Echoes of an Old Debate: Content vs. Transversal Skills

The Educator Perspective

The “Politics of Chess in Education” means different things to different people.

For Paul Roberts, a retired teacher and New Hampshire school principal, “politics” brings to mind the many hours of discussion with fellow teachers about how to teach history across multiple grades at their school. He recalls debating the proper balance between teaching content and transversal skills—skills that transcend specific subjects and are applicable across various contexts. (Transversal skills roughly correspond to what are often termed 21st century skills.) To understand history required a blend of content (that is, facts about historical accounts of events) and context that brings meaning and relevance to a seemingly unrelated listing of events. Paul, now a chess in education instructor, sees educational chess giving students the skills to bring meaning, relevance, and order to the daily challenges of academic, social and home life.

Most educators accept the premise that chess offers benefits. But how does chess instruction fit into the school’s mission, and how does it stack up against the many competing educational demands and competing program alternatives? With respect to the content vs. transversal skills debate, CIE advocates contend that its great benefit is its powerful impact on transversal skills including executive functions, critical thinking, creativity, communication, collaboration, and other social-emotional skills.

The Chess World Perspective

For those of us from the world of chess tournaments and federations, a frequent source of tension centers around what is an appropriate balance between competitive and educational chess. At one extreme, advocates of competitive chess argue that the traditional methods of teaching mastery within the chess domain is sufficient. After all, it has been around for centuries and its benefits have been lauded by many since the time of Benjamin Franklin.

Chess federations are heavily invested in competitive chess. Their leadership is made up of predominantly highly rated players and tournament organizers.

While much of the advocacy for greater exposure of students to chess arises from within chess federations, there are differences of opinion on what form chess instruction should take. The goal of traditional chess instruction is to produce strong chess players operating within a competitive environment. In this century, the concept of chess in education (CIE) evolved with the strategy of using chess as an educational tool to achieve educational (versus competitive) goals. A CIE environment de-emphasizes competitive elements and promotes collaboration and transversal skills. For example, investing time studying chess opening variations is important content knowledge for competitive chess. It would be de-emphasized by CIE since it has little transversal skill value.

Debate arose within and between federations about what variety of chess instruction to promote, since the different goals demanded different curricula, teaching methods and results. Resource constraints seemed to demand a choice of one or the other approach.

Reconciliation

Understanding how the educational community has reconciled its content vs. transversal skills issue can help bridge CIE factional divisions.

Chess is increasingly recognized in education not just as a game, but as a powerful tool for developing transversal skills. When integrating chess into educational settings, understanding the balance between teaching transversal skills through chess versus teaching the game’s specific content (like openings, tactics, and strategies) can guide educators in maximizing its benefits. Here’s how the pros and cons of teaching transversal skills versus content knowledge apply specifically to chess in education:

Pros of Emphasizing Transversal Skills through Chess

1. Enhances Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving:
   • Chess requires players to analyze situations, predict outcomes, and make decisions under pressure, directly fostering critical thinking and problem-solving skills. These skills are transferable to academic subjects and real-life situations, making chess a valuable tool in developing students’ cognitive abilities.
2. Promotes Patience and Strategic Planning:
   • Chess teaches students to plan ahead and consider multiple steps before making a move, which enhances strategic thinking and patience. These are crucial transversal skills that benefit students in both personal and professional settings.
3. Supports Emotional Regulation and Resilience:
   • The nature of chess involves wins and losses. This helps students learn how to manage emotions, cope with failure, and build resilience. These social-emotional skills are critical for personal development and success in various aspects of life.
4. Improves Focus and Concentration:
   • Chess requires sustained attention and concentration. This can help students develop the ability to focus on tasks for extended periods—an essential skill for academic success and beyond.

Cons of Emphasizing Transversal Skills through Chess

1. Limited Chess-Specific Knowledge:
   • Focusing primarily on transversal skills may lead to students lacking in-depth knowledge of chess-specific content such as advanced strategies, openings, and endgames. This can limit their ability to progress to higher levels of competitive play if that is a goal.
2. Challenges in Measuring Skill Development:
   • The development of transversal skills through chess can be difficult to measure objectively. Unlike specific chess knowledge or tactics, which can be tested through games or puzzles, transversal skills like critical thinking and emotional regulation are less quantifiable.
3. Potential Misalignment with Traditional Educational Metrics:
   • While transversal skills are valuable, they may not directly contribute to improved scores on traditional academic assessments, which often focus more on content knowledge. This misalignment can pose challenges in justifying chess programs within schools that prioritize test scores.

Pros of Emphasizing Content Knowledge in Chess

1. Develops a Deep Understanding of the Game:
   • Focusing on content knowledge such as chess strategies, tactics, and theoretical openings allows students to excel in the game itself. This can lead to increased motivation and engagement, especially for students who enjoy the challenge of mastery.
2. Structured Learning and Measurable Progress:
   • Teaching specific content allows for a more structured learning path with clear benchmarks of progress, such as mastering particular tactics or improving ratings in competitive play. This can be motivating for students and easier for educators to assess.
3. Supports Competitive Success:
   • A strong emphasis on chess content prepares students for competitive success, which can provide additional opportunities, such as scholarships or recognition. For some students, excelling in chess can be a significant motivator and source of pride.

Cons of Emphasizing Content Knowledge in Chess

1. Neglect of Broader Skills:
   • An intense focus on content knowledge can overshadow the development of broader, more universally applicable skills. Students may excel in chess but miss out on the transversal skills that the game can uniquely develop, such as patience, strategic thinking, and resilience.
2. Reduced Engagement for Some Students:
   • Not all students are motivated by content-heavy learning; some may find the technical aspects of chess daunting or less engaging than the broader skills it can teach. This can lead to decreased participation or interest among students who might otherwise benefit from chess.
3. Less Emphasis on Real-World Applications:
   • While chess content knowledge is valuable for competitive play, it has limited direct application outside the context of the game itself. In contrast transversal skills developed through chess have broader applicability across various life domains.

Conclusion

For educational settings, a balanced approach that integrates both the development of transversal skills and chess-specific content knowledge is ideal. Programs that use chess to teach skills like critical thinking, emotional regulation, and strategic planning, while also providing opportunities for students to delve into the game’s content, can offer a holistic educational experience. In practice this can be achieved by employing an educational chess approach in the classroom while offering an optional chess club activity for avid young chess players.

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Author:

Neil Dietsch is the Managing Director of Chess in Education – US and editor of this website. Following his graduation from the University of Michigan’s MBA program, Neil’s professional career included information technology consulting, management, and senior project management positions in dozens of Fortune 500 companies. He served as president of the Alabama Chess Federation from 2010 to 2019. In collaboration with long-time friend and associate, Jerry Nash, he founded Chess in Schools in 2016 – which became Chess in Education – US in 2023. His goal is to sustain this unique organization in a way that reflects the passion, values, and hopes of the many educators who share its mission.

Use of AI:

A two-shot query using ChatGPT aided in developing the pros and cons section of this article. To the sharp-eyed viewers who may have noticed some visual irregularities with the flags and chessboard, DALL-E gets full credit. My challenge to readers: construct a query that will get DALL-E to generate a image with of a properly set up chess board in opening position, I’ll include your solution (with attribution) in the next Connections Newsletter.