Competition in Education

Abstract

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.

Income inequality predicts competitiveness and cooperativeness at school.

“…The extent to which students perceive their classmates as competitive or cooperative, and their own orientations toward competitiveness and cooperativeness, are important predictors of social and learning outcomes (for reviews, see Butera et al, 2021; Elliot, 2020; Johnson & Johnson, 2021). Existing research on predictors of competitiveness and cooperativeness at school focus mainly on personal factors (e.g., social comparison tendencies), relational factors (e.g., relationship closeness), and task-based factors (e.g., incentive structures; for reviews see Garcia et al, 2013; Schneider et al, 2011).…”

“…Competitiveness and cooperativeness shape how students navigate the social context of schools. On the one hand, competitiveness creates negative social interdependence in which the academic success of others is seen as an impediment to one’s own success; as such, it is not surprising that competitiveness often predicts undesirable peer interaction outcomes, such as intolerance for disagreements, information withholding, and tactical deception (for a review, see Butera et al, 2021). On the other hand, because cooperativeness creates positive social interdependence in which the academic success of others is seen as a catalyst of one’s own success, it is also not surprising that interventions designed to increase cooperativeness have been found to predict positive peer interaction outcomes, such as esprit de corps, social cohesiveness, and support for others (for a meta-analysis, see Roseth et al, 2008).…”

“…When income inequality is high, students may realize by themselves the critical importance of academic competition, or— perhaps more plausibly—their family members might change their emphasis, discourse, and/or socialization practices to stress the importance of getting ahead of the academic competition (for work showing how income inequality affects parenting style, see Doepke & Zilibotti, 2019). It is also possible that school staff and, in particular, teachers (the main agents of school systems) may adopt normative assessment practices rather than cooperative learning practices (e.g., using reward focused on individual outcomes rather than team efforts) because they feel it will help their students succeed in high-stake tests, and reach the highest possible rung of the social ladder (for a review on teachers as institutional gatekeepers, see Butera et al, 2021, for a review on the effect of high-stake testing on teaching, see Wei, 2017). Importantly, these practices go hand in hand with encouraging (or emphasizing) social comparison, relative performance, and individual achievement (for a review on classroom goal structure, see Meece et al, 2006), which are noticed by students and shape their motivations (Bardach et al, 2020, 2021).…”

Special Education and Meritocratic Inclusion

“…Yet, a reduction of the competitive norms at school could alleviate the pervasive effects of backlash and prove beneficial for minority and stigmatized social groups, such as students with special educational needs. In this perspective, neoliberal policies' growing impact on education in Western European nations could be a significant barrier in this regard (Butera et al, 2021;De Beco, 2018). Because this ideology aims to encourage competition and increase employment through the development of skills and the appreciation of merit, schools are expected to participate in the improvement of competitiveness and help produce economic growth by fostering students' abilities and skills in that direction 3 .…”

“…According to Dubet (2006), school meritocracy constitutes both a social ideal and a way of rewarding individuals, as most people consider merit as a fair basis for rewarding efforts and talent when comparing individuals. Research in the sociology of education and social psychology has demonstrated that this ideology is a cornerstone of many educational systems and is particularly prevalent in occidental countries (Butera et al, 2021). Thus, school meritocracy can be operationalized as an ideology that justifies inequalities, and as a principle of justice that promotes a social model based a supposed “equality of opportunity” (Pavie et al, 2021; Pratto et al, 1994).…”