competition - sports?

[KBecks]

I've started reading about montessori and like the overall concept; i look forward to doing more reading.

I noticed the criticism of competition in education and think its an interesting comment. It made me wonder about sports in education. Could anyone tell me what the montessori view on sports is, or if it is included in m school?

I was guessing that maybe competition and sports were left /delayed until the high school ages, or if they are dismissed entirely.

Thanks!

[kaydee]

In our M school, athletics are something that families need to pursue outside of school if they are interested in it. The school (for ages 3-12) has no sports teams competitive sports through PE.

[carriebft]

Our school also does not have sports. We will just utilize all the community sports programs...they have everything from soccer to yoga to field hockey.

I think besides the theories on competition, this also stops all the problems with sports funding, unequal funding, lack of funding for other things like art, overzealous school spirit and rivals...all the problems that come along with team sports at schools. This is not to say that sports are horrible to have at schools, but, IMO, it is a very positive thing, in our family's opinion, to not have them associated with the school.

[carriebft]

I found this tho:

Is Montessori opposed to competition?

Montessori is not opposed to competition; Dr. Montessori simply observed that competition is an ineffective tool to motivate children to learn and to work hard in school.


Traditionally, schools challenge students to compete with one another for grades, class rankings, and special awards. For example, in many schools tests are graded on a curve and are measured against the performance of their classmates rather than considered for their individual progress.


In Montessori schools, students learn to collaborate with each other rather than mindlessly compete. Students discover their own innate abilities and develop a strong sense of independence, self-confidence, and self-discipline. In an atmosphere in which children learn at their own pace and compete only against themselves, they learn not to be afraid of making mistakes. They quickly find that few things in life come easily, and they can try again without fear of embarrassment. Dr. Montessori argued that for an education to touch children’s hearts and minds profoundly, students must be learning because they are curious and interested, not simply to earn the highest grade in the class.


Montessori children compete with each other every day, both in class and on the playground. Dr. Montessori, herself an extraordinary student and a very high achiever, was never opposed to competition on principle. Her objection was to using competition to create an artificial motivation to get students to achieve.


Montessori schools allow competition to evolve naturally among children, without adult interference unless the children begin to show poor sportsmanship. The key is the child’s voluntary decision to compete rather than having it imposed on him by the school.

And i also see that a lot of montessori schools do have sports teams. So I think it's a school by school thing.

[chekhovgirl]

carriebft, that's a great explanation. I think my school needs to read it. I think there's a fine line here. I'm not opposed to competition because it will be and is a part of their every day life. But it should not be forced upon them.

However, and I hope I explain this correctly, I really disagree with "dancing around" the subject of competition in certain situations depending on age. The younger children don't care as much about scores and things like that so it's easier to do non-competetive stuff with them. With the older children, they instinctually care about those things and are motivated by it while, say, playing a basketball game. I have seen people running a game like this tell the kids "we're not keeping score" and it ends up being more detrimental because you get the kids focusing on keeping the score in their heads because they want to know really badly how they've been doing and it distracts them from the actual activity. On top of that, if they've kept score in their heads, calculated it and shared it with other students, the teachers have often made the children feel like they're doing something wrong by telling them again, "we're not keeping score". I know the teachers are trying to protect the "losing team", but I'm sorry, children need to know what it's like to be on that end of things and learn coping skills.

I often wonder how these children will deal with getting into other schools for their higher grades and college.

I honestly don't understand why people think they are doing a favor by making everything extremely non-competetive. I'm not a harsh person , this just comes from what I've observed as a teacher. When everything is so non-competetive, when something comes along that is competetive, how are they going to deal with it?

ETA: Sorry for the philosophical post, it's partly a vent! I just think that some M schools don't follow the philosophy as explained in what was posted by carriebft, and I think that they should. In short, it varies from school to school but most don't have "organized sports" outside of maybe having a physical education teacher and classes.

[KBecks]

Originally Posted by chekhovgirl

I think there's a fine line here. I'm not opposed to competition because it will be and is a part of their every day life. But it should not be forced upon them.
.

This is where my thinking was going. At some point, kids will need to get comfortable with competitive activities, such as sports. I also see the concern about hyper-competition, where it would be easy to feel labeled and boxed in by your "standing" in the classroom. It seems like a balancing act.

I loved the information provided.

I have boys and do want them to at least have opportunities to play sports if they choose to. While I was awful at sports, I've heard that for some kids, sports is where they bloom and find confidence and really nurture and grow a skill. It could be a great experience, and a really good coach can be an inspirational mentor for a child. Not to mention teamwork and sportsmanship.

Again, it's about balance for me.

Side note - I loved spelling bees, loved them, loved them. (Can you tell I was good? I will always remember the love of winning them.) I think academic competitions may be useful too, in certain doses.

[nkm1968]

Our schools have never had competitive sports teams, but the kids do play pick up games of whatever they like. On the other hand, they DO have camping trips, tricycles, bikes for big kids, sledding in the winter, skates and scooters, yoga, dalcroze, and a lot of other activities to promote health. When the kids have pick up games, they are as intense and competitive as their non-Montessori peers. Flashback: my cousin Michael attended a "Experimental learning Community" 35 years ago in Cleveland founded on Montessori principles; when he was 7 years old< his lower el teacher had arranged a picnic with a class of older kids from the "Mental development Institute", a now-defunct school for developmentally disabled kids and suggested a kickball game. Well, when all those "peaceful, non-competitive" Montessori kids saw the giant (but developmentally disabled) kids ambling over to the kickball field, they all were complaining "No fair! No fair! They are WAY bigger than us!!" so the teachers divided each class in half in order to make sure the Montessori kids did not feel ripped off!