intitial findings from the ecu survey on chess in schools ... · chess: it can be organised by...

25April2016EuropeanChessUnionCiSSurvey 1

ECUEducationCommission

SurveyonChessinSchools2015/16

INITIALFINDINGS

JohnFoley England JesperHall Sweden

http://www.europechess.org/commissions/educational-commission/


Contents1. INTRODUCTIONTOTHESURVEY .......................................................................................... 32. TWOCISMODELS........................................................................................................................ 43. EDUCATIONVCOMPETITION ................................................................................................. 54. CHESSFEDERATIONS................................................................................................................. 65. SCHOOLCHESSINSTRUCTORS................................................................................................ 76. JUNIORCLUBS .............................................................................................................................. 87. CONCLUSIONSSOFAR ............................................................................................................... 98. CHESSINSCHOOLSACTIVITY ...............................................................................................109. PUBLICFUNDINGFORCIS ......................................................................................................1110. NATIONALCHESSCURRICULUM........................................................................................1211. FEDERATIONINVOLVEMENT .............................................................................................1312. JUNIORTRAININGSQUAD ...................................................................................................1413. CHESSASASPORT .................................................................................................................15


1. IntroductiontotheSurveyTheEducationCommissionoftheEuropeanChessUnion(ECU)was established in 2014. Our role is to develop and promotechessaspartofchildren’seducation.Weseektomakeastrongandsuccessfulprogrammeineachmembercountrybysharingknowledge and resources and encouraging international co-operation. We contribute to public discussion and lobby forchess.Wemust supportourargumentswithevidence.Ultimately,weseek to obtain quantitative data on the number of schoolsofferingchessandthenumberofchildrenlearningchessineachcountry. This will enable us to measure progress and reportdevelopments to the federations and educational fundingbodies.Wedecided toconducta surveyof the54member federationsfromsummer2015.Thepurposeistogatherinformationaboutthe situation in each country. Basic information about thefederationswasalsogathered toprovide somecontext.This isthe first time that the ECU has conducted a survey (FIDEconducted a survey previously) and we have learned a greatdealfromtheprocess.

In what follows, we shall use “CiS” to refer to the “Chess inSchools”movement.Wefoundthatchess iswidelyregardedasimportant for children’s education, particularly in primaryschool(uptotheageof11).CiS isbeingimplementedineveryECUcountry.Wehavereceived33completedquestionnaireswith21still tocome i.e we have 61% of the total. We are grateful to thenational chess federations and the CiS organisations whichmade the effort to respond. Some important countries aremissingbutwehopetoobtainthemalleventually.CiS is largelyagrassrootsmovementwith initiativesoften ledbyenterprisingindividuals.ThefederationsmaynotbeawareofsomeCiSprojectswithintheirownterritories.SomeCiSprojectswere established on a private commercial basis and may beunknown to the federations. We aim to capture the mainprojects but there will inevitably be some gaps within eachcountry.


2. TwoCiSModelsThere are two approaches to teaching chess in schools whichmaybedenotedasFormalInstructionandInformalSupervision.FormalInstructioninvolvesanexpertteachingchildrenhowtoplaychessandtheassociatedmentalskillsoflogicalreasoning.InformalSupervision typically school teachersencouraging thechildren to develop thinking skills by engaging in play andintroducing them to a set of chess-related games and puzzles.Thetwodifferentapproachesaresummarisedinthetable.Both appproaches have demonstrated a positive impact upontheeducationalachievementofchildren.Bothapproachesmaybe used in the same CiS project e.g. the children with greaterchesstalentmaybegivenformalinstructionwhereastheotherchildren may receive informal supervision. It is necessary toclarifywhichmodelofchess isbeingusedinordertocompareprojects.

MODEL FORMALINSTRUCTION

INFORMALSUPERVISION

Ledby Chessexperts ClassteachersFIDEname EducationforChess ChessforEducationFocus Developingexpertise Problem-solving

Examinable Yes NoPedagogy Traditional ModernContent Formalchess Deconstructedchess

Chessvariants Limited WelcomeCompetition Mandatory OptionalUseclocks Yes NoOutcome Strongchessplayers Generalproblem

solvers


3. EducationvCompetitionThereisanongoingdebateaboutthevalueofchessforchildren.The traditional view of federations was that chess is aboutcompetition and its educational benefits emerge automaticallywithoutanyspecialpedagocial intervention.Thisviewisfoundamongst some chess experts who are keen to produce strongplayers. Themodern educational view is that chess presents aproblem-solving environment in which children can play andlearnforthemselves.ForaprojecttobeconformtotheCiSconcept, itmusthaveanexplicit educational purpose with specific didactic methods.Manycompetitionsareorganisedforschoolsandtheyareverypopular. However the educational, as opposed to the sportingnature, of these events is often unclear. The educationalbenefits,ifany,mayonlyapplytoafewchildren.Informalsupervisionuseschessasaneducational interventionto suit the specific requirements of children. Chess is used toimprovesocialbehaviouraswellascognitiveskills.Thismodel

is more recent in origin. Educators who want to bring thebenefitsofchesstoallchildrenfavourtheinformalapproach.Formal instruction was developed in Russia which still treatschess as an academicdisicipline.Thismodel emphasises chessas a game involving concentration, memory and mentalcalculation. The benefits of chess are said to arise from thementaldisciplinerequiredtoplaywell.Ittendstobefavouredincountries with a strong chess playing tradition. In thesecountries, chess federations typically take the lead in CiSprojects and officials are familiar with the formal teachingapproach.Formal Instruction typically requires children to playcompetitive chess outside the classroom. Competition isregardedasatestandamotivator.Childrenwhodeveloptheirchessskillsunder InformalSupervisionarenotobliged toplaycompetitively. Winning a game is not regarded as the mostimportantdeterminantofhowachildhasbeenlearning.Thereisalsoevidence that losingdemotivateschildrenandtheymayabandonchessprematurely.


4. ChessFederationsThere isawidespreadcommitmentacross theEuropeanChessUnion to integrate chess into the educational experience ofchildrenparticularly inprimaryschools.Federationsaretryingtocatchupwiththegrowinglevelofdemand.Asanindicationofthepotential, 2.5million childrenare learning chess inTurkeywhichdoesnothavesuchalongchesstradition.SomefederationshavetakenaleadingrolewhereasothershaveallowedspecialisedCiSorganisationstodevelop.Theremaybeseveral providers of CiS programmes in each country, someofwhich may be private organisations. The federations cannotfavour one programme over another without conflicts ofinterest arising. It is not uncommon for the relationshipsbetween the federations and the CiS organisations to becomefractious. One reason for this is the economic importance ofschoolchess. CiSprojectshavemuchhigherbudgets: it isnotunusualfortheCiSbudgettobemanytimesgreaterthanthatofitsfederation.

Thebalanceofpowerisshiftingfromchessasasporttochessaspartofeducation.Somefederationsseechessthroughtheprismofcompetitionandhavefailedtograspthesignificanceofchessas a school subject. Some federations have continued to applychess training standards which are inappropriate for schools.FundsintendedforCiSmaybedivertedtoconventionalchess.Although federations often provide financial support to Juniorcompetition teams, they cannot afford to extend this to schoolchess without additional sources of funding. Furthermore,decisionmakinginthefederationsisconservativebecausetheydo not have a suitable structure and their managementexpertiseislacking.Eachfederationhasitsownwaytoorganisechess: it can be organised by region or clubs or players. As aresult, in some countries the number of clubs is unknown, inother countries the number of players is unknown. In mostcountries,thenumberofchildrenplayingchessinschoolisnotcapturedbyanysystemandestimatesareveryimprecise.


5. SchoolChessInstructorsThegrowthofChess inSchoolsrequiresmanymoreclassroomteachers to be able to teach chess. For this purpose it isnecessarytodeconstructthegametomakeitmoreaccessibletoteachers thereby tochildren. Althoughwinning is thepurposeof a chess game, this does not imply that the learningenvironment should be competitive. Most teachers are notconvincedoftheneedforcompetition.Manychildrenresistthecompetitive aspects preferring instead to engage in pure playandlikesmallerscalegames(mini-games)andproblem-solvingexercises.Losingagamecanbeatriggertoabandonthegame.Chessdoesnotformpartoftheteachertrainingrequirementsintheeducationofteachers.Mostcountriesprovidesometeachertraining for teacherswhoarealreadyworking in schools. Thelevelanddurationvarieswidely.

Manyfederationshaveidentifiedteachertrainingastheareainwhich they require most assistance. The most frequentlymentionedrequirementisforacurriculumforteachertraining.Several federations are interested in developing a Europeanstandard.School chess instructor training ensures that a basic level ofknowledge and skills has been achievedbut it doesnot conferany teaching rights. Chess instructors typically give chesslessons outside the official timetable i.e. chess in themorning,lunchtime or afterschool. Where chess is taught during theschool day, then the instructor is regarded as a classroomassistantandtheteacherisstillincharge.Ifchesslessonsareamandatory part of the school curriculum, then the educationalauthoritiesandtheteachingunionswillinsistthattheinstructorshouldalsobeaqualifiedteacher.Insomecountries,thereisarequirement for a police record check for a school chessinstructor.


6. JuniorClubsOnce their chess lessons at school have finished, there is noclear path forward for many children who want to continueplayingchess.Thereisalimittowhatcanbeachievedinschoollessons - talented childrenneed to be stretchedbeyondwhattheir school can provide. Many children and their parentsregardadultchessclubsasunfriendlywiththeirstrictrulese.gsilence. Federationsadmit that chess clubsare facinga crisis:members are getting older and membership levels aredropping. It is necessary to encourage and recruit youngpeople.Juniorchessclubscouldprovideasafeandcomfortableenvironment for children to develop their chess skillsseparately from adult clubs and school clubs. Only a fewcountrieshavejuniorchessclubswhichcouldbecomeausefulextensionofanyCiSProgramme.


7. ConclusionssofarThisreportisintendedtostimulatedebateonchessinschools.It isnotpossibletodrawgeneralconclusionsfromthesurveyatthisstageexceptthateachcountryisdifferent.Fortunately,wehaveenoughinformationtoprepareaprofileofCiSwithintheECU.Wedecidedthatthedatashouldbepresentedinmapformtoshowthepatternsofactivityinaconvenientway.Theremaining pages of this report show the status of countriesregardingthemajorCiSissues.We hope that some federations will revise and update theirquestionnaireshavingseenthatthedatawillbeusedtoinformpolicy decision-making. We also hope that those federationsthathavenotyetrepliedwillbespurredintoactivity.Weneedto get good explanations about what is happening in eachfederation to formacompleteandaccuratepicture.Note thatthe data shown is from the survey only andmay differ fromothersourceswhichshouldgiverisetofurtherdebate.Inournextreport,wewillbuilduponthefoundationscreatedbythissurveytodescribetheoperationofchessinschools.

Summaryofcommentsfromthefederations:

1. Chess must be regarded as a modern pedagogicaltoolonthenationalandinternationallevel.

2. Continued research on the impact of chess on

academic performance is vital, not the least tosupportConclusion1.

3. Aprofessionalcentralisedorganisationisneededto

develop,supportandpromoteCiSinEurope/ECU.

4. Everycountryisstrugglingtoraisemoneytoexpandchessinschoolsandtrainteachers.

5. AnaccreditatonsystemforteachingchessinschoolsisessentialtoprofessionaliseCiS.

6. AregularpublicationonchesspedagogicswouldbewelcometoCiSpractitioners.

7. An online platform for schools to play each otherwouldencouragemorechildrentoplay.


8. ChessinSchoolsActivity

The number of children learning chess at school isexpandingrapidly.AlmosteveryECUmemberhasa“ChessinSchools”programme.Theexceptionsaresomecountrieswith a small population – Finland, Latvia, and the Celticcountries. We are informed that these countries areinterestedinintroducingaprogramme.The CiS programmes vary in how they are managed andfinanced. An important distinction is between thosecountries inwhich the federation takes the leadand thosecountries inwhichtheCiSprogrammeisrunbyaseparateorganisation.Inseveralcountries,therearealsoprivateCiSproviderswhicharetypicallysmallandlocalised.Duetothedifficulty in obtaining data, these projects have not beenincludedintheanalysisunlesstheyarepartofastructurednationalprogramme.CiS requires conventional school teaching skills embracingall children in the class andnot just the talentedminority.Federations are aware that they cannot rely upon trainingstructures designed for producing competitive juniorplayers. It has been necessary to develop new teachingmaterials.


9. PublicFundingforCiS

The public funding of chess in schools is now commonacross the ECU countries. Public funding indicates thatsociety places value on the contributionmade by chess toeducation. Public funding was long established in RussiaandEastEurope,much less so in theWest.The increasingawareness of the educational benefits of chess has led tofundingbecomingavailablefromnewsources.Public funding refers to the direct receipt of funds fromcentral or local government to the federation or CiSorganisation. For these purposes, funding from schools orparents,charitiesortrusts,isnotincluded.Someofthesmallerfederations,MoldovaandSlovakia,havereceived funding from FIDE. Italy receives funding fromtheirOlympicCommitteeandIsraelfromtheSportMinistryandtheLotteryfund.Public funding can look very different from country tocountry. It can be provided as a fixed budget or it can beconnectedtothequantityofclubs,membersoractivities.ITis clear that federations must become become better atunderstanding and pursuing the possibilities for publicfunding.


10. NationalChessCurriculum

Most countries have a recommended chess curriculumsuitablefortheirschools.Usuallytheschoolortheteacherhasdiscretiontochoosethematerial.Chessismandatoryin Armenia but is an optional subject in several othercountriese.gHungary.ThemostinfluentialcurriculumisfromRussiawhichhasbeenadopted in several countriesparticularly inEasternEurope. Russia’s curriculum is rigorous and stretchesseveral years. Countries vary in how far the curriculumstretchese.g.threeyears(Slovakia),twoyears(Romania),oneyear(England).InWesternEuropeancountriesthereislessconsensusonarecommendedcurriculum.Pedagogicalresearchisbeingundertaken to make chess more accessible so thatschoolteachers,ratherthanchessexperts,canteachchesscomfortably. There is also an effort to produce betterintegrationofchesswithothersubjectse.g.mathematics.


11. Federationinvolvement

Inmostcountries, federationstakecontrolofthe CiS programmes. The centralised controlof chess has historical foundations in Russiaand the Eastern European states. Theauthoritieswhoprovidepublic funding insistthat there is strong financial control.Therefore, federations in receipt of publicfundinghavebeengiven theresponsibilityoforganising CiS programmes. Federationscannot afford CiS projects without publicfunding.Federations usually do not have theeducational expertise required to integratechess into schools. Hence federations willoften work alongside other organisationsdeliveringtheCiSprogrammes.


12. JuniorTrainingSquad

All federations devote energy and resources tojuniortraining.Junioreventsareencouragingforthe children and produce a new generation ofclub players. Federations may organise trainingcampsandpracticeeventswithanalysisbytitledplayers. Chess coaches will often accompanysquads to international competitions and helpthem to prepare. This level of support isexpensive.Federations in Western Europe seek parentalcontributions and will try and supplement thiswithsponsorshipincome. InRussiaandEasternEurope, the state is more willing to cover thecosts of training juniors. One reason for this isthat many parents cannot afford to cover thecostsofsendingtheirchildrentoplayabroad.Italy, exceptionally for a western Europeancountry, funds its junior training squad becauseofsupportfromitsOlympicCommittee.


13. ChessasaSport

Most ECU countries treat chess as an official sport, thenotable exceptions being Scandinavia, the British Islesand Belgium. Their national Olympic Committees inAustria,Greece,IsraelandLatviadonotrecognisechessevenifitanofficalsport.NotethattheEuropeanSportsCharterdefinessportasaphysicalactivity.Fundingoftenfollowssportsstatuse.g. inItaly, thereisfunding for chess from their Olympic Committee. InIsrael, chess receives funding from the Sport Ministryeven thought it isnotofficially a sport.However,beingoffically classified as a sport this does not guaranteeofficialfundingorsupporte.g.inFrance,chessisofficallyregarded as a sport but does not receive funding fromsportssourcesandinGermany,thefederalgovernmentwithdrew funding from chess although chess is stillsupportedbyregionalgovernment.Classifyingchessasasportmayalsoconferastatusthatcanmakeitmoreaccessibletochildrene.g.chessmaybeavailable as an option during the sports periods atschool.

intitial findings from the ecu survey on chess in schools ... · chess: it can be organised by...

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