The project aims to develop the structured teaching of chess in schools particularly with reference to connections with mathematics and logic. The project is based upon important research findings that children who learn to play chess have improved academic results as well as improved social behaviour. Several projects in the domain of chess and mathematics, as well as didactical games, have been developed spontaneously across Europe. This project aims to pull all of these together and to create a framework for teaching chess in schools which links to the existing school curricula. The aim is to develop materials and a teacher training course which can be deployed across Europe. This is the most effective way of bringing the benefits of chess in schools to the wider society. The project is led by the Slovak Chess Federation. Three Slovak schools and one Hungarian school will use the materials developed on the project. The materials will take into account feedback from the schools. The other participant on the project is Chess in Schools and Communities, CSC, a UK charity which provides chess education in primary schools. CSC has developed extensive materials in chess and mathematics which will be combined with the work already done in Slovakia and Hungary. CSC also runs an annual conference – the London Chess and Education Conference – at which the results of the project will be highlighted. The project will involve a meeting of all the partners at the outset in Slovakia to plan the details of the project. The partners will exchange the materials and provide a teacher resource guide which will be written in English. Lesssons based upon this material will be tested in schools in Slovakia and Hungary. There will be several local meetings in Slovakia with the schools. Meanwhile, the teacher training course will be developed in the UK with input from team members. The teacher training course will be designed so that it is eligible for accreditation by European education authorities. At the end of the project, we will be able to support the growth of chess in schools by having produced a definitive teacher training course and associated materials. The impact on educational results will be to improve performance in numeracy, literacy and reasoning skills. Of particular interest will be the implementation of the materials on a disadvantaged minority – Roma children in Slovakia and Hungary. We will include findings from our work with Roma children learning chess building upon previous pilot projects. In the long term, we are of the view that there is no single educational intervention which can have so significant an effect on school performance as a year of learning chess. The relative cost of this is very low compared with any other intervention.
Project background There had already been some projects in Europe. There was the Mathematical DIdactical Games Project (MDG) in a Private Primary School in Skalica; the teaching of chess and logic in several Hungarian Schools based upon a pilot project at an Intermediate school in Telki; in England some elements of chess and mathematics were included in the training of chess tutors going into schools; in Portugal there was a strong activity in the field. The CHAMPS project brought together these disparate elements and reshaped and concentrated them into the final publication. Project objectives Project aims to create well-structured teaching chess in schools particularly related to connection of chess with mathematics and logic. Project is based on research, that children, who learn playing chess have improved academic results as well as improved social behaviour. Project Activities The project comprised Transnational Project Meetings (TPM) in London, Bratislava and Girona according to project budget. TPMs kept communication between project partners on high level. The key activity was a Multiplier Event on 8th December 2018 as an individual event within the 6th London Chess Conference. The participants were from Slovakia, Hungary and England. They received intellectual outputs of the project for the next discussion. Number and Profile of Participants The project participants include the project partners, the teachers and children using the project content in the classroom, and the attendees at the Multiplier Event. Regarding the project partners, there were a dozen people who attended one or more transnational meetings. These included representatives from Slovakia, Spain, Portugal and England. These people contributed to the content either in its creation, its refinement or through providing feedback from the classroom. Regarding the teachers using and testing the material in the classroom, we had three in the UK and three in Slovakia. We estimate that around 200 children were exposed to the exercises that were developed. Regarding the Multiplier Event in London, 105 attended of which 82 were not from the partners. From UK there were 34, 48 overseas, of that Europe 34 attendees. These comprised an international group of experts in chess and education who are very influential in spreading innovative ideas in their own countries. The overseas countries from which they came: Belgium, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden; Australia, Belarus, Iran, Israel, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Russia, Turkey, USA. Project Deliverables 1) Resources for Teachers (Intellectual Output 1) The Project delivered the first Intellectual Output which comprised a structured set of exercises using the chess board, pieces and markers to teach mathematical concepts. We were able to produce a book of 50 Exercises which are suitable resources for primary school teachers to use in lessons for children from age 6 to 11 and above. Each of the exercises was tested in the classroom to ensure that it was accessible to the children and could be understood by the teachers. We have obtained very positive feedback from education experts regarding the range and quality of the exercises. 2) Outline Training Course (Intellectual Output 3) Whilst some teacherscan work directly from the teacher’s book above, the majority of teachers would benefit from having a dedicated training course. The third intellectual output was an outline of such a training course. The educational theme is problem solving. One of the purposes of the course is to strengthen the teaching profession by having a professional qualification recognising competence in teaching mathematics through games in general and chess in particular. This is assisted by each of the 50 Exercises being classified not only by age target but according as to whether they are suitable for individuals, pairs, quads or groups. Project Impact The CHAMPS outputs are likely to be of benefit not only in the short term context. The teaching of mathematics is carefully scrutinised by educationists. We have presented an innovative approach which has been proven to be accessible to children and teachers alike. Each of the countries involved is proposing to introduce teacher training courses featuring the CHAMPS approach. In addition, the European Chess Union is planning to make such training available to the 54 countries in which has representative federations. In addition to these European implementations, the CHAMPS team have had enquiries from elsewhere in the world including North and South America, China, India and Australia. Such an early level of interest bodes well for the future. Finally, it must be recognised that the cost of the innovative CHAMPS approach is very low. No computers are required, nor chess experts nor expensive text books. This will be one of the most important drivers in the rise of the games-based approach to learning mathematics.