0Some people think that children should learn to compete, but others think that they should be taught to cooperate with others. What is your opinion?
Some parents encourage their children to be competitive both in studies and contests, instilling in them the significance of individualism and personal achievement while others encourage collaboration among little ones,emphasising the need of cooperation in life. In my view, cooperative learning is preferable despite some of its obvious drawbacks.
In cooperative learning students work together towards a common goal, enjoying feelings of bonding with other members of the group. It not only promotes a sense of teamwork among them but provides a platform to enhance their communication skills too as the process involves adequate face to face communication.
Further, this model of learning allows them to utilise their individual strengths in achieving the task. Working as a team each member is assigned a responsibility conforming to his strength and expertise,enhancing productivity and efficiency.
Similarly, the team members will also want to explore how well they can function as a single unit throughout the process and how strong personal relations can be.
However,It would also be relevant to consider the amount of benefit young ones can derive from the individual model in terms of knowledge and skills.As it is more suited for ordinary or slow students,the more inquisitive and eager ones might find the exercise of little use and feel disenchanted over time.
A practical solution to overcome this situation is to conduct inter group contests which would mitigate the adverse effect of individualism and sustain the interest of the outstanding ones.
To conclude, the onus is on the teachers to identify the most suitable learning style for students and contemplate its outcomes.In cooperative learning success stems from collective efforts but in competitive learning one succeeds at the cost of other participants
