Abstract:

Nowadays, chess is being used as an important element in education. There are many indications that the game of chess develops academic and cognitive skills. In Poland, the project „Education through Chess in School” has been operating in primary schools for several years; similar programs are also carried out in the European regions. A new academic course „Education through Chess” at the Institute of Education of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków aims to prepare participants for the implementation of chess classes in preschool and early school education at the elementary level. Students learn about the history of chess, the theory of openings, the rules of the middle and end game. Educational issues such as the beauty of the game (chess as an art), competition, logical and strategic thinking, addiction risk and others are analyzed.

More importantly, the game of chess is regarded as a tool of self-knowledge. It is about transferring chess experiences into everyday life, which can thus be better/deeper understood. For example, students can reflect on their cognitive patterns, barriers, attitudes towards difficult situations, problem-solving strategies, the importance of intuition, dealing with emotions, and much more. By facing them while playing chess, they can try to develop effective ways of overcoming them and finally introduce these changes into their lives. Self-reflection plays a key role in this process. For this reason, autoethnography, that uses personal experience is the main method of evaluating set goals. Thus, students are asked to keep a diary of their experiences. The analysis of student autoethnographies and the participant observation of the teacher are the two research methods of applied evaluation. Due to the fact that the course is being conducted in the current winter semester, the evaluation is partial. However, a partial evaluation is justified as it allows the teacher to make adjustments to the classes.

Keywords:

Game of chess, self-knowledge, academic course, evaluation, autoethnography, participant observation.