A year ago I met Elena Chamber, of the Service of Inspection of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports of Cantabria in the II Chess Days held in Navacerrada. In his presentation he talked about the Experimental Project Educational Chess that the Ministry was going to launch in the 2013-2014 academic year and in which they were going to participate 32 educational centers of Cantabria. In 2014, in the III Chess Conference I was encouraged to offer an interview to tell us the experience of Educational chess a year later and especially to know the results of the project.
Elena has replied to the request, for which I am very grateful, and has sent me a lot of information about the project. It is worth reading your answers because this initiative has become an important educational phenomenon. The goal of the Cantabria Administration was to promote educational quality through innovation and research projects to cause changes and improvements in educational processes, and to comply chess is proving to be a success And surely it still has a long way.
What is the origin of the initiative to promote chess in the schools of Cantabria?
The idea arose from listening to Leontxo García on the Pepa Fernández radio program in which he collaborates and hearing him talk about the benefits of chess, he also mentioned the first Chess and ADHD sessions of Navacerrada and how the number of students affected by This disorder has a greater presence in the classroom, I found it interesting. I went to the conference of Dr. Hilario Blasco and I thought that chess could be a good cognitive strategy for both students with difficulties and those who do not.
Is it a long-term initiative with commitment and dedication between parents, teachers and politicians?
Above all it is an initiative of commitment of the teachers responsible for the project with their students and their center. The administration facilitates the project, authorizes it, gives it a legal framework and monitors it, among other actions.
What are the figures of the students participating in Cantabria?
12 institutes with 790 students, 12 CEIP with 285 students and 7 centers with 498 students participated, a total of 1,573 students of them 102 are unique students.
How are your expectations being fulfilled?
Expectations have been exceeded, much more than I could imagine and expect. In general, the 84 professors involved are very satisfied with the experience, the students also. We have not had any problems with families and even many families have expressed their satisfaction with the experience. In general they are happy and have told the teachers. High school families rarely speak out or praise programs but it is a good symptom that no complaints have been made.
The 84 professors involved are very satisfied with the experience and the students also
What is the commitment of politicians to maintain and expand this initiative?
The Directorate General for Educational Planning and Innovation of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports of Cantabria is committed to continue with the project, in fact a second call has been made for more centers to join the project.
What is the plan for the year 2014-2015?
Among other objectives we intend to expand the number of centers that join the project, improve training, deepen the educational vision of chess as a strategy that favors cognitive development, conduct a tournament between centers and more initiatives that we will develop.
What have you learned from the initiative?
Much has been learned, especially that methodological strategies must be applied in the classroom that more easily connect with current students, that sometimes the centers and administrations complicate the processes and perhaps we would better simplify things and better coordinate the programs. It has been established qualitatively, through the evaluation made by teachers, that chess improves certain cognitive abilities in students.
The disclosure has been scarce and we will improve how to do it
How has the dissemination of the use of chess in schools worked?
The disclosure has been scarce, perhaps it should be improved, new ways of doing so will be studied. In the centers, dissemination has been uneven since those who have made specific chess days and invited parents and institutions. Or those other centers that have conformed to the development of the project and the transmission of their satisfaction internally at the center.
Is it an initiative between public, concerted and private schools?
Within the project all types of centers are present, both public and private, primary and secondary schools. And even an experience in a Special Education center.
What best practices are you going to promote and what do you have to improve, change or "throw away"?
Throw anything, everything has been useful and positive, improve training and above all disseminate the project better and as far as possible publicize the results of the experience.
They are interested in your work from other Autonomous Communities, and from other countries outside of Spain?
Through different channels I have received a request for information about the project. The Autonomous Community of Aragon has been interested through an advisor of the teacher training centers and also from England they have contacted me to know the project.
What monitoring mechanisms of the initiative have you carried out: surveys, satisfaction questionnaires, etc.?
The monitoring of the project has been carried out through assessment scales or questionnaires that have been completed by the teachers involved, coordination and evaluation meetings have also been held. An experimental pretest-posttest design has been applied to the experimental and control groups (not with all students but with a large group). The data is being collected and we hope to be able to get much more objective information, although the quantification process will be long.
In general, the experience is very positive, simple to apply, it generates benefits in the students, in the classroom and center climate, the teaching staff is happy and the economic costs are reduced. What else can you expect? Hopefully it will spread to other communities and more centers!
And here the interview with Elena Cámara. Thank you very much for your attention with Peques and Más to tell us this extraordinary educational experience that can become a reference and an example to follow. We wish him the best and we will continue very attentive to know how the project evolves.
