Technolandy

Day 36 (of SOL 2025). Dear @shanesafir & @sjeducate 5/10 “spoilers” of toxins in Pedagogy of Voice – competition

Dear Shane and Sawsan… in Pedagogies of Voice, you bring up “10 Toxins” carried in the form of signature practices and dscourses – here is a thought on:

5. Competitiveness and rugged individualism

What this looks like:

• Overemphasis on individual tasks
• Overemphasis on homework (horrible socioeconomic factors on this as well – this widens the gap; I differentiate this with students ‘get to work at home’ when they want to keep the learning going deeper or follow a rabbit hole…)
• Barring students from helping each other work on tasks
• Class ranking and/or appointment of valedictorians <— traditionalists are gonna hate this one!!)
• Everything done solo (eyes on your own work!) while we know collaboration sparks enrichment!

Sounds like:

• “You’ve gotta learn how to solve this problem on your own.” 
• “In the ‘real world,’ no one is gonna hold your hand.”
• “Don’t help them – it’s their grade, not yours”

Feels like – where individualism stifles collaboration… hinders authentic self expression… limits student agency…. Subtly discriminates by highlighting one culture/religion/etc which demotes all others… Isolating… compliance of self-expression… and a hierarchy of whose identity is acceptable…

Competition and rugged individualism aren’t just relics — they’re still embedded in the practices we call ‘rigour’ and ‘real world prep.’ But they often silence voice, limit collaboration, and reward conformity over community.

Along with determining how much of ones culture can be shared (eg hijab) there are also declarations ones name/gender/etc (which as I point out… can be done with fun by insisting full names are used, not nicknames nor shortened names (nor first names with a last initial when two have the same first name in a classroom…) and then the parents can call and change the ‘name to be used’ daily…  and when gender identities are ignored or misrepresented… the hurt lasts a long time and further disconnects the school space from the real, lived world. 

That’s why I’ve loved exploring Sugata Mitra’s SOLE model — Self Organized Learning Environments — where students choose how and with whom to work.

Groups of one? Totally valid.

Groups that shift and evolve? Beautiful.

What matters is student agency — not forced partnerships or artificial competition. 

Of course I’ve written more about this: https://technolandy.wordpress.com/soles/

Let’s stop rewarding rugged individualism like it’s a badge of honour.

Learning isn’t a race.

It’s a collective journey — and when students own that process together, that’s when voice thrives.

Let’s build classrooms where collaboration is life and competitions are a choice!

The future isn’t rugged — it’s relational.