Some people believe that competition for high grades motivates students to excel in the classroom. Others believe that such competition seriously limits the quality of real learning.Write a response in which you discuss which view more closely aligns with

Competition for high grades leads to positive and negative consequences. Although such a negative consequence as limitation of quality of learning exists, positive aftermaths undoubtedly outweigh them. The reasons of my stance will be discussed in details below.

To begin with, competition for a good score definitely stimulates students to better their performance. Perhaps, the first reason of its efficiency is our natural inclination to competition. In fact, the theory of natural selection has proved that we as a species is a product of competition amount other kinds of animals for resources. From this viewpoint we are prone to rival with each other and our educational institutions wisely use this trait for benefit of us and society as a whole. Perhaps, the best illustration of this idea we may find in our own experience, I assume that anybody who has experience of, for instance, an athletic competition knows that when you are running with a companion, the feeling of being second gives you an additional push to excel your limits and even if you do not win, your time will be better than without a rival. In other words, competition is an inherent and effective way to encourage us and improve our performance. However, may we aver that competition has no negative aftermath?

Unfortunately, the answer on this question is "no" because competition may misfire and lead to cheating and limitation of quality of learning. In other words, we may face a situation when students in their chase for high grades substitute a real goal of studying - knowledge by its symbol - high grades. However, even in this case, we still have a positive outcome - student learns new material and even if he or she does not strive to acquire knowledge, one will inevitably acquire it. To illustrate an idea we may take a look at a classroom where students learn literature. We may imagine a student who wants to acquire a perfect score; in order to get it the one will have to learn material, for instance, Homer's Iliad. In any case, the student will have to read and understand it to be granted a desirable score by educator, consequently, material will be properly learned any way.

Furthermore, competition for high grades encourages students to excel their studying because students understand that those marks reflects their knowledge. In other words, there is a tacit agreement in our society that grades mirror level of student’s preparation, consequently, high scores mean that the student are more qualified than a person with lower marks. Consequently, high scores give a person advantage over others. For instance, a graduate student who is searching for a work may discover that high grades at his or her major courses may alleviate the process of employment because an employer has to use available material for estimation student's usefulness for the firm as well as student’s abilities. Knowing of this motivates students to compete with each other for high scores.

In conclusion, competition for high grades stimulates students to excel their performance due to several factors such natural inclination to compete and understanding that those marks represent their real knowledge and abilities.