The celebration of success
THIS is an exciting time of year for highachieving school pupils, their proud parents and caregivers, and their supportive friends.
How wonderful it is to browse through the prizegiving lists in this newspaper and be reminded of the deep levels of excellence in our secondary learning institutions in the South. From duxes to sportspeople of the year, from the prize for citizenship to the trophy for digital technology, there are shining examples of what young people can earn through hard work.
But is the longheld general belief that it is both natural and positive to celebrate success at school on shaky ground?
Two primary school principals in Auckland are either at the forefront of seismic change, or at risk of being mocked by a society that has generally been quite comfortable with recognising the best of the best.
Silverdale School and Stella Maris Primary, on the Hibiscus Coast, ruffled some parental feathers when they announced recently they were scrapping their traditional endofyear prizegivings.
They argued too many prizes were subjective, that often the same children won prizes therefore others had little motivation, that it was counterintuitive to tell all children they were important at the same time as singling some out for special treatment, that prizegivings spurred ‘‘boredom, anger or resentment’’.
Clearly, these schools have taken their positions following much debate and based on plenty of experience. That is to be encouraged, whether one agrees with the outcome or not.
Perhaps this is not a conversation that should be avoided, despite the obvious temptation to dismiss the schools’ actions as politically correct nonsense that will end up doing more harm than good to children.
In a more enlightened age, there is growing recognition of the importance of encouraging all young people to feel they are valued. With that in mind, there is possibly some merit to the idea of spending less time focusing so intently on singling out a small percentage of pupils for praise.
Speaking of time, school prizegivings can now be bloated affairs, and any move to streamline the annual orgy of awardgiving should arguably be applauded.
And what do the children think? The boy whose emotional state is affected badly by missing out on best in class, or the girl who worries her lack of recognition will affect her future prospects — would they welcome the entire removal of all school prizegivings?
Arguing the flip side of the debate is relatively straightforward.
There is nothing wrong with celebrating success. Initiatives such as this newspaper’s own Class Act have been embraced by the community, its schools and its outstanding young people. As well as highlighting achievement, the awards provide motivation for others to reach such standards.
There is also nothing wrong with learning to deal with disappointment. That is a part of life — which comes at you fast when school days are over.
A competitive spirit is surely not something to be discouraged. Children are generally natural competitors, whether it is with their siblings or their schoolmates, and fostering a sense of healthy competition can be be useful as those children develop into adults and find themselves competing for jobs, among other things.
It would be a shame if something as simple as handing out awards at a school prizegiving was seen as punishment for those who miss out, rather than a celebration of those who excelled.
If they are regularly encouraged to do their best, and given warm praise when they do so, children who do not gain school awards will surely have no trouble coping with seeing peers recognised for their efforts. And as long as schools follow the principles of fairness and transparency, they must not be criticised for singling out children for special praise.