There are many benefits to sending your child to a small school. First of all, this will guarantee that the child gets more personalized attention from the teachers. So if they need more help with something, they are likely to get it at a small school. On the other hand, if they’re picking up something very quickly and need to be placed in an advanced class or given more challenging assignments, the teachers at a small school are more likely to pinpoint this.
Why Do Students Get Bored?
Boredom is one of the main reasons why students get into any kind of trouble at school. And boredom arises when a student finds the subject material too hard or too easy. A teacher at a small school will be able to prevent this from happening and will be able to encourage the student to achieve more.
What Is Competition?
You have to keep in mind that there is a difference between competition and achievement. Competition is when the student is encouraged to do better than the other students in class or when they themselves are motivated to do so.
A student might see that someone else has come up with a better science project, for example, and they might decide to take up something more challenging themselves. Now, there’s nothing wrong with doing this. It’s pretty normal for everyone, at school, and in life, to compare themselves with others around them.
Healthy and Unhealthy Competition
Competition can be taken a bit too far at times. If a student sees the other student’s science project and this makes them feel bad about themselves and how their own project doesn’t match up, then it’s not a good thing. On the other hand, if they admire the other student’s project and feel inspired to do something more challenging themselves, then it is a good thing. This is basically the difference between healthy and unhealthy competition.
Competition at a Small School
At a small school, the teachers will encourage healthy competition. If they feel that a student is capable of more and will be able to do it happily, they will encourage the student to do so.
On the other hand, if they see that the student is pushing themselves too hard and this is resulting in low self-esteem, they will encourage them to excel at the level they have chosen without taking on something much more challenging.
What Is Achievement?
It can be useful to teach the student the importance of achievement as opposed to competition. A sense of achievement usually results when you push yourself as far as you can.
Let’s say that you’re trying to perform an exercise in which you have to touch your toes. Maybe you’re not able to do this on the first day or the second or the third. But maybe the 100th time you perform this exercise, you are able to do this.
This can bring about a sense of achievement because you performed better than you did before. It doesn’t matter if anyone else around you was able to touch their toes right away or managed to do it faster than you. The fact is that you’re doing better than before. And this feeling of achievement can do wonders for a child’s self-esteem.
Encouraging Competition vs. Achievement
At a small school, a teacher will definitely encourage every child to do better than they did before. And if it’s possible to bring about a sense of healthy competition, they will be able to do that too. It’s up to the teacher to examine every situation and how the child involved in that situation feels before encouraging them on the path that seems right for them.
Contact us to learn more about the difference between competition and achievement.