The purpose of this Academic Training Course is to meet the growing demand for qualified educators in the field of Chess in Education. As chess is increasingly recognized as a valuable tool in education, there is a clear need for well-trained teachers and tutors.
The Chess in Primary Education Academic Training Course was launched in June 2024 in collaboration between the European Chess Union and the University of the Aegean.
Offering a university-level course dedicated to Chess in Primary Education not only validates the efforts of the ECU Education Commission’s mission but also opens doors for more widespread adoption of chess in schools across Europe and beyond.
The course is aimed at teachers in Primary Education as well as those attending Teacher Training institutions. It is also suitable for chess tutors and educators who are interested in how chess can be used in education to develop children’s social, emotional and intellectual skills.
The course provides a lifelong Academic Certificate from the University of The Aegean. It is a recognized academic qualification of 320 hours through distance learning, making it accessible to educators worldwide. It’s designed as a comprehensive program that aligns with Continuing Professional Development standards and is recognised through the European Credit Transfer System. The Academic content constitutes 12.8 ECTS academic points and enables participants to transfer their learning credits across various educational institutions.
The 20-week course is conducted in English using the online Moodle platform. Students are expected to work independently, learn the course material at their own pace and time, and submit their assignments after each Unit. The content is delivered by interactive materials, course documents, research papers, live sessions, video instructions, external resources, references, project works and assignments.
The teaching objective of the course is to provide a comprehensive overview of the different aspects of Chess in Education. We combine theory and practice to equip educators with the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to deliver effective lessons using chess as an educational tool. The course is divided into 6 Units, each of them contributing towards a better understanding of the possibilities what chess can offer in the classroom.
Unit 1 – How to play Chess, Rules and Basic Concepts
In Unit 1 educators learn the rules and basics of chess through puzzles, quizzes and game-play. For those who already know how to play chess, the lessons were designed to give useful ideas to be used in the classroom. These lessons also offer a practical guideline with a clear structure to be used as lesson plans for a session that educators can modify (simplify, complicate and extend) considering the age, ability and attitude of the children you teach.
Unit 2 – Chess through History and Culture
In Unit 2 educators learn about the rich history and culture of chess, and storytelling as a powerful teaching method to be used in the classroom. Stories bring chess to life. The history of chess provides countless stories and anecdotes that can be introduced in the classroom and help children to better engage, relate and remember the lesson.
Unit 3 – The SMART Method to Teach Chess, Teaching Techniques and Strategies
Unit 3 is The SMART Method to Teach Chess training course the Education Commission of ECU has been providing since 2017. Educators learn the basic didactics of how to deliver effective chess lessons for educational purposes and gain practical experience in applying the SMART framework in their teaching practice.
Unit 4 – What does Research say about Chess in Education?
Unit 4 offers a wide range of 50 selected studies to learn more about what Research says about Chess in Education. Is chess really an effective tool or is it just a Wishful Thinking? As one of the research paper’s title suggests, teacher training is the key. Educators will find a lot of valuable information in these articles, connected to Primary Education that offer practical application to their teaching.
Unit 5 – Instructional Materials for the Classroom, Cross-Curricular Activities
In Unit 5 educators will be introduced to the CGS project with its different modules that provide instructional materials for the classroom for various ages that they can use in your teaching practice. Exploring different approaches will prepare educators to discover what works best for them and their students. The CGS project was founded by Erasmus+ where the European Chess Union was in partnership with organisations from Italy, Spain and Sweden.
Unit 6 – Special Project – Developing Chess in Education-focused Projects
In Unit 6 the content is the accumulation of the content of the previous five units where educators will develop Chess in Education-focused projects. They create specialized resources and intellectual capital to be reused across diverse audiences and settings, ensuring practical application in promoting Chess in Education.
Each Unit provides clear and practical guidelines for students, making it easier to track and achieve the desired learning outcomes. The same structure is applied in each Unit and created with the SMART lesson planning, which is widely used in education:
- Are you interested in joining the next course as an individual?
- Are you from a University, an organisation or a Federation interested in partnership and collaboration?
- Get in touch! firstname.lastname@example.org
- Jesper Hall (Sweden)- Academic Coordinator
- John Foley (UK) – Academic Coordinator
- Philippe Vukojevic (Belgium) – Academic Coordinator
- Brigitta Peszleg (Hungary) – Instructional Designer
- Alexis Harakis (UK) – IT support
- Alessandro Dominici (Italy) – Guest Lecturer
- Theodoros Tsorbatzoglou (Greece) – Secretary of the European Chess Union
- Katerina Franzi (Greece) – Professor of the Lifelong Learning Centre of the University of the Aegean