My own inclinations are quite the opposite. I believe we need not be motivated through competition in order to provide educational conditions conducive to our children's development. We derive the most satisfaction not from competition, but from the quality of experience afforded by meaningful work. Alfred North Whitehead once remarked that most people believe that scientists inquire in order to know. Quite the contrary, he said.
Scientists know in order to inquire.
That observation is not a bad ideal for education. Whether our meritocratic society will embrace such an ideal and make the changes in schooling and in education policy that are congruent with Whitehead's observation remains to be seen. But we should not kid ourselves about what's at stake. In the end, what's at stake is not only the quality of life our children might enjoy, but also the quality of the culture that they will inhabit. From John Dewey to Jean Piaget to Jerome Bruner, major psychologists and philosophers have emphasized the constructive character of cognition.