The Journal of the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children

This article argues that competitions can serve a
dual purpose: identification of creative and
innovative abilities and talents, as well as a
provision for their development (Riley & Karnes,
1998/99). As Campbell et al. (2001) state, “One
can create an arena where individuals are
allowed to perform some task or set of tasks
with those being selected as eligible whose level
of performance is judged superior, by whatever
definition or criteria” (p. 524). It is not surprising
that competitions have been a cornerstone of
gifted education, putting talents to the test by
The World Council for Gifted and Talented Children
enabling gifted students to showcase their
abilities and receive acknowledgement and
recognition for their talents. However,
competitions have been noted as “a training
ground for excellence” (Riley & Karnes, 2007, p.
146), but also as “breeding grounds for
problems with equity” (p. 151). This article
explores the issues of excellence and equity in
competing for creativity and innovation, but
addresses these through practical guidelines for
the facilitation of competitions in schools or for
individuals or teams of students.
Why should competitions be used to showcase innovation and creativity?
As Riley and Karnes (2009) explain, education and competitions are inextricably linked in at
least three ways. Firstly, children naturally compete, and therefore, educators have utilised
competitions to motivate, encourage, and spark learning. As early as the late 1 st century BC, a
Roman teacher, Marcus Verrius Flaccus, is credited with introducing competition as a pedagogical
tool by awarding antiquarian books as prizes (Riley & Karnes, 2009). More current theory indicates
that competitions can spark short-term and long-term motivation (Cropper, 1998). Riley and Karnes
(1999a) concluded that competitions can serve as a motivational spark plug. Secondly, in the ‘adult
world’ there is an expectation of competitiveness and many societies teach their children to
compete. For example, this is evidenced in countries such as Singapore, England, and Japan,
whereby the national education system encourages competition in examinations for scholarships to
university. Finally, competitions are designed as a way of developing talent for the workforce,
complimenting educational initiatives in securing and developing a nation’s economic health. In
today’s world, businesses are seeking creative, innovative thinkers, as technological advances and
consumer needs become increasingly demanding and swiftly changing.
Competitions have long-served as inducements for scientific and technological innovations,
for as a Fortune magazine article explains, “The idea is to tempt geniuses to come up with
breakthrough solutions to thorny problems” (O’Reilly, 2003, p. 54). Did you know, for example, that
canning evolved when Napoleon promised cash prizes to anyone who could work out how to
preserve food for his military troops? Lucky Lindy’s 1919 non-stop flight across the Atlantic was
lured by the Orteig Prize and parking meters developed in 1933 as a result of the opportunity for a
cash prize. Riley and Karnes (2005) state that the goal of these real-world competitions is not
dissimilar to those developed for young people by their teachers, businesses, scientists, engineers,
technologists, and other interested community members: to solve problems in creative ways.
These three connections between education and competitions are but a few of the reasons
for involving students in competition. There are other more compelling educational reasons for using
competitions to showcase creativity and innovation, namely the potential benefits for participants.
However, it must be stated at the outset that many of the benefits of competitions are speculative,
rather than based on strong empirical data. There is a scarcity of research related to the
effectiveness of competitions in meeting the unique social, emotional, and intellectual needs of
gifted and talented students (Campbell et al., 2001; Rogers, 2002; & Olszewski-Kubilius, 2003).
Riley and Karnes (1999b) assert that the benefits of competitions closely match the
characteristics of creative students. These characteristics include independence, confidence,
energy, risk-taking, divergent thinking, adventurousness, and enjoyment of playing with ideas.
Competitions, it is argued, can sharpen these skills, and importantly, through being given the
opportunity to showcase their abilities, provide a chance for students to develop self-awareness.
Riley and Karnes (1999b) provide some evidence to support the notion that being recognised as
creative, through competition involvement, alerts students to abilities and qualities of difference, of
which they may not have been previously aware. They conclude that this newfound self-awareness
raises self-esteem and self-understanding.
Competitions also provide opportunities for students to further develop and enhance their
content knowledge, process skills, and product design and dissemination (Riley & Karnes, 2009), all
of which are essential in creativity development. Creativity, as a process, must be grounded in sound
64 Gifted and Talented International – 26(1), August, 2011; and 26(2), December, 2011.