Cooperation vs. Competition in Schools & Classrooms

Classroom and school-wide cooperation is essential to moral and cognitive development. Research demonstrates that school-wide cooperation promotes moral and self-esteem growth of both teachers and students, increases respect for diversity, improves critical thinking and problem solving skills, and promotes greater collaboration and communication throughout the school environment. In contrast, highly competitive environments rob many economically disadvantaged students of equal access to opportunities and knowledge that would assist them in achieving their full potential.

According to Johnson and Johnson, there are five basic elements in order for an activity to be classified as cooperative. These include positive interdependence, individual accountability, face-to-face promotive interaction, social skills, and group processing. When these elements exist in a group setting, group members perceive that success is mutually inclusive, yet each member is accountable for their own performance. Within the group, members promote each other’s success by helping, assisting, supporting, encouraging, and praising each other’s efforts to achieve, and this requires both interpersonal and small group skills. Success is achieved when group members discuss how well they are achieving their goals and maintaining effective working relationships.

Cooperative school and classroom settings, where students are encouraged to promote each other’s success, affect numerous instructional outcomes which can be segregated into three broad categories of achievement, interpersonal relationships, and psychological health and social competence. Johnson and Johnson found that working together to achieve common goals (cooperative learning) produces higher achievement and productivity than competitive or individualistic situations. Furthermore, cooperative situations resulted in more higher-level reasoning, more frequent generation of new ideas and solutions, and better time on task. Thus, cooperative learning makes certain that students are engaged, actively involved, and achieving up to their potential. Additionally, cooperative experiences encourage greater interpersonal attraction by promoting caring and committed relationships that correspond to improvements in productivity, morale, personal commitment, persistence in completing difficult tasks, and commitment to peer’s success and growth. Lastly, cooperative environments improve psychological health of the group encouraging higher self-esteem, self-confidence, independence, and autonomy.