Task 2 - Please Review and Help Me Improve

Many students are taught to push themselves to try and be better than other students, rather than work together for everyone’s benefits. Do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages?

My Essay:

It is true that students are expected to be competitive instead of being cooperative. Despite that a sense of competition is beneficial to the growth of students, I would argue there are more drawbacks.

On the one hand, competition can be a fountain of inspiration for students. The examination in school actually is a regular kind of competition, which encourages students to try their utmost to achieve good grades in order to outdo their peers. Under such circumstances, students have to keep a sharp mind and make progress more quickly. When students leave school and step into society, their efforts and determination will help them in competitive situations such as job interviews, partly owing to the fact that candidates always compete to show they are the most qualified, hard-working and competent person for the position.

On the other hand, it is perhaps more significant to foster a cooperative attitude in students. In school, it is impossible that some research projects, which usually requires team work, can be finished alone. Students need to share information and cooperate closely so that they can meet the deadline or obtain great grades. Similarly, in the workplace, adults are expected to work in teams, assign different tasks and support others’ work. Thus, team collaboration skills are more useful than a competitive determination to win. Instead of promoting the idea that people are either winners or losers, teachers ought to show that students can gain more from working together.

To conclude, it seems to me that the negative sides of competitiveness, in terms of preparing students for the adult life, outweigh its positive sides.

Thank you in advance!