No Contest-Kohn
A successful indictment of capitalism, competition and the social order as we know it, No Contest offers much for the average University student to consider. Schools, sports, families and society in general have reiterated that competition is not just the way, but the only way; the only way to "get ahead," to "get into a good college," or to prove one's value as a person. As Kohn so succinctly states, "life for us has become an endless succession of contests. ... [Competition] is the common denominator of American life" (1). So where does this leave the average University student? Presumably, those who are thinking rather than grabbing at phantom "A"s are in a bit of a tumult, for no matter how we personally despise or desire competition there is a realization that the entirety of our lives has been built on competition, and that the foundation of competition is neither healthy nor stable.Obvious instances of competition in an average University student's life include competitions for scholastic accolades, extracurricular accomplishment, personal/familial acceptance, approval and attention. This abbreviated laundry list of daily competition could be extended to almost infinite proportions to show the extent to which competi
Attempting to get cooperative groups functioning within competitive structures seems, much like the Western notion that the whole can be healed by only fixing certain parts, doomed to failure. Restructuring parts of the current system will not work without a revolution of the entire system. Reformism will never serve the function of the revolution, and while I respect the attempt to bring cooperation into the classroom, all of us need to realize that cooperation must be learned, and that competition is just one part of larger societal ills, none of which can be solved without simultaneously working for change of the entire society. I wonder what impressions of cooperation students take from this. Are students learning what cooperation is? Do students think that cooperation they find in this class is the only kind of cooperation that exists? Can cooperation really exist in a competitive environment? Cooperation within competitive structures was discussed throughout No Contest. Examples of this phenomenon included scientists, athletes and engineers who have strong intra-group cooperation, and stronger inter-group competition. Careful analysis of cooperation within competition must accompany a discussion of pedagogy when a teacher attempts to bring cooperation into one classroom surrounded by a sea of competition. For example, in Social Class/Social Change, cooperation is encouraged in small groups, but
Some common words found in the essay are:
Enrichment Program, , Class/Social Change, Contest Examples, average university, elementary school, students thrown, bring cooperation, bring cooperation classroom, average university student, competitive structures, students learned, cooperation classroom, successful completion, competition cooperation, university student,
Approximate Word count = 958
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
