District Administration - April 2008 - (Page 76)

UNDERSTANDING THE TIMES • Daniel E. Kinnaman Boogity, Boogity, Boogity Don’t suppress competition—promote sportsmanship. OOGITY, BOOGITY, BOO gity! Let’s go racing boys!” declares the good-natured Darrell Waltrip at the start of the Daytona 500 and other NASCAR races. It’s a call to fun, camaraderie, and ferocious competition, and it’s understood by those listening that without the competition, there wouldn’t be the excitement, the fun, or the preparation that produces excellence. Heck, there wouldn’t be a race. The same fun-ﬁlled competitive spirit inspired the Monday night autumn cry, “Let’s get ready for some football!” Throughout sports, competition is what makes us watch, it’s what makes us participate, and it’s the spirit of competition that makes it exciting. It’s what made this year’s Super Bowl so great. Even the undefeated New England Patriots—the ﬁrst to ﬁnish a 16-game regular season unbeaten—were not simply granted football’s highest honor. No, they had to earn one more victory by outplaying, out-hustling, out-hoping and out-scoring the two-touchdown underdog New York Giants. They didn’t. They failed. Despite their hard work and diligent eﬀort, they fell short. For the team and their fans, it hurt. No Kickball, No Tag Perhaps that’s why “competition” has become a dirty word to some education leaders, and why traditional competitive games such as kickball and tag have been banned on a growing number of school playgrounds. We don’t want anyone’s feelings hurt, we don’t want anyone to feel slighted, and above all, we don’t want anyone to lose. That may sound nice, but it’s impractical, nonsensical, and does a disservice to the children in our charge. Eliminating competition is impractical because it’s fundamental to the American 76 April 2008 “B bands, and we compete for political oﬃce. The list goes on and on. To eliminate competition would require a complete redeﬁning of American life. It’s All about Sportsmanship Doing away with competition misses the point. If there are no losers, we all lose, because when competition is fair and honorable, even the losers win. That’s why winners invariably point to a previous loss or failure when asked what most helped them succeed. There is something innately positive about working hard and coming up short. It aﬀords the opportunity for reﬂection and inspires a new eﬀort. What’s most important in winning and losing is sportsmanship. Sportsmanship means competing with the understanding that what we share in common is greater and more binding than what we are competing for. That’s the key to American democracy, and it underlies our political process. In this year’s presidential campaign, candidates compete aggressively in the primaries, appearing to be enemies. Then one emerges as the party’s candidate, and the losers line up in support because the party is bigger and more binding than their diﬀering views. In the national election the diﬀerences between candidates are even more profound, but invariably the loser graciously pledges support and cooperation to the winner, because we are Americans ﬁrst and Republicans or Democrats second. We should promote competition in our school districts, not denigrate it, focusing on the supremacy of sportsmanship and the mutual respect demanded by our common humanity. Our success will be students who learn to win well and to lose well. DA Daniel E. Kinnaman is publisher of District Administration. District Administration When there are no losers, we all lose. way of life and natural to the human experience. In Connecticut, one school principal outlawed kickball and soccer from recess and suggested that students jump rope or play with hula hoops instead. That doesn’t eliminate competition; it just changes the focus to hula hoops and jump ropes. Without proper policing, innovative youngsters might even turn them into team sports. Maybe the principal should just have them all stand still for recess. That might eliminate bruised knees and bruised feelings, but not competition. And it shouldn’t. Trying to eliminate competition is nonsensical because it isn’t bad—to the contrary, it’s good. It inspires hard work and promotes achievement. It motivates participants to plan, to put out their best eﬀort, and to direct their activities toward accomplishing goals. Many competitive experiences require team or group eﬀort, which encourages people to work together and to promote group success over individual accolades. This can even inspire sacriﬁce, compromise and respect for opponents. I’m not talking only about sports. Competition underlies virtually every American pursuit. We compete for college admissions, we compete for jobs, we compete for roles in school plays or spots in school

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of District Administration - April 2008

District Administration - April 2008
Contents
Editor’s Letter
Letters
News Update
Technology
Facilities & Construction
Curriculum
Inside the Law
District Profile
Administrator Profile
Profit and Loss in School-Business Partnerships
The Broad Way
Big Macs for Big Grades
Hometown Success
How Well Does This Web Site Work?
Speaking Out
Crisis Response
New Products
Problem/Solution
Computer Literature
Research Center
Calendar of Events
Products Showcase
Understanding the Times

District Administration - April 2008