , & Sullivan, B.N. ( 2003 b). Social inequality and the reduction of ideological dissonance on behalf of the system: Evidence of enhanced system justification among the disadvantaged.   European Journal of Social Psychology , 33 , 13–36. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.127

Jost, J.T. , Banaji, M.R. , & Nosek, B.A. ( 2004 ). A decade of system justification theory: Accumulated evidence of conscious and unconscious bolstering of the status quo.   Political Psychology , 25 , 881–919. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9221.2004.00402.x

Jury, M. , Darnon, C. , Dompnier, B. , & Butera, F. ( 2017 ). The social utility of performance-approach goals in a selective educational environment.   Social Psychology of Education , 20 (1), 215–235. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-016-9354-x

Kaplan, A. , Middleton, M. J. , Urdan, T. , & Midgley, C. ( 2002 ). Achievement goals and goal structures. In C. Midgley (Ed.), Goals, goal structures, and patterns of adaptive learning (pp. 21–53). Erlbaum.

Kapur, M. ( 2008 ) Productive failure.   Cognition and Instruction , 26 , 379–424. https://doi.org/10.1080/07370000802212669

Kasser, T. , Cohn, S. , Kanner, A. D. , & Ryan, R. M. ( 2007 ). Some costs of American corporate capitalism: A psychological exploration of value and goal conflicts.   Psychological Inquiry , 18 , 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/10478400701386579

Kratz, F. , Patzina, A. , Kleinert, C. , & Dietrich, H. ( 2019 ). Vocational education and employment: Explaining cohort variations in life course patterns.   Social Inclusion , 7 , 224–253. http://dx.doi.org/10.17645/si.v7i3.2045

Kaufman, N. H. ( 1994 ). A survey of law school grading practices.   Journal of Legal Education , 44 , 415–423.

Kohn, A. (2019). Can everyone be excellent? https://www.alfiekohn.org/article/excellence/

Knight, P. , & Yorke, M. ( 2003 ). Assessment, learning and employability . Open University Press.

Knight, P. , & Yorke, M. ( 2004 ). Learning, curriculum and employability in higher education . RoutledgeFalmer.

Lyotard, J. F. ( 1984 ). The postmodern condition: A report on knowledge . University of Minnesota Press.

Marsh, H. W. ( 1987 ). The big-fish-little-pond effect on academic self-concept.   Journal of Educational Psychology , 79 , 280–295. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.79.3.280

Masdonati, J. , Massoudi, K. , Blustein, D. L. , & Duffy, R. ( in press ). Moving toward decent work: Application of the Psychology of Working Theory to the school-to-work transition.   Journal of Career Development . DOI: 10.1177/0894845321991681

McNamee, S. J. , & Miller, R. K. ( 2004 ). The meritocracy myth . Rowan & Littlefield.

Meece, J. L. , Anderman, E. M. , & Anderman, L. H. ( 2006 ). Classroom goal structure, student motivation, and academic achievement.   Annual Review of Psychology , 57 , 487–503. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.56.091103.070258

Menesini, E. , Nocentini, A. , & Camodeca, M. ( 2013 ). Morality, values, traditional bullying, and cyberbullying in adolescence.   British Journal of Developmental Psychology , 31 , 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-835X.2011.02066.x

Meyer, J. W. , Ramirez, F. O. , & Soysal, Y. N. ( 1992 ). World expansion of mass education, 1870–1980.   Sociology of Education , 65 , 128–149. https://doi.org/10.2307/2112679

Midgley, C. , Maehr, M. L. , Hruda, L. Z. , Anderman, E. , Anderman, L. , Freeman, K. E. , Gheen, M. , Kaplan, A. , Kumar, R. , Middleton, M.J. , Nelson, J. , Roeser. R. , & Urdan, T. ( 2000 ). Manual for the patterns of adaptive learning scales . The University of Michigan Press.

Mijs, J. J. ( 2016 ). The unfulfillable promise of meritocracy: Three lessons and their implications for justice in education.   Social Justice Research , 29 , 14–34. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11211-014-0228-0

Mons, N. ( 2009 ). Effets théoriques et réels des politiques d’évaluation standardisée (Theoretical and real effects of standardized assessment policies).   Revue Française de Pédagogie , 169 , 99–140. https://doi.org/10.4000/rfp.1531

Moreira, L. , & Lafortune, G. ( 2016 ). Education and training for doctors and nurses: what’s happening with n umerus clausus policies? In OECD (Ed.), Health Workforce Policies in OECD Countries: Right Jobs, Right Skills, Right Places (pp. 63–102). OECD.

Morley, L. ( 2001 ). Producing new workers: Quality, equality and employability in higher education.   Quality in Higher Education , 7 , 131–138. https://doi.org/10.1080/13538320120060024

Murayama, K. , & Elliot, A. J. ( 2009 ). The joint influence of personal achievement goals and classroom goal structures on achievement-relevant outcomes.   Journal of Educational Psychology , 101 , 432–447. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0014221

Murayama, K. , & Elliot, A. J. ( 2012 ). The competition–performance relation: A meta-analytic review and test of the opposing processes model of competition and performance.   Psychological Bulletin , 138 , 1035–1070. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0028324

Murdock, T. B. , & Anderman, E. M. ( 2006 ). Motivational perspectives on student cheating: Toward an integrated model of academic dishonesty.   Educational Psychologist , 41 , 129–145. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep4103_1

Nathaniel, P. , Pendergast, L. L. , Segool, N. , Saeki, E. , & Ryan, S. ( 2016 ). The influence of test-based accountability policies on school climate and teacher stress across four states.   Teaching and Teacher Education , 59 , 492–502. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2016.07.013

Nicholls, J. G. ( 1989 ). The competitive ethos and democratic education . Harvard University Press.

OECD. ( 2013 ). PISA 2012 results: What makes schools successful? Resources, policies and practices (volume IV). OECD.

Pansu, P. , Dubois, N. , & Dompnier, B. ( 2008 ). Internality-norm theory in educational contexts.   European Journal of Psychology of Education , 23 , 385–397. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03172748

Pérez Gómez, Á. I. ( 1998 ). La cultura escolar en la sociedad neoliberal (School culture in a neoliberal society) . Ediciones Morata.

Perry, L. B. ( 2009 ). Conceptualizing education policy in democratic societies.   Educational Policy , 23 , 423–450. https://doi.org/10.1177/0895904807310032

Pianta, R. C. , Belsky, J. , Houts, R. , & Morrison, F. ( 2007 ). Opportunities to learn in America’s elementary classrooms.   Science , 315 , 1795–1796. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1139719

Piketty, T. ( 2020 ). Capital and ideology . Harvard University Press.

Plehwe, D. ( 2009 ). Introduction. In P. Mirowski & D. Plehwe (Eds.), The road from Mont Pelerin: The making of the neoliberal thought collective (pp. 1–42). Harvard University Press.

Poortvliet, P. M. , Janssen, O. , Van Yperen, N. W. , & Van de Vliert, E. ( 2007 ). Achievement goals and interpersonal behavior: How mastery and performance goals shape information exchange.   Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin , 33 , 1435–1447. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167207305536

Poortvliet, P. M. , Janssen, O. , Van Yperen, N. W. , & Vliert, E. V. D. ( 2009 ). The joint impact of achievement goals and performance feedback on information giving.   Basic and Applied Social Psychology , 31 , 197–209. https://doi.org/10.1080/01973530903058276

Pulfrey, C. , & Butera, F. ( 2013 ). Why neoliberal values of self-enhancement lead to cheating in higher education: A motivational account.   Psychological Science , 24 , 2153–2162. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797613487221

Pulfrey, C. , Buchs, C. , & Butera, F. ( 2011 ). Why grades engender performance avoidance goals: The mediating role of autonomous motivation.   Journal of Educational Psychology , 103 , 683–700. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023911

Pulfrey, C. , Darnon, C. , & Butera, F. ( 2013 ). Autonomy and task performance: Explaining the impact of grades on intrinsic motivation.   Journal of Educational Psychology , 105 , 39–57. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029376

Pulfrey, C. , Durussel, K. , & Butera, F. ( 2018 ). The good cheat: Benevolence and the justification of collective cheating.   Journal of Educational Psychology , 110 , 764–784. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000247

Rich, J. M. , & DeVitis, J. L. ( 1992 ). Competition in education . Charles C. Thomas Publisher.

Rikowski, G. ( 2001 ). Education for industry: A complex technicism.   Journal of Education and Work , 14 , 29–49.

Röhrs, H. , & Lenhart, V. (Eds.). ( 1995 ). Progressive education across the continents: A handbook (Heidelberger Studien Zur Erziehungswissenschaft, Vol. 44). Peter Lang.

Rom, M. C. ( 2011 ). Grading more accurately.   Journal of Political Science Education , 7 , 208–223. https://doi.org/10.1080/15512169.2011.564916

Ryan, R. M. , & Deci, E. L. ( 2000 ). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being.   American Psychologist , 55 , 68–78. https://doi.org/10.1037110003-066X.55.1.68

Sandel, M. ( 2020 ). The tyranny of merit: What’s become of the common good . Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Santagata, R. ( 2005 ). Practices and beliefs in mistake-handling activities: A video study of Italian and US mathematics lessons.   Teaching and Teacher Education , 21 , 491–508. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2005.03.004

Schwartz, S. H. ( 1992 ). Universals in the content and structure of values: Theory and empirical tests in 20 countries. In M. Zanna (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 25, pp. 1–65). Academic Press.

Schwartz, S. H. ( 2007 ). Cultural and individual value correlates of capitalism: A comparative analysis.   Psychological Inquiry , 18 , 52–57. https://doi.org/10.1080/10478400701388963

Schwartz, S. H. , Melech, G. , Lehmann, A. , Burgess, S. , Harris, M. , & Owens, V. ( 2001 ). Extending the cross-cultural validity of the theory of basic human values with a different method of measurement.   Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology , 32 , 519–542. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022022101032005001

Schwartz, S. H. , Cieciuch, J. , Vecchione, M. , Davidov, E. , Fischer, R. , Beierlein, C. , Ramos, A. , Verkasalo, M. , Lönnqvist, J.-E. , Demirutku, K. , Dirilen-Gumus, O. , & Konty, M. ( 2012 ). Refining the theory of basic individual values.   Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 103 , 663–688. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029393

Segal, J. ( 2014 ). Ideology and the reform of public higher education.   New Political Science , 36 (4), 489–503. https://doi.org/10.1080/07393148.2014.954804

Senko, C. , & Tropiano, K. L. ( 2016 ). Comparing three models of achievement goals: Goal orientations, goal standards, and goal complexes.   Journal of Educational Psychology , 108 , 1178–1192. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000114

Senko, C. , Hama, H. , & Belmonte, K. ( 2013 ). Achievement goals, study strategies, and achievement: A test of the “learning agenda” framework.   Learning and Individual Differences , 24 , 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2012.11.003

Sommet, N. , Pulfrey, C. , & Butera, F. ( 2013 ). Did my M.D. really go to university to learn? Detrimental effects of numerus clausus on self-efficacy, mastery goals and learning. PLoS ONE , 8 (12), e84178. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0084178

Sommet, N. , Darnon, C. , Mugny, G. , Quiamzade, A. , Pulfrey, C. , Dompnier, B. , & Butera, F. ( 2014 ). Performance goals in conflictual social interactions: Towards the distinction between two modes of relational conflict regulation.   British Journal of Social Psychology , 53 , 134–153.

Sommet, N. , Pillaud, V. , Meuleman, B. , & Butera, F. ( 2017 ). The socialization of performance goals.   Contemporary Educational Psychology , 49 , 337–354. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2017.03.008

Sommet, N. , Nguyen, D. , Fahrni, K. , Jobin, M. , Nguyen, H. P. , Sehaqui, H. , & Butera, F. ( 2019 ). When and why performance goals predict exploitation behaviors: An achievement goal complex analysis of the selection function of assessment.   Motivation and Emotion , 43 , 266–284. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11031-018-9742-y

Son Hing, L. S. , Bobocel, D. R. , & Zanna, M. P. ( 2002 ). Meritocracy and opposition to affirmative action: Making concessions in the face of discrimination.   Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 83 , 493–509. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.83.3.493

Son Hing, L. S. , Bobocel, D. R. , Zanna, M. P. , Garcia, D. M. , Gee, S. S. , & Orazietti, K. ( 2011 ). The merit of meritocracy.   Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 101 , 433–50. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024618

Soncini, A. , Matteucci, M. C. , & Butera, F. ( 2021 ). Error handling in the classroom: An experimental study of teachers’ strategies to foster positive error climate.   European Journal of Psychology of Education , 36 , 719–738. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-020-00494-1

Souchal, C. , Toczek-Capelle, M. C. , Darnon, C. , Smeding, A. , Butera, F. , & Martinot, D. ( 2014 ). Assessing does not mean threatening: Assessment as a key determinant of girls’ and boys’ performance in a science class.   British Journal of Educational Psychology , 84 , 125–136.

Spence, J. ( 1981 ). Access to higher education in the Federal Republic of Germany: The numerus clausus issue. Comparative Education , 17 , 285–292. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305006810170305

Smeding, A. , Darnon, C. , Souchal, C. , Toczeck-Capelle, M.C. , & Butera, F. ( 2013 ). Reducing the socio-economic status achievement gap at university by promoting mastery-oriented assessment.   PLoS ONE , 8 (8), e71678. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0071678

Steuer, G. , Rosentritt-Brunn, G. , & Dresel, M. ( 2013 ). Dealing with errors in mathematics classrooms: Structure and relevance of perceived error climate.   Contemporary Educational Psychology , 38 , 196–210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2013.03.002

Sutton, J. , & Keogh, E. ( 2000 ). Social competition in school: Relationships with bullying, Machiavellianism and personality.   British Journal of Educational Psychology , 70 , 443–456. https://doi.org/10.1348/000709900158227

Świątkowski, W. , & Dompnier, B. ( 2017 ). La compétition à l’Université: Perspectives individuelles et sociétales (Competition at University: individual and societal perspectives). In C. Staerklé & F. Butera (Eds.), Conflits constructifs, conflits destructifs: Regards psychosociaux (pp. 101–117). Antipodes.

Świątkowski, W. , & Dompnier, B. ( 2020 ). A regulatory focus perspective on performance goals’ effects on achievement: A small-scale meta-analytical approach.   Learning and Individual Differences , 78 , 101840. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lindif.2020.101840

Teixeira, A. A. , & Rocha, M. F. ( 2010 ). Cheating by economics and business undergraduate students: an exploratory international assessment.   Higher Education , 59 , 663–701. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-009-9274-1

Toma, C. , & Butera, F. ( 2009 ). Hidden profiles and concealed information: Strategic information sharing and use in group decision making.   Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin , 35 , 793–806.

Tulis, M. ( 2013 ). Error management behavior in classrooms: Teachers’ responses to student mistakes.   Teaching and Teacher Education , 33 , 56–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2013.02.003

Urdan, T. , Midgley, C. , & Anderman, E. M. ( 1998 ). The role of classroom goal structure in students’ use of self-handicapping strategies.   American Educational Research Journal , 35 , 101–122. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312035001101

Van de Werfhorst, H. G. ( 2014 ). Changing societies and four tasks of schooling: Challenges for strongly differentiated educational systems.   International Review of Education , 60 , 123–144. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11159-014-9410-8

Van de Werfhorst, H. G. , & Mijs, J. J. B. ( 2010 ). Achievement inequality and the institutional structure of educational systems: A comparative perspective.   Annual Review of Sociology , 36 , 407–428. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.soc.012809.102538

Wang, M. T. ( 2012 ). Educational and career interests in math: A longitudinal examination of the links between classroom environment, motivational beliefs, and interests.   Developmental Psychology , 48 , 1643–1657. https://doi.org/10.1146/10.1037/a0027247

Wang, M. T. , & Degol, J. L. ( 2016 ). School climate: A review of the construct, measurement, and impact on student outcomes.   Educational Psychology Review , 28 , 315–352. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-015-9319-1

Wang, M. T. , Degol, J. L. , Amemiya, J. , Parr, A. , & Guo, J. ( 2020 a). Classroom climate and children’s academic and psychological wellbeing: A systematic review and meta-analysis.   Developmental Review , 57 , 100912. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dr.2020.100912

Wang, M. T. , Hofkens, T. , & Ye, F. ( 2020 b). Classroom quality and adolescent student engagement and performance in mathematics: A multi-method and multi-informant approach.   Journal of Youth and Adolescence , 49 , 1987–2002. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-020-01195-0

Webb, P. T. , Briscoe, F. M. , & Mussman, M. P. ( 2009 ). Preparing teachers for the neoliberal panopticon.   Educational Foundations , 23 , 3–18.

Wiederkehr, V. , Bonnot, V. , Krauth-Gruber, S. , & Darnon, C. ( 2015 a). Belief in school meritocracy as a system-justifying tool for low status students.   Frontiers in Psychology , 6 , 1053. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01053

Wiederkehr, V. , Darnon, C. , Chazal, S. , Guimond, S. , & Martinot, D. ( 2015 b). From social class to self- efficacy: Internalization of low social status pupils’ school performance.   Social Psychology of Education: An International Journal , 18 , 769–784. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-015-9308-8

Wray‐Lake, L. ( 2019 ). How do young people become politically engaged?   Child Development Perspectives , 13 , 127–132. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdep.12324

Wright, S. ( 2001 ). Restricted intergroup boundaries: Tokenism, ambiguity, and the tolerance of injustice. In J. Jost & B. Major (Eds.), The psychology of legitimacy (pp. 223–254). Cambridge University Press.

Zajda, J. ( 2009 ). Values education and multiculturalism. In J. Zajda & D. Holger (Eds.), Global values education (pp. 13–23). Springer.

Zamora, A. , Súarez, J. M. , & Ardura, D. ( 2018 ) A model of the role of error detection and self-regulation in academic performance.   The Journal of Educational Research , 111 , 595–602. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2017.349072

Zhang, Y. , & Xin, Z. ( 2019 ). Rule comes first: The influences of market-attributes on interpersonal trust in the marketization process.   Journal of Social Issues , 75 , 286–313. https://doi.org/10.1111/josi.12306

• About Oxford Academic
• Publish journals with us
• University press partners
• What we publish
• New features  
• Open access
• Institutional account management
• Rights and permissions
• Get help with access
• Accessibility
• Advertising
• Media enquiries
• Oxford University Press
• Oxford Languages
• University of Oxford

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide

• Copyright © 2024 Oxford University Press
• Cookie settings
• Cookie policy
• Privacy policy
• Legal notice

This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

GP Essay #60: Is competition essential for effective education? Discuss. 

“Intelligence plus character- that is the true goal of education.” This quote by Martin Luther King Jr succinctly summarizes the purpose of receiving an education. In order to push students’ boundaries and to inculcate in them values like determination and diligence, some believe that an element of competition and ranking is necessary. However, in my opinion, if competition is in excess, the education system will be rendered counter-productive due to the negative effects of encouraging hyper-competitiveness in students. Therefore, while competition is an important factor in molding people of character that will contribute to society, safeguards need to be in place to ensure that the extent of competition in the education system does not become excessive or obsessive. 

Why is competition important? One of the key reasons is that it offers a very clear goal and motivation for students to do better at their studies. Take the Chinese education system for example. Though certain people would term it as ‘extreme’, it is undeniable that China has managed to produce many bright talents especially in the area of science and mathematics due to the competition in schools. With such a large student population and a relatively tiny number of spaces in the most prestigious local universities like Beijing University, competition is a motivator for students as it pushes them to secure a bright future on their own. This is loosely based on the Darwinian idea that only the fittest survive, which encourages students to strive to be classified as the ‘fittest’ and reap the rewards of being so. Therefore, it is believed that competition is necessary to bring out the best in people, and also to stretch their potential.

Moreover, we should recognize that competition does not always mean competition with one’s peers in school. It also includes competition against oneself. This is the reason that schools often have awards for “Best Progress” and “Most Improved” student. Such awards allow students to also compete with themselves and prevent them from becoming complacent. It also pushes students to continuously strive for improvement in all areas of their studies, which will ultimately help increase the overall intelligence in students and promote a sense of perseverance in them- a very important character trait in today’s society. Therefore, this demonstrates how competition with oneself in education is important as it emphasizes personal growth and self-improvement to achieve one’s fullest potential. 

However, the idea of competition in schools has met with a lot of opposition in recent years, and for good reasons too. Excessive competition can definitely be unhealthy- and there is proof of this. In Singapore, one of the most scandalous cases was a recent “Sex-for-grades” case 

where a university student gave sexual favours to a professor in order to score good grades. Many blamed the intensely competitive education system, where so much emphasis was placed on doing well in one’s studies, that it is almost as if one’s entire life depends on grades in Singapore. Other than in Singapore, the number of teachers flagged statewide in Dallas for having sex and other inappropriate relationships with students continues to rise, according to the Texas Education Agency (TEA). In 2018, the TEA opened 429 cases into inappropriate student-educator relationships, an alarming approximate 42% increase from the prior year. Thus, it can be argued that excessive competition encourages corrupt means to do well. Students will turn to wrong and immoral methods to stay on top of the competition. Additionally, placing high stakes in examinations not only results in excessive competition, it also leads to stress. Sometimes, the pressure may be too much to handle. In Singapore, we are no strangers to the huge amounts of academic stress that can overwhelm students. Singapore had a tragic wake-up call when an 11-year-old boy fell 17 floors from his bedroom window in a deliberate act of suicide. This was because he was fearful of revealing his poor grades to his parents. Moreover, more teenagers from top schools in Singapore are reportedly seeking help at the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) for school-related stress. This serves as a unfortunate example illustrating how a “pressure-cooker” education system with far too much competition can actually overly stress students out and ruin their psychological wellbeing or even cause them to take their precious lives. 

However, it must also be acknowledged that not all education systems in the world require competition to function well. For example, in Finland, high-stakes standardized tests are literally a completely foreign concept. These students take only a few tests yearly, and when they do, they are mostly low-stakes. However, the quality of teaching has made Finnish students consistently near the top when it comes to international education rankings including the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Therefore, while students are not pressurized to compete in high-stakes examinations like the Scholastic Assessment Test (SATs), they manage to perform very well because the Finnish education system focuses more on consistently learning and improving rather than one-shot measurements and ranking of students’ capabilities. This serves as proof that competition may not be necessary in the initial, pre-university stages as younger children may require more positive reinforcement to be motivated to keep learning.   

There is more than one way to a destination. Competition can be a method to prevent complacency and laziness in students, and to serve as motivation for students to constantly better themselves. However, constant checks and reviews are definitely needed to ensure that competition does not breed corruption and underhand methods of succeeding. In addition, competition may not be necessary in every single aspect of learning as that may result in an overly stressful learning process. Instead, perhaps competition can come in at a later age, where students will be mature enough to cope with stress and the occasional defeat, which will make competition effective in shaping the character of students. 

Advertisement

Coopetition in education: Collaborating in a competitive environment

• Published: 08 September 2013
• Volume 15 , pages 1–18, ( 2014 )

Cite this article

• Daniel Muijs 1 &
• Nataliya Rumyantseva 1  

1930 Accesses

33 Citations

21 Altmetric

Explore all metrics

While educational theory has often seen collaboration and competition as incompatible, there is increasing evidence that collaboration persists in educational markets characterized by competition. In this paper, we use the theoretical lens of ‘coopetition’, a relationship between organizations involving competition in some segments and cooperation in others, to study this phenomenon and look at the applicability of this concept to education. A case study approach was used to study collaboration and competition in a network of eleven 6th-form colleges, which teach 16–18-year-old students in England. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with managers in each college. Documentary evidence was collected such as websites, brochures, and publicity materials. Results show that the collaborative network was perceived positively. The concept of coopetition was clearly applicable to this network, with collaboration and competition equally informing college strategies and policies, and many aspects of coopetition theory applying to the network. However, challenges to future collaboration were identified.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price includes VAT (Russian Federation)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Rent this article via DeepDyve

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Theories of Motivation in Education: an Integrative Framework

Detlef Urhahne & Lisette Wijnia

A Historical Review of Collaborative Learning and Cooperative Learning

Online learning in higher education: exploring advantages and disadvantages for engagement.

Amber D. Dumford & Angie L. Miller

Ainscow, M., Muijs, D., & West, M. (2006). Collaboration as a strategy for improving schools in challenging circumstances. Improving Schools, 9 (3), 1–11.

Article   Google Scholar  

Ball, S. (1994). Education reform: A critical and post-structural approach . Buckingham: Open University Press.

Google Scholar  

Ball, S. (2003). Class strategies and the education market: The middle classes and social advantage . London: RoutledgeFalmer.

Book   Google Scholar  

Bennett, R. A., & Kottasz, R. (2011). Strategic, competitive and cooperative approaches to internationalisation in European business schools. Journal of Marketing Management, 27 (11–12), 1087–1116.

Bengtsson, M., & Kock, S. (2000). Coopetition in business networks—to cooperate and compete simultaneously. Industrial Marketing Management , 49 (3), 411–426.

Berkemeyer, N., Bos, W., Manitius, V., & Müthing, H. (2008). Unterrichtsentwicklung in NetzwerkenKonzeptionen, Befunde, Perspektiven . Muster: Waxmann.

Brandenburger, A., & Nalebuff, J. (1996). Co-opetition: A revolution mindset that combines competition and cooperation: The game theory strategy that’s changing the game of business . New York: Profile Books.

Bruno, C. (1993). Big red keeps rolling. Novell’s next move. Network World, 10 (40), 52–54.

Chakrabarti, R. (2011). Vouchers, responses and the test-taking population. Regression-discontinuity evidence from Florida. New York: Federal Reserve Bank of New York Staff Reports no 486.

Chapman, C., & Allen, T. (2005). Partnerships for improvement: The specialist schools achievement programme . London: The Specialist Schools Trust.

Chapman, C., Muijs, D. & MacAllister, J. (2012). Collaborative school turnaround: A study of the impact of federation on student outcomes . Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association. Vancouver, Canada, April 2012.

Chapman, C., Muijs, D. & Sammons, P. (2010). Federations and student outcomes: A study of the impact of school-to-school collaboration on school improvement . Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association. Denver, CO, April 2010.

Clark, D. (2005). Politics, markets and schools: Quasi-experimental evidence on the impact of autonomy and competition from a truly revolutionary UK reform . Berkeley, CA: University of California.

CUREE. (2005). Systematic research review: The impact of networks on pupils, practitioners, organisations and the committees they serve . Nottingham: NCSL.

Dagnino, P. & Padula, P. (2002). Coopetition strategy. A new form of interfirm dynamics for value creation . Paper presented at the European Academy of Management Second Annual Conference—“Innovative Research in Management” Stockholm, 9–11 May 2002.

Damore, S. J., Kapustka, K. M., & McDevitt, P. (2011). The urban professional development schools network: Assessing the partnership’s impact on initial teacher education. The Teacher Educator, 46 (3), 182–207.

Dronkers, J., & Robert, P. (2008). School choice in the light of the effectiveness differences of various types of public and private schools in 19 OECD countries. Journal of School Choice, 2 (3), 260–300.

Erixon Arreman, I., & Holm, A.-S. (2011). School as “Edu-business”: Four “serious players” in the Swedish upper secondary school market. Education Inquiry, 2 (4), 637–657.

Ghosh, S. (2009). Strategic interaction among public school districts: Evidence on spatial interdependence in school inputs. Economics of Education Review, 29 (3), 440–450.

Gibbons, S., Machin, S., & Silva, O. (2008). Choice, competition and pupil achievement. Journal of the European Economic Association, 6 (4), 912–947.

Hadfield, M., Jopling, M., Noden, C., & O’Leary, D. (2005). The existing knowledge base around the impact of networking and collaboration. Nottingham: NCSL Networked Learning Group.

Hargreaves, L. (1996). Collaboration: A condition for survival for small rural schools? In D. Bridges & C. Husbands (Eds.), Consorting and collaborating in the education marketplace (pp. 21–38). London: Falmer Press.

Jones, C., Hesterly, W. S., & Borgatti, S. P. (1997). A General theory of network governance: Exchange conditions and social mechanisms. Academy of Management Review, 22 (4), 911–945.

Kahne, J., O’Brien, J., Brown, A., & Quinn, T. (2001). Leveraging social capital and school improvement: The case of a school network and a comprehensive community initiative in Chicago. Educational Administration Quarterly, 37 (4), 429–461.

Lacomba, J. A., Lagos, F., & Neugebauer, T. (2011). Who makes the pie bigger? An experimental study on co-opetition. New Zealand Economic Papers, 45 (1–2), 59–68.

Lecocq, X., & Yami, S. (2002). From value chain to value networks: Towards a new strategic model. In S. Lundan (Ed.), Network Knowledge in international business . Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Mention, A.-L. (2010). Co-operation and co-opetition as open innovation practices in the service sector: Which influence on innovation novelty? Technovation, 31 (1), 44–53.

Miles, M., & Huberman, A. (1994). Qualitative data analysis . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Muijs, D., Chapman, C., Ainscow, M., & West, M. (2011). Networking and collaboration in education . Dordrecht: Springer.

Muijs, D. & Rumyantseva, N. (2012). Coopetition in education? A case study of collaboration in a competitive environment. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association . Vancouver, Canada, April 2012.

Muijs, D., West, M., & Ainscow, M. (2010). Why network? Theoretical perspectives on networking and collaboration between schools. School Effectiveness and School Improvement, 21 (1), 5–27.

Nooteboom, B. (2004). Inter-firm collaboration, networks and strategy : An integrated approach (1st ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.

Pittaway, L., Robertson, M., Munir, K., Denier, D., & Neely, A. (2004). Networking and innovation: A systematic review of the evidence. International Journal of Management Reviews, 5/6 (3 and 4), 137–168.

Rincke, J. (2005). Competition in the public school sector: Evidence on strategic interaction among US school districts. Journal of Urban Economics, 59 (3), 352–369.

Rosenfeld, S. A. (1996). Does cooperation enhance competitiveness? Assessing the impacts of inert-firm collaboration. Research Policy, 25 (3), 247–263.

Sandstrom, F. M., & Bergstrom, F. (2005). School vouchers in practise: Competition will not hurt you. Journal of Public Economics, 89 (4), 351–380.

Schwandt, Thomas A., & Halpern, Edward S. (1988). Linking auditing and metaevaluation: Enhancing quality in applied research . London: Sage.

Van der Wende, M. (2007). Internationalisation of higher education in the OECD countries: Challenges and opportunities for the coming decade. Journal of Studies in International Education, 11 (3/4), 274–289.

Wasser, J. D., & Bresler, L. (1996). Working in a collaborative zone: Conceptualising collaboration in qualitative research teams. Educational Researcher, 25 (5), 5–15.

Wiborg, S. (2010) Swedish free schools: Do they work? Published by the centre for learning and life chances in knowledge economies and societies at: http://www.llakes.org .

Download references

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Southampton Education School, University of Southampton, Highfield Campus, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK

Daniel Muijs & Nataliya Rumyantseva

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel Muijs .

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Muijs, D., Rumyantseva, N. Coopetition in education: Collaborating in a competitive environment. J Educ Change 15 , 1–18 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-013-9223-8

Download citation

Published : 08 September 2013

Issue Date : February 2014

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-013-9223-8

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Collaboration
• Competition
• Coopetition
• Find a journal
• Publish with us
• Track your research

Is School a Competition?

• Share article

By Dr. Matt Doyle, Executive Director of iCERP, and Jennifer Peirson, iCERP Action Council Lead

We are always struck by the elevated levels of hope and enthusiasm that students show as they step into their classrooms and courses at the beginning of a new school year. Each student brings their own set of aspirations about how the school year will go and the success they will have. The collective outlook is fresh and open to experience--similar to the feeling before the start of a new basketball, football, or soccer game. The atmosphere is so similar that you can even pick up on the sense of nervous excitement.

While the excitement is fantastic and inspirational, sadly, it fades as the school year goes on--similar to the emotional shift during a sporting contest. This observation brings us to an important question: Is school a competition? Should some students feel like winners and others like losers on the last day of the school year?

Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself." -John Dewey

Education Is Life

Education is a large part of every student’s life. Add it up: 182 days is about half the year and seven hours are about half the waking hours of the day--and we all know that learning does not just shut off when the bell rings. However, when speaking directly with middle and high school students, they see a disconnect between learning in school and learning in life. There exists a ‘relevance gap’ for students. We submit that this gap is created in large part by the conditions in school that feel very much like a competition between and among students. To play out our sports metaphor, some groups of students score more points than others. These points are primarily based on test scores and grades.

Most students we talk with seem to intuitively know that good grades do not necessarily equate to success in life. Indeed, this feeling among many students has led to what we call the ‘Just tell me what I need to do to get an A’ syndrome. Many students have learned how to game the system of tests and grades. The problem is that this brings us right back to the ‘winners and losers’ mindset of competition.

But there are advantages to being elected president. The day after I was elected, I had my high school grades classified Top Secret." -Ronald Reagan

Education Is Continuous Improvement

If ‘education is life,’ we need to reset the conditions for learning to become more aligned with continuous improvement rather than high-stakes tests and arbitrary grades. All students can and want to improve; the shift is in how we measure their performance along this continuum of improvement. The measurement should be less about competing for a grade and more aligned to their progress toward becoming a well-rounded adult, complete with the habits of mind necessary to successfully navigate a complex world of work that places much higher value on persisting, thinking flexibly, and listening with understanding and empathy than on a grade point average or SAT score.

Learning is not compulsory; it's voluntary. Improvement is not compulsory; it's voluntary. But to survive, we must learn." -W. Edwards Deming

At the International Center for Educational Research and Practice (iCERP),* we are focused on shifting to a continuous improvement mindset. Jennifer Peirson, an iCERP Action Council member, is taking the lead, working directly with teachers and researchers from the University of California - San Diego to design a Performance Framework that places the focus on learning as a continuum rather than a competition.

Creating a Performance Framework

How might we actually make continuous improvement a reality for students? The first step is to build a learning continuum, because all students learn at different rates. (Keep in mind that if we judged Albert Einstein’s genius by his third-grade reading score alone, things would be very different today.) The second step is to change how we help students progress along the continuum. The Performance Framework is a roadmap that students follow to navigate their own path toward graduation, success in higher education, and a meaningful career. Teachers become activators of learning rather than judges of achievement.

A performance framework includes a continuum of competencies, learning progressions, and assessments in academics, social-emotional learning, and self-regulation. The continuum supports a structural and system transformation that allows students to progress once they have mastered competencies, instead of promotion via seat time and grades. This system is designed to address the opportunity gaps by ensuring that all students experience high-quality learning and master standards before moving on to more challenging levels.

Creating a continuous improvement process is an ongoing invitation for all students to learn. All too often, the traditional grading practices serve as an invitation for struggling students to trade in learning for other, less productive pursuits. The central purpose of a performance framework is a change in assessment practices; a move away from assessing students (e.g., emphasis on testing for verification of learning, comparison, grading) to assessing with students (e.g., the formative assessment process). The formative assessment process, also called assessment for learning, is the process by which all students are empowered to deeply understand their results and are encouraged by their teacher to take action that leads to progress. Circling back to the sports analogy, just as a coach gives feedback to players to improve their performance, in a classroom where evaluation is used for growth rather than competition, we see less judging and more nudging with descriptive feedback that is proactive and personal.

The performance framework requires reshaping our pedagogical culture. In other words, to redefine culture is to redefine the way we do business; and our business is to ensure that all students follow a pathway to success.

“Rather than sorting students into winners and losers, assessment for learning can put all students on a winning streak.” -Rick Stiggins

* The International Center for Educational Research and Practice (iCERP) is a thought leadership collaborative representing a partnership between the University of California at San Diego, the San Diego Workforce Partnership and public education. iCERP is a global space promoting intersectionality of thought with a particular focus on the lifelong learner.

The opinions expressed in Next Gen Learning in Action are strictly those of the author(s) and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Editorial Projects in Education, or any of its publications.

Sign Up for EdWeek Update

By submitting your essay, you give the Berkeley Prize the nonexclusive, perpetual right to reproduce the essay or any part of the essay, in any and all media at the Berkeley Prize’s discretion.  A “nonexclusive” right means you are not restricted from publishing your paper elsewhere if you use the following attribution that must appear in that new placement: “First submitted to and/or published by the international Berkeley Undergraduate Prize for Architectural Design Excellence ( www.BerkeleyPrize.org ) in competition year 20(--) (and if applicable) and winner of that year’s (First, Second, Third…) Essay prize.” Finally, you warrant the essay does not violate any intellectual property rights of others and indemnify the BERKELEY PRIZE against any costs, loss, or expense arising out of a violation of this warranty.

Registration and Submission

You (and your teammate if you have one) will be asked to complete a short registration form which will not be seen by members of the Berkeley Prize Committee or Jury.

REGISTER HERE.

Additional Help and Information

Essay  COMPETITION

2024 global essay prize, registrations are now open all essayists must register  here  before friday 31 may, 2024.

The John Locke Institute encourages young people to cultivate the characteristics that turn good students into great writers: independent thought, depth of knowledge, clear reasoning, critical analysis and persuasive style. Our Essay Competition invites students to explore a wide range of challenging and interesting questions beyond the confines of the school curriculum.

Entering an essay in our competition can build knowledge, and refine skills of argumentation. It also gives students the chance to have their work assessed by experts. All of our essay prizes are judged by a panel of senior academics drawn from leading universities including Oxford and Princeton, under the leadership of the Chairman of Examiners, former Cambridge philosopher, Dr Jamie Whyte.

The judges will choose their favourite essay from each of seven subject categories - Philosophy, Politics, Economics, History, Psychology, Theology and Law - and then select the winner of the Grand Prize for the best entry in any subject. There is also a separate prize awarded for the best essay in the junior category, for under 15s.

Q1. Do we have any good reasons to trust our moral intuition?

Q2. Do girls have a (moral) right to compete in sporting contests that exclude boys?

Q3. Should I be held responsible for what I believe?

Q1. Is there such a thing as too much democracy?

Q2. Is peace in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip possible?

Q3. When is compliance complicity?

Q1. What is the optimal global population?  

Q2. Accurate news reporting is a public good. Does it follow that news agencies should be funded from taxation?

Q3. Do successful business people benefit others when making their money, when spending it, both, or neither?

Q1. Why was sustained economic growth so rare before the later 18th century and why did this change?

Q2. Has music ever significantly changed the course of history?

Q3. Why do civilisations collapse? Is our civilisation in danger?

Q1. When, if ever, should a company be permitted to refuse to do business with a person because of that person’s public statements?

Q2. In the last five years British police have arrested several thousand people for things they posted on social media. Is the UK becoming a police state?

Q3. Your parents say that 11pm is your bedtime. But they don’t punish you if you don’t go to bed by 11pm. Is 11pm really your bedtime?

Q1. According to a study by researchers at four British universities, for each 15-point increase in IQ, the likelihood of getting married increases by around 35% for a man but decreases by around 58% for a woman. Why?

In the original version of this question we misstated a statistic. This was caused by reproducing an error that appeared in several media summaries of the study. We are grateful to one of our contestants, Xinyi Zhang, who helped us to see (with humility and courtesy) why we should take more care to check our sources. We corrected the text on 4 April. Happily, the correction does not in any way alter the thrust of the question.

Q2. There is an unprecedented epidemic of depression and anxiety among young people. Can we fix this? How?

Q3. What is the difference between a psychiatric illness and a character flaw?

Q1. “I am not religious, but I am spiritual.” What could the speaker mean by “spiritual”?

Q2. Is it reasonable to thank God for protection from some natural harm if He is responsible for causing the harm?

Q3. Does God reward those who believe in him? If so, why?

JUNIOR prize

Q1. Does winning a free and fair election automatically confer a mandate for governing?

Q2. Has the anti-racism movement reduced racism?

Q3. Is there life after death?

Q4. How did it happen that governments came to own and run most high schools, while leaving food production to private enterprise? 

Q5. When will advancing technology make most of us unemployable? What should we do about this?

Q6. Should we trust fourteen-year-olds to make decisions about their own bodies? 

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS & FURTHER DETAILS

Please read the following carefully.

Entry to the John Locke Institute Essay Competition 2024 is open to students from any country.

Registration  

Only candidates who registered before the registration deadline of Friday, 31 May 2024 may enter this year's competition. To register, click here .  

All entries must be submitted by 11.59 pm BST on  the submission deadline: Sunday, 30 June 2024 .  Candidates must be eighteen years old, or younger, on that date. (Candidates for the Junior Prize must be fourteen years old, or younger, on that date.)

Entry is free.

Each essay must address only one of the questions in your chosen subject category, and must not exceed 2000 words (not counting diagrams, tables of data, endnotes, bibliography or authorship declaration). 

The filename of your pdf must be in this format: FirstName-LastName-Category-QuestionNumber.pdf; so, for instance, Alexander Popham would submit his answer to question 2 in the Psychology category with the following file name:

Alexander-Popham-Psychology-2.pdf

Essays with filenames which are not in this format will be rejected.

The candidate's name should NOT appear within the document itself. 

Candidates should NOT add footnotes. They may, however, add endnotes and/or a Bibliography that is clearly titled as such.

Each candidate will be required to provide the email address of an academic referee who is familiar with the candidate's written academic work. This should be a school teacher, if possible, or another responsible adult who is not a relation of the candidate. The John Locke Institute will email referees to verify that the essays submitted are indeed the original work of the candidates.

Submissions may be made as soon as registration opens in April. We recommend that you submit your essay well in advance of th e deadline to avoid any last-minute complications.

Acceptance of your essay depends on your granting us permission to use your data for the purposes of receiving and processing your entry as well as communicating with you about the Awards Ceremony Dinner, the academic conference, and other events and programmes of the John Locke Institute and its associated entities.  

Late entries

If for any reason you miss the 30 June deadline you will have an opportunity to make a late entry, under two conditions:

a) A late entry fee of 20.00 USD must be paid by credit card within twenty-four hours of the original deadline; and

b) Your essay must be submitted  before 11.59 pm BST on Wednesday, 10 July 2024.

To pay for late entry, a registrant need only log into his or her account, select the relevant option and provide the requested payment information.

Our grading system is proprietary. Essayists may be asked to discuss their entry with a member of the John Locke Institute’s faculty. We use various means to identify plagiarism, contract cheating, the use of AI and other forms of fraud . Our determinations in all such matters are final.

Essays will be judged on knowledge and understanding of the relevant material, the competent use of evidence, quality of argumentation, originality, structure, writing style and persuasive force. The very best essays are likely to be those which would be capable of changing somebody's mind. Essays which ignore or fail to address the strongest objections and counter-arguments are unlikely to be successful .

Candidates are advised to answer the question as precisely and directly as possible.

The writers of the best essays will receive a commendation and be shortlisted for a prize. Writers of shortlisted essays will be notified by 11.59 pm BST on Wednesday, 31 July. They will also be invited to London for an invitation-only academic conference and awards dinner in September, where the prize-winners will be announced. Unlike the competition itself, the academic conference and awards dinner are not free. Please be aware that n obody is required to attend either the academic conference or the prize ceremony. You can win a prize without travelling to London.

All short-listed candidates, including prize-winners, will be able to download eCertificates that acknowledge their achievement. If you win First, Second or Third Prize, and you travel to London for the ceremony, you will receive a signed certificate. 

There is a prize for the best essay in each category. The prize for each winner of a subject category, and the winner of the Junior category, is a scholarship worth US$2000 towards the cost of attending any John Locke Institute programme, and the essays will be published on the Institute's website. Prize-giving ceremonies will take place in London, at which winners and runners-up will be able to meet some of the judges and other faculty members of the John Locke Institute. Family, friends, and teachers are also welcome.

The candidate who submits the best essay overall will be awarded an honorary John Locke Institute Junior Fellowship, which comes with a US$10,000 scholarship to attend one or more of our summer schools and/or visiting scholars programmes. 

The judges' decisions are final, and no correspondence will be entered into.

R egistration opens: 1 April, 2024.

Registration deadline: 31 May, 2024. (Registration is required by this date for subsequent submission.)

Submission deadline: 30 June, 2024.

Late entry deadline: 10 July, 2024. (Late entries are subject to a 20.00 USD charge, payable by 1 July.)

Notification of short-listed essayists: 31 July, 2024.

Academic conference: 20 - 22 September, 2024.

Awards dinner: 21 September, 2024.

Any queries regarding the essay competition should be sent to [email protected] . Please be aware that, due to the large volume of correspondence we receive, we cannot guarantee to answer every query. In particular, regrettably, we are unable to respond to questions whose answers can be found on our website.

If you would like to receive helpful tips  from our examiners about what makes for a winning essay or reminders of upcoming key dates for the 2024  essay competition, please provide your email here to be added to our contact list. .

Thanks for subscribing!

The John Locke Institute's Global Essay Prize is acknowledged as the world's most prestigious essay competition. 

We welcome tens of thousands of submissions from ambitious students in more than 150 countries, and our examiners - including distinguished philosophers, political scientists, economists, historians, psychologists, theologians, and legal scholars - read and carefully assess every entry. 

I encourage you to register for this competition, not only for the hope of winning a prize or commendation, and not only for the chance to join the very best contestants at our academic conference and gala ceremony in London, but equally for the opportunity to engage in the serious scholarly enterprise of researching, reflecting on, writing about, and editing an answer to one of the important and provocative questions in this year's Global Essay Prize. 

We believe that the skills you will acquire in the process will make you a better thinker and a more effective advocate for the ideas that matter most to you.

I hope to see you in September!

Best wishes,

Jamie Whyte, Ph.D. (C ANTAB ) 

Chairman of Examiners

Q. I missed the registration deadline. May I still register or submit an essay?

A. No. Only candidates who registered before 31 May will be able to submit an essay. 

Q. Are footnote s, endnotes, a bibliography or references counted towards the word limit?

A. No. Only the body of the essay is counted. 

Q. Are in-text citations counted towards the word limit? ​

A. If you are using an in-text based referencing format, such as APA, your in-text citations are included in the word limit.

Q. Is it necessary to include foo tnotes or endnotes in an essay? ​

A. You  may not  include footnotes, but you may include in-text citations or endnotes. You should give your sources of any factual claims you make, and you should ackn owledge any other authors on whom you rely.​

Q. I am interested in a question that seems ambiguous. How should I interpret it?

A. You may interpret a question as you deem appropriate, clarifying your interpretation if necessary. Having done so, you must answer the question as directly as possible.

Q. How strict are  the age eligibility criteria?

A. Only students whose nineteenth birthday falls after 30 June 2024 will be eligible for a prize or a commendation. In the case of the Junior category, only students whose fifteenth birthday falls after 30 June 2024 will be eligible for a prize or a commendation. 

Q. May I submit more than one essay?

A. Yes, you may submit as many essays as you please in any or all categories.

Q. If I am eligible to compete in the Junior category, may I also (or instead) compete in another category?

A. Yes, you may.

Q. May I team up with someone else to write an essay?  

A. No. Each submitted essay must be entirely the work of a single individual.

Q. May I use AI, such as ChatGPT or the like, in writing my essay?

A. All essays will be checked for the use of AI. If we find that any content is generated by AI, your essay will be disqualified. We will also ask you, upon submission of your essay, whether you used AI for  any  purpose related to the writing of your essay, and if so, you will be required to provide details. In that case, if, in our judgement, you have not provided full and accurate details of your use of AI, your essay will be disqualified. 

Since any use of AI (that does not result in disqualification) can only negatively affect our assessment of your work relative to that of work that is done without using AI, your safest course of action is simply not to use it at all. If, however, you choose to use it for any purpose, we reserve the right to make relevant judgements on a case-by-case basis and we will not enter into any correspondence. 

Q. May I have someone else edit, or otherwise help me with, my essay?

A. You may of course discuss your essay with others, and it is perfectly acceptable for them to offer general advice and point out errors or weaknesses in your writing or content, leaving you to address them.

However, no part of your essay may be written by anyone else. This means that you must edit your own work and that while a proofreader may point out errors, you as the essayist must be the one to correct them. 

Q. Do I have to attend the awards ceremony to win a prize? ​

A. Nobody is required to attend the prize ceremony. You can win a prize without travelling to London. But if we invite you to London it is because your essay was good enough - in the opinion of the First Round judges - to be at least a contender for First, Second or Third Prize. Normally the Second Round judges will agree that the short-listed essays are worth at least a commendation.

Q. Is there an entry fee?

A. No. There is no charge to enter our global essay competition unless you submit your essay after the normal deadline, in which case there is a fee of 20.00 USD .

Q. Can I receive a certificate for my participation in your essay competition if I wasn't shortlisted? 

A. No. Certificates are awarded only for shortlisted essays. Short-listed contestants who attend the award ceremony in London will receive a paper certificate. If you cannot travel to London, you will be able to download your eCertificate.

Q. Can I receive feedba ck on my essay? 

A. We would love to be able to give individual feedback on essays but, unfortunately, we receive too many entries to be able to comment on particular essays.

Q. The deadline for publishing the names of short-listed essayists has passed but I did not receive an email to tell me whether I was short-listed.

A. Log into your account and check "Shortlist Status" for (each of) your essay(s).

Q. Why isn't the awards ceremony in Oxford this year?

A. Last year, many shortlisted finalists who applied to join our invitation-only academic conference missed the opportunity because of capacity constraints at Oxford's largest venues. This year, the conference will be held in central London and the gala awards dinner will take place in an iconic London ballroom. 

TECHNICAL FAQ s

Q. The system will not accept my essay. I have checked the filename and it has the correct format. What should I do?  

A. You have almost certainly added a space before or after one of your names in your profile. Edit it accordingly and try to submit again.

Q. The profile page shows my birth date to be wrong by a day, even after I edit it. What should I do?

A. Ignore it. The date that you typed has been correctly input to our database. ​ ​

Q. How can I be sure that my registration for the essay competition was successful? Will I receive a confirmation email?

A. You will not receive a confirmation email. Rather, you can at any time log in to the account that you created and see that your registration details are present and correct.

TROUBLESHOOTING YOUR SUBMISSION

If you are unable to submit your essay to the John Locke Institute’s global essay competition, your problem is almost certainly one of the following.

If so, please proceed as indicated.

1) PROBLEM: I receive the ‘registrations are now closed’ message when I enter my email and verification code. SOLUTION. You did not register for the essay competition and create your account. If you think you did, you probably only provided us with your email to receive updates from us about the competition or otherwise. You may not enter the competition this year.

2) PROBLEM I do not receive a login code after I enter my email to enter my account. SOLUTION. Enter your email address again, checking that you do so correctly. If this fails, restart your browser using an incognito window; clear your cache, and try again. Wait for a few minutes for the code. If this still fails, restart your machine and try one more time. If this still fails, send an email to [email protected] with “No verification code – [your name]” in the subject line.

SUBMITTING AN ESSAY

3) PROBLEM: The filename of my essay is in the correct format but it is rejected. SOLUTION: Use “Edit Profile” to check that you did not add a space before or after either of your names. If you did, delete it. Whether you did or did not, try again to submit your essay. If submission fails again, email [email protected] with “Filename format – [your name]” in the subject line.

4) PROBLEM: When trying to view my submitted essay, a .txt file is downloaded – not the .pdf file that I submitted. SOLUTION: Delete the essay. Logout of your account; log back in, and resubmit. If resubmission fails, email [email protected] with “File extension problem – [your name]” in the subject line.

5) PROBLEM: When I try to submit, the submission form just reloads without giving me an error message. SOLUTION. Log out of your account. Open a new browser; clear the cache; log back in, and resubmit. If resubmission fails, email [email protected] with “Submission form problem – [your name]” in the subject line.

6) PROBLEM: I receive an “Unexpected Error” when trying to submit. SOLUTION. Logout of your account; log back in, and resubmit. If this resubmission fails, email [email protected] with “Unexpected error – [your name]” in thesubject line. Your email must tell us e xactly where in the submission process you received this error.

7) PROBLEM: I have a problem with submitting and it is not addressed above on this list. SOLUTION: Restart your machine. Clear your browser’s cache. Try to submit again. If this fails, email [email protected] with “Unlisted problem – [your name]” in the subject line. Your email must tell us exactly the nature of your problem with relevant screen caps.

READ THIS BEFORE YOU EMAIL US.

Do not email us before you have tried the specified solutions to your problem.

Do not email us more than once about a single problem. We will respond to your email within 72 hours. Only if you have not heard from us in that time may you contact us again to ask for an update.

If you email us regarding a problem, you must include relevant screen-shots and information on both your operating system and your browser. You must also declare that you have tried the solutions presented above and had a good connection to the internet when you did so.

If you have tried the relevant solution to your problem outlined above, have emailed us, and are still unable to submit before the 30 June deadline on account of any fault of the John Locke Institute or our systems, please do not worry: we will have a way to accept your essay in that case. However, if there is no fault on our side, we will not accept your essay if it is not submitted on time – whatever your reason: we will not make exceptions for IT issues for which we are not responsible.

We reserve the right to disqualify the entries of essayists who do not follow all provided instructions, including those concerning technical matters.

Nagme Boulent  |    Alumni

“My medicine tutor was not only a very qualified doctor but also a very friendly teacher. There is no doubt that I learned so much more than Medicine from him, including what the life of a doctor is like.”

Key Information

What is the Immerse Education Essay Competition?

The Immerse Education Essay Competition provides the opportunity for students aged 13-18 to submit essay responses to a question of their choice relating to a subject of interest. There are over twenty questions to choose from which can be found in our full Essay Competition Guide. 

Who can apply? Students of all nationalities who will be aged 13-18 during the summer in which the programmes run.

When is the deadline? The competition closes in January and August each year.

The next round closes on 12th September 2024!

Register your interest for more information, essay writing guidance and top tips

Subjects available.

The following are some of the subjects are available on our 2024 programmes at Oxford, Cambridge, London, New York, San Francisco, Toronto and Sydney :

Architecture

Business management, computer science, creative writing, earth sciences, engineering, international relations, english literature, mathematics, nanotechnology, interested in learning more sign up for your chance to win up to a 100% scholarship, why choose immerse education:, superior curriculum.

Advanced academic content is adapted to the individual interests and ability of the individual and every participant is challenged to explore their own potential.

Expert Tutors

With extensive experience teaching undergraduates at universities such as Cambridge, each tutor combines their enthusiasm and unique subject expertise to create a rich programme of academic discovery.

Inspiring Surroundings

Follow in the footsteps of eminent academics and personalities that have studied at historic university colleges. Stay in central University of Cambridge, Oxford, London, and Sydney colleges as well as our new locations - Toronto, New York and San Francisco throughout the two weeks.

Experience of a lifetime

This is a unique opportunity for participants to live and learn like an Oxbridge University undergraduate. Our students receive first-rate teaching whilst having fun and making friends from all over the world.

Unrivaled Support

Students can gain insights from their experienced Oxford and Cambridge University mentors, receive ample support from their expert tutors who also provide highly personalised feedback for you to take away.

Interested in finding out more about how you can win a scholarship to our summer school?

Accreditation:.

Overview of 16-18

QUICK LINKS

Immerse Education, United Kingdom [email protected] +44(0) 20 8123 6988

Copyright © Immerse Education 2024

Overview of 13-15

Immerse Education Essay Competition

Win a 100%  scholarship on a Transformative Programme

10 full scholarships and thousands of partial scholarships are available  for our programmes o nline or in-person at the University of Cambridge, Oxford, Sydney, Barnard College, Columbia University and more.

Simply fill out the form to access the essay questions and writing guidance.

Register your interest

25 Best Writing Competitions for High School Students – 2024

April 12, 2024

Over the past several years, the number of college applicants has been steadily rising. [i] As college admissions become more competitive, there are many steps a student can take to achieve high school success and become an outstanding candidate for college admissions: earning high SAT scores, securing strong letters of recommendation , and participating in various competitions will all boost your admissions prospects. [ii] In particular, writing competitions for high school students are a popular way to win scholarships and prize money, receive feedback on writing, build a portfolio of public work, and add to college application credentials!

Below, we’ve selected twenty-five writing competitions for high school students and sorted them by three general topics: 1) language, literature and arts, 2) STEM, environment and sustainability, and 3) politics, history and philosophy. It’s never too soon to begin thinking about your future college prospects, and even if you are a freshman, many of these writing competitions for high schoolers will be open to you! [iii]

Writing Competitions for High School Students in Language, Literature, and Arts

1) adroit prizes for poetry and prose.

This prestigious creative writing award offers high school students the opportunity to showcase their work in Adroit Journal . Judges are acclaimed writers in their respective genres.

• Eligibility: All high school students (including international students) are eligible to apply. Poetry contestants may submit up to five poems. Prose contestants may submit up to three pieces of fiction or nonfiction writing (for a combined total of 3,500 words – excerpts accepted).
• Prize: Winners will receive $200 and their writing will be published in Adroit Journal . All submitted entries will be considered for publication!
• Deadline: May 1st (specific deadline may vary by year).

2)  Atlas Shrugged Essay Contest

This unique essay competition allows writers the chance to explore and respond to Ayn Rand’s fascinating and polemic 1957 novel Atlas Shrugged . Specific essay topics are posted every three months; prizes are granted seasonally with a grand prize winner announced every year.

• Prize: Annual grand prize is $25,000.
• Deadline: Deadlines occur every season, for each seasonal prompt.
• Eligibility: Essays must be written in English and be 800-1,600 words in length.

Writing Competitions for High School Students (Continued)

3)  the bennington young writers awards.

Through Bennington College, this high school writing competition offers three prizes in three different genre categories: poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Winners and finalists who decide to attend Bennington College will ultimately receive a substantial scholarship prize.

• Eligibility: U.S. and international students in grades 9 through 12 may apply.
• Prize: First place winners receive $1,000; second place wins $500; third place winners receive $250. YWA winners who apply, are admitted, and enroll at Bennington receive a $15,000 scholarship per year (for a total of $60,000). YWA finalists who apply, are admitted, and enroll at Bennington will receive a $10,000 scholarship per year (for a total of $40,000).
• Deadline: The competition runs annually from September 1st to November 1st.

4)  Jane Austen Society of North America (JASNA) Student Essay Contest

Do you love Jane Austen? If so, this is the high school writing competition for you! With the JASNA Student Essay Contest, high school students have the opportunity to write a six to eight-page essay about Jane Austen’s works, focused on a specific, designated topic for the competition year.

• Eligibility: Any high school student (homeschooled students also eligible) enrolled during the contest year may submit an essay.
• Prize: First place winner receives a $1,000 scholarship and two nights’ lodging for the upcoming annual JASNA meeting. Second place wins a $500 scholarship and third place wins a $250 scholarship. All winners will additionally receive a year membership in JASNA, the online publication of their article, and a set of Norton Critical Editions of Jane Austen’s novels.
• Deadline: Submission accepted from February-June 1st (specific dates may vary by year).

5)  The Kennedy Center VSA Playwright Discovery Program

Young aspiring writers with disabilities are encouraged to apply to this unique program. Students are asked to submit a ten-minute play script that explores any topic, including the student’s own disability experience.

• Eligibility: U.S. and international high school students with disabilities ages 14-19 may apply.
• Prize: Multiple winners will receive exclusive access to professional development and networking opportunities at The Kennedy Center.
• Deadline: January (specific deadline date may vary by year).

6)  Leonard M. Milburg ’53 High School Poetry Prize

Through Princeton’s Lewis Center for the Arts, this prestigious writing competition for high school students recognizes outstanding poetry writing and is judged by creative writing faculty at Princeton University.

• Eligibility: U.S. or international students in the eleventh grade may apply. Applicants may submit up to three poems.
• Prize: First place wins $1,500; second place wins $750; third place wins $500.
• Deadline: November (specific deadline date may vary by year).

7)  Nancy Thorp Poetry Contest

Nancy Thorp was a student at Hollins University who showed great promise as a poet. After her death, her family established this scholarship to support budding young poets.

• Eligibility: Female high school sophomores and juniors are eligible to apply. Applicants must be U.S. citizens.
• Prize: First place wins $350 and publication in Cargoes literary magazine, along with a $5,000 renewable scholarship (up to $20,000 over four years) if the student enrolls in Hollins University, and free tuition and housing for Hollins University’s summer creative writing program (grades 9-12). Second place wins publication in Cargoes, along with a $1,000 renewable scholarship ($4,000 over four years) if the student enrolls at Hollins and $500 to apply toward Hollins’ summer creative writing program.
• Deadline: October (specific deadline date may vary by year).

8)  National Council of Teachers of English Achievement Awards in Writing

Students may be nominated by their English teachers to win this prestigious writing award. Winners “exhibit the power to inform and move an audience through language” and prompts and genres may vary by competition year.

• Prize: A certificate will be awarded to students who are judged to have exceptional writing skills. Student names will be displayed on the NCTE website.
• Eligibility: U.S. high school sophomores and juniors are eligible for nomination.
• Deadline: February (specific dates may vary by year). Contest prompts released in August.

9)  National Scholastic Art and Writing Awards

At Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, numerous opportunities for scholarships and awards await those who submit writing in various genres: literary criticism, drama, poetry, and fiction. In all, there are 28 generic categories of art and writing to choose from!

• Eligibility: Teens in grades 7-12 (ages 13 and up) may apply.
• Prize: Various types of recognition and scholarships (up to $12,500) are offered for these award winners.
• Deadline: Scholastic Awards opens for entries in September; deadlines range from December to January.

10)  National Society of High School Scholars Creative Writing Scholarship

In this creative writing competition for high schoolers, students have the opportunity to submit a piece poetry or fiction (or both – one in each category!) for the opportunity to be published on the NSHSS website and win a monetary prize.

• Eligibility: Rising high school students graduating in 2024, 2025, 2026 and 2027 may apply.
• Prize: There will be three $2,000 awards for the fiction category and three $2,000 awards for the poetry category.
• Deadline: Submissions Accepted from May to October (specific dates may vary by year).

11)  National Writing Award: The Humanities and a Freer Tomorrow

This writing competition allows high school students the chance to be nominated by a teacher for a piece of writing in response to Ruth J. Simmons’ “Facing History to Find a Better Future.” Specific prompt topics may vary by year.

• Eligibility: Nominating teachers can submit work from 11th and 12th graders in one category (fiction, poetry, prose, or essay).
• Prize: One top prize of $1,000. Four additional prizes of $500 each. Winners will have the opportunity to have their work published by NCTE.
• Deadline: Applications are open September to October (specific dates may vary by year).

12)  New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award

Although this prestigious award isn’t exclusively for high schoolers (anyone younger than 35 may submit a work of fiction), if you’ve written a collection of short stories or even a novel, you should certainly consider applying!

• Eligibility: Any writer below the age of 35 may submit a novel or collection of short stories to participate in this competition.
• Prize: $10,000 award.
• Deadline: September (specific date may vary by year).

13)  Princeton University Ten-Minute Play Contest

This writing competition for high school students awards three annual top prizes for the best ten-minute play. Play submissions are judged each year by an acclaimed guest playwright.

• Eligibility: U.S. or international students in the eleventh grade may apply. Students may submit one play entry; entries must be ten pages or less. Plays must be written in English.
• Prize: First place prize is $500; second place is $250; third place is $100.
• Deadline: Varies by year. However, students are recommended to submit before the deadline date – the submission portal will close when a maximum of 250 applicants have applied.

14)  YouthPLAYS New Voices One-Act Competition for Young Playwrights

In this exciting writing competition, students have the chance to submit an original play script for a play of around 10-40 minutes in length. An excellent competition choice for any student considering a future in the theatre!

• Eligibility: Prospective authors ages 19 and under may submit a script for consideration in the competition. See specific writing guidelines here .
• Prize: First prize wins $250 and publication with YouthPLAYS; second prize wins $100.
• Deadline: Submissions run from January 1st to May 1st.

STEM, Environment, and Sustainability High School Writing Competitions

15)  engineergirl essay contest.

This wonderful essay contest invites students to explore topics related to engineering and science. Each year a new, specific prompt will be chosen for young writers who wish to compete.

• Eligibility: High school students are eligible to apply. Previous winners and close family members of employees of the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine are not eligible.
• Prize: First place winners receive $1,000; second place receives $750; third place receives $500.
• Deadline: Competition opens in September and submissions are due February 1st of the following year. Winners are announced in the summer.

16)  Ocean Awareness Contest

The Ocean Awareness Contest is an opportunity for students to create written and artistic projects that explore sustainability, environmentalism, and positive change. High school freshmen (up to age 14) may apply to the Junior Division. Students ages 15-18 may enter the Senior Division.

• Eligibility: Students ages 11-18 may apply (international students included).
• Prize: Monetary prizes ranging from $100-$1000 will be awarded each year. Additionally, $500 will be awarded to ten students who identify as Black, Indigenous, or Latino via the We All Rise Prize program.
• Deadline: June 10, 2024 (specific deadline may vary by year).

17)  Rachel Carson Intergenerational Sense of Wonder / Sense of Wild Contest

If you are interested in issues of sustainability, environment, biology and the natural world, this is one of the high school writing competitions that is just for you! Essay prompts explore the natural world and our place within it and may include poetry, essays, and photography.

• Eligibility: Students must pair with an adult from a different generation (e.g. parent, grandparent or teacher – contestants need not be related). Entries must be submitted as a team.
• Prize: Winners will receive a certificate from RCLA; their first names, ages, and entry titles will be posted on the RCLA website.
• Deadline: November 16th, 2024 (specific deadline may vary by year).

18)  River of Words Competition

This writing competition for high school students is another top choice for those thinking of pursuing majors or careers in biology, environment, and sustainability; this specific contest hopes to promote positive education in sustainability by “promoting environmental literacy through the arts and cultural exchange.”

• Eligibility: Any U.S. or international student from kindergarten through 12th grade may apply.
• Prize: Winners will be published in the River of Words
• Deadline: January (specific deadline may vary by year).

Writing Competitions for High School Students in Politics, History and Philosophy

19)  american foreign service association essay contest.

With this writing competition for high school students, entrants may submit essays ranging from 1,000-1,500 words about diplomacy, history, and international politics (specific prompts vary by year).

• Eligibility: Students in grades nine through twelve may apply. Students whose parents are in the Foreign Service Association are not eligible.
• Prize: The first-place winner will receive $2,500, an all-expense paid trip to Washington, D.C. for the winner and the winner’s parents, and an all-expense paid voyage via Semester at Sea. The second-place winner receives $1,250 and full tuition for a summer session at the National Student Leadership Conference’s International Diplomacy program.
• Deadline: Early spring (specific deadline may vary by year).

20)  Bill of Rights Institute We the Students Essay Contest

In this writing competition for high school students, civic-minded U.S. high schoolers may explore the principles and virtues of the Bill of Rights Institute. Interested applicants should review the specific submission guidelines .

• Eligibility: Any high school student aged 13 to 19 may apply.
• Prize: Prizes range from $1,500 to $10,000.
• Deadline: Submissions for 2024 due May 19th (specific deadline may vary by year).

21)  JFK Presidential Library and Museum Profile in Courage Essay Contest

For students interested in history and political science, this competition offers the chance to write about U.S. elected officials who have demonstrated political courage.

• Eligibility: U.S. high school students from grades 9-12 may apply.
• Prize: First prize is $10,000; second prize receives $3,000; five finalists receive $1,000 each; ten semifinalists receive $100 each; eight students receive honorable mention.
• Deadline: Submissions accepted from September to January (specific deadline may vary by year).
• Sample Essays: 2000-2023 Contest Winner Essays

22)  John Locke Institute Essay Competition

This essay competition is for students who would like to write about and cultivate “independent thought, depth of knowledge, clear reasoning, critical analysis and persuasive style” from one of seven intellectual categories: philosophy, politics, economics, history, psychology, theology or law.

• Eligibility: Students from any country may submit an essay.
• Prize: $2,000 for each subject category winner toward a John Locke Institute program; winning essays will be published on the Institute’s website.
• Deadline: Registration must be completed by May 31st, 2024; essay submission due June 30th, 2024 (specific deadline may vary by year).

23)  Society of Professional Journalists and the Journalism Education Association Essay Contest

This exciting writing competition for high schoolers allows students to explore topics related to journalism, democracy and media literacy. Specific prompts will be provided for contestants each year.

• Eligibility: All U.S. students from grades 9-12 may submit original writing to participate in this contest.
• Prize: First-place winners will receive $1,000; second place is awarded $500; third place receives $300.
• Deadline: February (specific deadline may vary by year).

24)  Veterans of Foreign Wars Voice of Democracy Youth Scholarship Essay

This audio essay allows high school students the opportunity to “express themselves in regards to a democratic and patriot-themed recorded essay.” One winner will be granted a $35,000 scholarship to be paid toward their university, college, or vocational school of choice. Smaller prizes range from $1,000-$21,000, and the first-place winner in each VFW state wins $1,000.

• Prize: College scholarships range from $1,000-$35,000
• Eligibility: U.S. students in grades 9-12 may submit a 3-5-minute audio essay.
• Deadline: October 31st
• Sample Written Essay: 2023-2024 Prize-winning essay by Sophia Lin

25)  World Historian Student Essay Competition

The World Historian Student Essay Competition recognizes young scholars who explore world historical events and how they relate to the student scholar personally. Ultimately the student writer must describe “the experience of being changed by a better understanding of world history.”

• Eligibility: Internationally, students ages K-12 may submit an entry. See specific prompt and submission guidelines for writing instructions.
• Prize: $500

Writing Competitions for High School Students – Sources

[i] Institute for Education Sciences: National Center for Education Statistics. “Number of applications for admission from first-time, degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students were received by postsecondary institutions in the fall.” https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/TrendGenerator/app/answer/10/101

[ii] Jaschik, Scott. “Record Applications, Record Rejections.” Inside Higher Ed . 3 April 2022. https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2022/04/04/most-competitive-colleges-get-more-competitive

[iii] Wood, Sarah. “College Applications are on the Rise: What to Know.” U.S. News & World Report. 21 June 2022. https://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/college-applications-are-on-the-rise-what-to-know

• Extracurricular Activities

Jamie Smith

For the past decade, Jamie has taught writing and English literature at several universities, including Boston College, the University of Pittsburgh, and Carnegie Mellon University. She earned a Ph.D. in English from Carnegie Mellon, where she currently teaches courses and conducts research on composition, public writing, and British literature.

• 2-Year Colleges
• Application Strategies
• Best Colleges by Major
• Best Colleges by State
• Big Picture
• Career & Personality Assessment
• College Essay
• College Search/Knowledge
• College Success
• Costs & Financial Aid
• Dental School Admissions
• Graduate School Admissions
• High School Success
• High Schools
• Law School Admissions
• Medical School Admissions
• Navigating the Admissions Process
• Online Learning
• Private High School Spotlight
• Summer Program Spotlight
• Summer Programs
• Test Prep Provider Spotlight

“Innovative and invaluable…use this book as your college lifeline.”

— Lynn O'Shaughnessy

Nationally Recognized College Expert

College Planning in Your Inbox

Join our information-packed monthly newsletter.

I am a... Student Student Parent Counselor Educator Other First Name Last Name Email Address Zip Code Area of Interest Business Computer Science Engineering Fine/Performing Arts Humanities Mathematics STEM Pre-Med Psychology Social Studies/Sciences Submit

Immerse Education Essay Competition 2024

Published: 09 Apr 2024 342 views

The Immerse Education Essay Competition provides the opportunity for students aged 13-18 to submit essay responses to a question of their choice relating to a subject of interest. There are over twenty questions to choose from which can be found in the full Essay Competition Guide. 10 winners will receive a 100% scholarship to study at a world-leading university of their choosing. Outstanding runners-up also receive partial scholarships.

• Table of Content

About Immerse Education

Essay competition, aim and benefits of essay competition, requirements for essay competition qualification, application deadline, how to apply.

Immerse Education was founded in 2012 with the aim of providing students aged 13-18 with unparalleled educational experiences. We have educated thousands of students through our exceptional academic enrichment programmes in the colleges of Oxford and Cambridge University, University College London and the University of Sydney. Check out our courses in Cambridge, Oxford, London, Sydney and Online courses. At Immerse, we are committed to the highest quality of education. Our programmes are unique in their focus on academic rigour, stimulating our participant&rsqu... continue reading

• Funded scholarship to study abroad:  The essay competition offers students like you the chance to win a full or partial scholarship to one of their Online Programmes or residential programmes in locations such as Oxford, Cambridge, Sydney, London and more.
• Ongoing support from Immerse while you write:  Full support from the team as you write your essay, with free guides and top tips to help you along the way. Sign up to receive the full Essay competition Guide and free tips and tricks as you write.
• Demonstrate what you know:  The competition is a chance for you to demonstrate your content knowledge by answering advanced university-style questions.
• Build your skills and knowledge:  The opportunity to apply and advance your essay writing skills. You will likely learn something new in the process!
• Develop your self-discipline:  A chance to strengthen your self-discipline as you commit to a challenging project and complete it from start to finish.
• 1st place: 10 winners will receive a 100% scholarship.
• Runners Up will be awarded partial scholarships of up to 50% to study their chosen subject with Immerse. The number of runners-up will be determined by the number of entries received and the quality of the work submitted. Usually, around 7% of entrants receive scholarship funding to attend an Immerse programme.
• The Immerse Education Essay Competition is open to students worldwide of all nationalities.
• You must be aged between 13-18 during your chosen programme.
• Be interested in all subjects, from Architecture to Medicine, Creative Writing to Film Studies.

For more details, visit  Immerse Education website

Scholarships You May Like

• Contest scholarships
• Immerse Education scholarships

Latest Scholarships

• CICOPS Scholarships for Researchers 2025
• Kay Mason Foundation High School Scholarships 2024
• DAAD Helmut-Schmidt Masters Scholarship for Developing Countries 2024
• King's College London Fellowships for African Scholars in Peace, Security and Development 2024
• University of Glasgow Postgraduate Access Scholarships for Students in Financial Needs 2024
• University of Minessota Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarships 2024
• University of Leeds Head of School Scholarship for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic students in UK 2024
• Global Development Network Japanese Award for Outstanding Research on Development (ORD) 2024
• World Bank Japan Social Development Fund For Developing Countries 2024
• University of East Angelia Ariadne Nicolaeff Scholarship for Home and International Postgraduate Students 2024
• Best Scholarships
• University of British Columbia Schmidt Science Fellowship program for Canadian and International Students 2024
• IGAD Regional Scholarship Program 2024
• Queen Elizabeth Commonwealth Scholarships for Masters Students 2024
• IHE Delft MENA Scholarship for African Students 2024
• KDU Global – IUCEA Scholarships for East African Students 2024
• Aston University Ferguson Scholarship 2024
• City University of London Fully funded Nick Lewis Scholarship 2024
• Government Of Kazakhstan Undergraduate Scholarships for International Students 2024

Scholarship Tips

• 20 Best Countries To Relocate 2024
• 30 Best Countries For Tourism - Top Tourist Countries
• Canada Work Visa Application Process
• Best MBA in USA 2024 - 2025
• H4 Visa Interview questions and answers (PDF for download)
• Online Masters in Psychology 2024-2025
• 26 Medical Schools In Canada For International Students
• 32 Artificial Intelligence Free Course With Certificate

Scholarships by Country to Study

• United Kingdom
• United States
• South Africa
• Netherlands
• New Zealand

Scholarships by Category

• Postgraduate
• Undergraduate
• College School
• Entrepreneurs
• Bachelors Degree
• Women Scholarships
• Fully Funded

Scholarships by Country of Origin

• African Students
• Developing Countries

Scholarships by Institution / Company

• Flinders University
• German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
• University of Edinburgh
• The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS)
• Australian National University (ANU)

Scholarships by School

• University of Melbourne
• University Of Queensland, Australia
• University of Kent
• University of East Anglia
• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Use

Scholarships

• Undergraduate Scholarships
• Masters Scholarships
• MBA Scholarships
• Ph.D Scholarships
• Fellowship Scholarships
• Fully Funded Scholarships
• F1 Visa Interview Questions And Answers
• Scholarship Application Letter
• Letter Of Intent For Scholarship
• Personal Statement For Masters
• Motivation Letter For Scholarship
• Scholarship Acceptance Letter

Other Locations

• Scholarships in UK
• Scholarships in Canada
• Scholarships for Nigerian Students
• Scholarships for African Students
• Study Abroad Community

Top 10 Ongoing Essay Competitions in Nigeria with Exciting Prizes

Essay Competitions in Nigeria : Essay competitions provide a platform for young and talented writers to showcase their skills and win exciting prizes. Numerous ongoing essay competitions in Nigeria offer substantial rewards and opportunities for recognition and exposure. Whether you are a student, professional, or simply passionate about writing, these competitions are worth exploring.

This article will highlight the top 10 ongoing essay competitions in Nigeria with exciting prizes.

Read also: Secondary School Competitions in Nigeria (Ongoing/Upcoming) .

Table of Contents

Introduction:

Numerous essay competitions in Nigeria allow students to showcase their writing skills while also winning prizes. These competitions cover various topics and are open to students at various academic levels. This article will discuss the top 10 essay competitions in Nigeria that students should consider participating in.

Nigeria is a country that values education and encourages learning through various competitions. One of Nigeria’s most popular forms of academic competitions is essay writing contests. These contests allow students to showcase their writing skills and earn recognition.

Find below the top 10 essay competitions in Nigeria that students can participate in to enhance their writing skills and win exciting prizes.

Top 10 Ongoing Essay Competitions in Nigeria.

1. CIPM Essay Competition 2024 for Undergraduates

The Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria (CIPM) now accepts entries from Nigerian Universities and Polytechnics undergraduates for its Annual Essay Competition. The Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria (CIPM) is the regulatory body in Nigeria for Human Resource Management Practice.

Their primary goal is to ensure our members and stakeholders’ continuous professional development to improve the country’s human capital development. CIPM annual essay competition is one of the top 10 ongoing essay competitions in Nigeria, and the Institute’s initiatives to develop undergraduate students’ research capabilities in Nigerian institutions of higher learning.

Prizes to be Won:

• 1st Prize: N125,000 & 2 HRM books
• 2nd Prize: N100,000 & 2 HRM books
• 3rd Prize: N75000 & 2 HRM books
• And other prizes.

2. Nigeria Higher Education Foundation Essay Competition

The Nigeria Higher Education Foundation Essay Competition targets undergraduate students in Nigerian universities. Participants are required to write on contemporary issues affecting the country. The first-place winner receives a cash prize of N125,000 and a mentorship opportunity.

Read also: Wema Bank Banker-In-Training Recruitment .

3. Mike Okonkwo National Essay Competition

The Mike Okonkwo National Essay Competition is open to secondary school students in Nigeria. The competition aims to promote academic excellence and reward exceptional writing skills. The winner receives a cash prize of N100,000 and a laptop.

Mike Okonkwo Essay Competition was initiated in 2004 as part of activities to celebrate the Birthday of the Presiding Bishop of TREM, Dr. Mike Okonkwo (MFR) and, more importantly, to contribute to the development of the Educational Sector. The competition, which is one of the top 10 ongoing essay competitions in Nigeria, and it is Dr. Mike Okonkwo’s Corporate Social Responsibility activities, is aimed at raising the standard in the educational sector in the country and, at the same time, sensitising the students by making them analytically minded to excel in their world by developing their ability to think through issues.

1st Position:

• N100,000 + Laptop (Student)
• Three sets of PCs (School).

2nd Position:

• N75,000 (Student)
• Two sets of PCs (School).

3rd Position:

• N50,000 (Student)
• A set of PCs (School).

Read also: Fidelity Bank Graduate Trainee Program .

4. Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) Essay Competition

The Nigerian Stock Exchange Essay Competition is open to secondary school students in Nigeria. The competition focuses on financial literacy and aims to educate young Nigerians about the stock market. The first-place winner receives N500,000 worth of shares and a laptop.

5. Shell Ideas360 Global Student Competition

The Shell Ideas360 Global Student Competition, including Nigeria, is open to university students worldwide. While not exclusive to essay writing, this competition encourages participants to submit innovative ideas that can tackle global challenges. The winning team receives a National Geographic Adventure of their choice.

6. UBA Foundation National Essay Competition

The UBA Foundation National Essay Competition is open to senior secondary school students in Nigeria. Participants are required to write on a given topic, showcasing their knowledge and creativity. The winner receives a N2,000,000 educational grant.

UBA National Essay Competition is also among the top 10 ongoing essay competitions in Nigeria, and it is targeted at senior secondary students in Nigeria. It is organized annually as part of the UBA Foundation’s education initiative to promote the reading culture and encourage healthy intellectual competition among secondary school students in Nigeria and across Africa.

The first prize for the UBA National Essay  Competition is an N3 million educational grant. In contrast, the second and third prizes are N2.5 million and N2 million in educational grants to any African University of their choice.

7. Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition

The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition is open to young writers from Nigeria and other Commonwealth countries. This prestigious competition allows participants to explore various themes and express their thoughts through writing. Winners receive a trip to London and a meeting with prominent figures.

The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Competition is also one of the top 10 ongoing essay competitions in Nigeria, and it is open to all students who belong to 52 Commonwealth countries and participate easily. The topic for an essay is given, and the candidates need to write an essay on the provided topic. From the Commonwealth countries, the participants for writing essays are divided into two groups, senior & junior categories. The 14 to 18 age group participants are in the senior category. The students are below the age of 14 and are in the junior category. So don’t waste time if you are eligible for such an opportunity, so apply without hesitation.

• Silver Medal
• Bronze Medal
• It provides a fully funded trip to London for educational and cultural events.
• They provide the Certificate of participation.

You may also like;

• KPMG Canada Internship 2024 for International Students
• Québec Merit Scholarship for Foreign Students 2024
• How to Apply for British Council Full Degree Scholarships 2024
• Australian Catholic University Uni Step-Up Accommodation
• University of Miami Stamps Scholarship USA
• AAUW International Fellowships 2024
• GHAI Healthy Food Policy Advocacy Fund 2024
• Digital Jewels Africa Cares Scholarship 2024 for African
• New Life on the Old West Photography Competition 2024

8. Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Essay Competition

The Nigerian Communications Commission Essay Competition is open to undergraduate students in Nigerian tertiary institutions. The competition aims to promote research and innovation in the telecommunications sector. The winner receives a cash prize of N500,000 and a laptop.

• PRIZE-Laptop, Printer and Cash Prize of 500,000.00
• PRIZE-Cash Prize of N300,000.00
• PRIZE-Cash Prize of N200,000.00

9. National Energy Law Essay Competition 2024 For Nigerian Law Students

The Energy Law Society, LASU, is one of the top 10 ongoing essay competitions in Nigeria and an elite organization interested in energy law. We are passionate about helping students see the opportunities in the energy sector whilst learning the nitty-gritty of the sector.

• Winner – N150,000
• 1st Runner up – N100,000
• 2nd Runner up – N50,000.
• And other benefits.

10. African Liberty Essay Contest for African Undergraduate and Postgraduate Students

African Liberty was established in 2007 as a joint effort between the Cato Institute, IMANI Africa, and the Atlas Network. The platform promotes peace, individual freedom, and prosperity throughout Africa. It provides a space for civil discourse on various topics, such as social, legal, economic, and global issues, allowing young African freedom advocates to develop critical writing skills.

African Liberty also partners with Africa-focused think tanks and media outlets to help these emerging voices pursue journalism and public policy careers.

• The winner will receive a  $500 cash prize .
• The first runner-up will secure a  $300 cash prize .
• The second runner-up will take home a  $200 cash prize .
• Additionally, the third and fourth runners-up will each receive  $100 .

Participating in one of these top 10 ongoing essay competitions in Nigeria allows writers to showcase their skills and offers the chance to win attractive prizes.

The top 10 ongoing essay competitions in Nigeria listed above provide opportunities for both students and professionals to excel in their writing endeavours. Whether you are passionate about personal development, finance, or global challenges, there is competition for you. So, grab your pen and start crafting your winning essay today!

Related Posts:

• Secondary School Competitions in Nigeria (Ongoing/Upcoming)
• EY 2024 Better Working World Data Challenge
• Ontario Graduate Scholarship 2024/2025 for…
• Green Stories Competition 2024 - Themed "Clean vs…
• World Bank Group YouthActOnEDU Spoken Word Competition 2024
• Huawei HMS App Innovation Global Contest for Developers 2024
• CBN 2024 Global Money Week Competition for Talents,…
• MEST Africa Challenge 2024 for Early-stage Tech Startups
• FG ETHLagos Virtual Hackathon 2024 & Portal Registration
• 2024 InterswitchSPAK National Science Competition…

Similar Posts

Queen’s commonwealth essay competition 2024/2025, cnc scholarships, bursaries and awards 2024/2025, 2024 interswitchspak national science competition 5.0 (register), european sme week youth essay competition 2024 (win trip to the sme assembly in slovenia), uniabuja japanese karaoke competition 2024 (apply now), interswitchspak 3.0 national science competition 2024, leave a reply cancel reply.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.