Competition, Kids, Poetry, Gioia

Here’s an article at Education Next on a spreading trend in secondary education: the competition.  According to the author, bees and other contests are proliferating by the year, and participation in each one continues to rise. The article mentions several of them in different subjects: the Scripps National Spelling Bee, the National Geographic Bee, MATHCOUNTS (with participants increasing by 10 percent in the last two years), the National Science Bowl (sponsored by U.S. Dept of Energy), a Bible Bowl, and the International Brain Bee. They host competitions and give out awards and dollars to winners.

Of course, the elements and principles behind the competition run against many of the basic premises of education theory. ”Today’s teachers generally cringe at everything about that development,” author June Kronholz writes. “All those hours spent on one narrow academic focus! All that rote learning! All that stressful competition! And if some children shine on that national stage, what about the self-esteem of every other child whose luster is publicly shown to be not as bright?”

Kronholz quotes Duquesne professor Susan Brookhart on the damage such competitions create: “‘Anything that sets up a universe where it looks like being smart and dumb are traits that you’re born with is not good for learning for anyone except—surprise!—the winners,’ she told me. She includes classroom star charts in that esteem-crushing universe, as well as anything that ranks youngsters against one another.  “Competition ‘creates this idea among students that there are winners and losers, and ‘puts them in their place’ in that universe,’ Brookhart added.”

One might ask Brookhart whether pretending that the universe does not, to some extent, sort beings into winners and losers whether they like it or not is good education. One might ask, too, whether the competition actually rewards hard work more than “traits that you’re born with”—but no matter. The competitions are thriving, and if the popularity of the nationally televised annual spelling bee is any indication, Americans love them.  Why, indeed, should those who care about academics let sports pull all the excitement of competition for themselves? Why not reward discipline and diligence and practice on slide rules as well as slam dunks?  (Ever since I lost the legs to dunk a basketball, I’ve lost interest in watching.)

And it can work in the arts as well. Here is an interview with Dana Gioia about Poetry Out Loud, a poetry recitation competition for high schoolers that he designed while heading the National Endowment for the Arts.  (See here for the web site of the program.) Students compete on the basis of their performance of a poem selected from a list of classic and contemporary works. Amazingly, some 325,000 students participated this year. 

Here is Gioia explaining the competition part:

“DG: Yes, the program was always seen as a competition—just like sports, debates, or spelling bees. Competition adds a special energy to a public event, and it also helps focus talent. The Greeks did almost all of their cultural activities in competition, including poetry and drama, because they believed it fostered excellence. Competition also brings a special attention from the audience—just look at the involvement and intensity people bring to sporting events. We did not predict that aspect of the Poetry Out Loud, but it was apparent from the first time we held a public event. The audience displayed an intensity of attention that is very rare at ordinary poetry readings.

“Some arts education specialists in the State Arts Agencies initially objected to the competitive element. They maintained that kids don’t enjoy doing things in competition. We insisted that it was essential to the concept, and they reluctantly allowed a test—some of them predicting doom. Now that nearly a million students have participated over the past five years, I think we can conclude that kids don’t mind artistic competitions. Look at the appeal of shows like American Idol among this age group.”    

Exactly.  Not only do participants love it, but so do audiences. I saw one competition at the Folger Library back in 2005, and the kids in the seats were shouting and cheering. 

And here is Gioia on another aspect of the program that initially struck educators as backward, namely, memorization.

“DG: Memorization went out of vogue in English classes, but kids still memorized rock and rap lyrics. The advantages of memorizing great poetry seem pretty obvious. It allows one to master and possess great language expressing powerful emotions, ideas, and situations. Memorizing and reciting also helps develop the student’s powers of expression and gives experience in public speaking.

“When the program started, I told the organizers that it wouldn’t necessarily be the ‘A’ students in English who won the competitions. It would be students who had gifts that the analysis-heavy literature curriculum did not recognize—the intuitive thinkers and physical kids, such as athletes, dancers, musicians, and theater kids. It might also invite the class clowns to participate. By giving them this program it would give them a role in the class they previously lacked. This has certainly been the case. Poetry Out Loud provides an entry into poetry and literature through performance. This has broadened the audience for the art.”

See here for audio of several performances.

I have students memorize poems and recite them to the class all the time, and yes, they hate it.  Sort of, that is, at the start. But after these reluctant freshman have completed the recitation, made it through with only a few lapses, they return to their seats with a look of accomplishment on their faces that tells me the assignment is worth it.