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Teaching Life Skills Through Chess

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Teaching Life Skills Through Chess

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    1. Teaching Life Skills Through Chess CISCCON Conference Aug,31st 2007 University of Aberdeen Scotland

    3. Purpose This presentation describes the use of chess in addressing the social/emotional needs of students

    4. This approach has been implemented in different public schools in Montgomery County, Maryland Currently, at Broad Acres ES

    5. A variety of chess positions correlated to social situations will be presented

    6. Foundation

    7. Chess is ideal for teaching that although we may come from various backgrounds, socio-economic statuses and even languages: our minds can work in similar ways when trying to reach a goal

    8. Students are not necessarily always ready to talk about their difficulties, and share feelings. But, when they are playing chess, rapport is established in a non-threatening way.

    10. Once involved in the game, the pieces become “concrete manipulatives” with which students can discuss their problems and find alternatives and/or solutions.

    11. Life Skills Trough Chess Chess pieces are used as metaphors for life situations.

    12. Social Skills Daniel Goleman, in his book Emotional Intelligence (1995) noted that it is not only our pure intelligence that helps us to succeed in today’s society, it is also our social emotional competence. The following slides compare some of the skills developed through chess with some of those cited as key for effective social competence. (programs by the W.T. Grant Consortium)

    13. Emotional Skills Managing skills: You need to manage feelings in every position of the game. Controlling impulses: If you do not control your impulses you might move too fast and may be not see that your chess position is in danger Delaying gratification: Sometimes in a chess position, it is better not to capture a piece and wait for a better opportunity. Identifying & expressing feelings: Playing chess offers an opportunity to discuss feelings that arise in different situations. For example: “I made a mistake…” Reducing Stress: To control and reduce stress when you play is very important in chess and in life.

    14. Behavioral Skills Non verbal communication: In chess, you learn to see non-verbal clues from your opponents Verbal: making requests, responding effectively to criticism, resisting negative influences, listening to others, helping others, participating in positive peer groups. When you are conducting a chess class, you point out mistakes players make. Sometimes students play 2 against 2 on only one board. They need to understand, cope and learn from each other.

    15. Using steps for problem solving Decision making, controlling impulses, setting goals, identifying alternatives and consequences: When you play chess you have to make decisions and resolve problems every time you move a piece. You must control your impulses and set short and long term goals to gain an advantage and win the game.

    16. How does the model work? Rationale

    17. The Chess board represents our lives. The chess pieces become us. Each piece may represent the skills we have. The way we move them will lead us to success or failure.

    18. The chess discussion produces meaningful interactions among students. At the same time that language development is occurring, the discussion linking chess positions with life situations promotes the development of social/emotional skills.

    20. Classroom/guidance presentation A chess/guidance lesson is conducted following Mr. Moreno’s chess curriculum. A specific social development objective is linked with a chess concept.

    21. Individual/group counseling A session starts with a position that reflects a specific student problem. Other times, students play and the game is stopped by the counselor. Students will gain insight about a chess position as it relates to their particular problem.

    22. Chess puzzle activities

    23. Conflict resolution/fight It is White’s turn to move. The Black pawn just moved forward. What would you do?

    24. Stealing It is Black’s turn to move. The white player just made a “bad Move” capturing the king’s pawn with the knight . The white queen appears to be in danger.. What would you do?

    25. Teachers’ Comments “In general, they have learned a lot about choices and consequences. Chess is a complicated game that students can learn, and when they do, they feel very good about themselves; students learn to apply choices they learn in chess to real-life choices they make.” Mr. Redding, ESOL teacher, Oak View ES “I saw the students grow as they learned more and I listened to them discuss a variety of issues during the sessions. Sometimes, Mr. Moreno was able to raise issues that I had concerns about. He related behavior to chess and then branched out from there. This gave students something concrete to begin with, and also made the discussion non-threatening. Mrs. Carlson, ESOL teacher, Blair HS

    26. EVALUATION OF THE PROGRAM Almost all teachers agreed that through the game of chess, students have increased their social skills. Almost all students liked the program and recommended it.

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