Cooperation or Competition?

Reading Perry W. Buffington's article concerning the importance of cooperation over competition gives a clear understanding of the importance of working together in not only sports, but also in everyday life. Yet, I also think that there are times when competition encourages productivity and, in a way, mirrors cooperation.

Promoting cooperation in the classroom, and in the gym, is a good tool that can be carried on and practiced in everyday life. As Buffington mentions, where competition has the potential to bring out the "beast" in us as we try to work our way to the top, cooperation induces a calmer state of mind, as there is no longer a reason to get ahead and we know that we are not in it alone.
To relate this idea to a gym class, imagine if you had a class play capture the flag, with everyone as their own team. The response would be chaos, everyone rushing to get the flag and pushing others out of their way to make sure they come out on top. Now, put the group into teams; suddenly they will be working together to devise a plan and the atmosphere will be less frantic.

Yet, saying this, I also believe that competition is not all bad. Although there are extreme levels of this, which some people do get involved in, a little bit of friendly competition could actually promote improvement. Take a classroom for example: if there wasn't that need to stay either on the same level or ahead of the rest of the class, would some students really succeed to the levels they have been, or feel the need to? If everything was just reliant on cooperation, would some students end up relying a little too heavily on others?
I agree that competition does have the potential to lower self-esteem when desired levels aren't reached, but this is also true to the opposite degree. People who have landed themselves at the top of their game are sure to have a better view of themselves.

The solution, I think, is to mix the two together.
Teams would be a good example of this. Instead of having the students go one-on-one, why not have them on teams so they have someone to share the pressure with, and won't feel so heavily reliant and self-conscious about their own skills? This way, the competition aspect still encourages them to try their best to complete the game, but it also teaches them teamwork and that asking for help is maybe a good thing. This idea could be used both in the gym or in a classroom. For the classroom, a game like team jeopardy could get students working together to come up with an answer before the other team does. In the gym, a game of soccer, for example, gets them working together on skills and also using those skills in competition.
Saying this, I also believe it is important to not begin the competition until you make sure everyone knows and can perform the content, otherwise those who cannot might be facing low self-esteem and like they are behind. If this is the case, maybe use a little one-on-one or working together as a group until hopefully everyone is confident.

When it comes to elite sports and higher levels of competition, maybe it's best to leave those until the higher age groups. Although I believe that these kind of games promote school spirit, the students also have to be of the age to realize that whether they win or lose, it isn't going to determine their life. Unfortunately, some will always believe this to be the case, whether it is in competition or in cooperation.