Recently I attended an intra-school basketball tournament. Over two days, 16 teams, 200 pupils and 40 teachers ran, threw, dribbled, instructed, supported and coached their way through groups, semi-finals and finals.

So far so standard. Yet the event I attended felt different - the competitive element was more overt, winning at all costs seemed to be at the fore, and the notion of “it’s the taking part that counts” seemed to have been forgotten by most. It was all a touch unpleasant.

I couldn’t help but come away with a creeping fear that the competitive element of education is now all pervasive and infected our sporting activities, too.

Competition in education

Perhaps this is no surprise. Research has shown - such as Butera, et al. (2024) and Rudolf and Lee (2023) - that education is inherently competitive.

Pupils compete with each other, schools are ranked and graded in league tables, inspection results are used to indicate capability and teachers are at the centre of this as their work drives these outcomes, meaning they too are, knowingly or not, driven by competition.

Of course, wanting to win and healthy competition is all well and good - and indeed learning to compete and the lessons it teaches are important.

Yet we must recognise that competition can become unhealthy and all-consuming - not least given that, as various research papers have shown, such as Clark (2020), Heller-Sahlgren (2018) and Rudolf and Bethmann (2022), pupil wellbeing can be impacted by an increase in inter-school competitiveness.

The perils of competition

Competition can have the effect of shifting focus from performance to outcome, fostering a sense of “top dog” that, in turn, limits the sense of inclusive achievement for all.

It can also change the emphasis of teacher/pupil relationships from “quality” to “effective” - impacting the longer-term development of positivity within our teaching environments. Perhaps most damaging can be the increase in anxiety or pressure pupils feel around performance expectations that develop as demand for outcome increases (Shindler, 2009).

Meanwhile, research has identified average life satisfaction across a thousand UK primary pupils was the lowest in the schools with the highest national academic test performance (Rudolf and Lee, 2023).

Clearly, then, the competition inherent in education is something schools should be mindful of - especially with regard to how it impacts children and how what can start as a reasonable desire to win turns into something more stressful.

Creating healthy competition

So, how can we do this while still retaining the positive ideals competition can provide?

There are, in my opinion, five key things every teacher should consider:

1. Are our pupils prepared for the forthcoming level of competition within an activity? Have we practised, explained and discussed the inherent pressure of an activity, whether academic or extracurricular? Do they know what’s coming, and do we feel they are prepared appropriately?
2. Have we focused on the positive? Do our pupils know what we expect of them, and are they reassured that they are valued and deemed worthy regardless of result or outcome?
3. Are we clear that the “competition” will be healthy? This is particularly important when engaging with external parties, such as teachers or coaches from other schools. Do we have strategies in place to shield or remove our pupils from overly competitive situations if required?
4. Have we developed a positive culture within our teaching or school? Do we focus enough on small and large successes with equal significance? Are our reward systems designed to be intrinsic, and do we encourage a culture of praise or pressure?
5. How much competition are we comfortable with as a school? Every school is different. Context is key, but we must be clear with pupils, parents, colleagues, stakeholders and the community about what we are and stand for.

I acknowledge these are not simple ideas or questions with quick answers and each school would approach them differently depending on context, cohorts and expectations.

In it together

However, all schools must recognise they are part of an entire education ecosystem and occasionally they will mix with others such as at sporting events. It is there that we must all work to ensure competition is healthy - not a “win at all costs” battleground.

For our school, encountering this atmosphere meant it was important to emphasise to our pupils afterwards that while they may have felt anxiety, pressure or threat from the event, our focus was on their own performance, experience and sense of achievement and success.

While externally the final outcome appeared to be a priority, we were much more interested in their development, their progression and their own sense of personal achievement.

Ultimately our first and most important priority is always to the children in our care and, whether in the classroom or sporting arenas, competition and a will to win need to be balanced against that important ideal.

Philip Mathe is head of student opportunities at British International School Riyadh

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