A few weeks ago there was a Twitter Chat about the role of awards in education. That chat and time spent running has helped refocus my philosophy on awards and their importance.
I have always considered myself a runner, but it was not until recently that I became a truly dedicated runner. As a high school and college athlete, running was part of my life. This school year is the first time that I ran for the sake of running. I was not conditioning for another sport or trying to get in shape, I just ran. I have ran two races so far this summer and I hope to run a half marathon in July. Running the races and preparing for a long race have taught me a lot about awards and their purpose.
Awards seem to hold a strong place in our education system and I fear that we are exiling a group of students who may not be able to "beat" their peers. Running has helped me realize that awards should not be our end goal. The first race I ran this year was a 5K and it took me thirty minutes to finish, which was the middle of the pack. On one hand I failed, because I did not run faster then all the people. I would not have won any awards, other then a participation ribbon. On the other hand, my goal going into the race was to run it in under thirty minutes. If I compare myself against the whole, I failed; but if I compare myself against myself and my individual goals, I accomplished what I set out to do. An award at the end of this race would not make it a bigger accomplishment.
The second race I ran this year had similar results. I accomplished my goals even though I was once again in the middle of the pack. As I prepare for the half marathon, I have been looking at the race results from last year. My projected time will put me with the last five runners of the race. I run a ten minute mile and I have to accept the fact that I will never run a six minute mile. Does this mean I should give in and say running is not my thing? We challenge our students with this question every time we compare them to their peers. Compared to others, I look like a horrible runner. Compared to myself, I have had great accomplishments. These individual accomplishments would be forgotten if I was comparing myself to my peers.
One of my goals as a teacher and a coach is to help my students learn how to push themselves and to keep high standards. Comparing oneself to others is a natural part of life, but it is really only beneficial to those at the top. I believe we need to teach our students how to compare themselves against their previous accomplishments. I have heard of schools who give individual awards that are based on goals set by a student and their teacher. I am fortunate to work in a building that does this and I think it is a great idea. This method is teaching students to do their best, instead of focusing on "beating" someone else. Giving an award should not mean that someone has to loose.
In the end, we want all of our students to be successful and we can only do that if we meet them where they are and help them improve. We need to celebrate all accomplishments, no matter how small. I may not stack up well against my peers, but I can also be a better me.
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