Metacognition and Chess

The importance of metacognition

My favourite definition of metacognition for primary-aged children is children being aware of their thinking. To me, this is one of the missing pieces of the national curriculum. Anyone who has tried to learn a new discipline, language or skill will quickly realise the importance approaching tasks in ways that are effective and time-efficient.

Children who use metacognition may sacrifice some time spent solving a problem, as they think about the task, their approach and how they are going to be successful. I say 'sacrifice', when in reality, children will likely gain this time back through pursuing an efficient and effective approach to the task at hand.

The primary curriculum for computing mentions 'computational thinking' as a requirement for key stages 1 and 2. Computational thinking is an example of metacognition. It requires children to be aware of the steps for solving a computing task, including breaking the problem down, looking for patterns, abstracting key information, forming and testing an algorithm to solve the problem, fixing errors and looking for generalisation from similar problems.

In primary Maths, there is an emphasis on metacognition, particularly when approaching primary questions. Strategies such as 'RUCSAC' (Read, underline, choose, solve, answer, check) are metacognitive, making children aware of the process, as well as the answer. Primary English teaches children to spot patterns across different forms of writing and subjects like PE encourage children to be aware of ways to move and react in certain situations. My experience of teaching with some truly excellent teachers has allowed me to witness metacognition in lessons across the primary curriculum, but I would still love to see a greater emphasis placed on children's thinking, perhaps codified into a common metacognitive practice across subjects.

I have written about the benefits of teaching chess to primary aged children before. The more I play chess with children in school, the more I appreciate its benefits. To me, chess is to thinking as running is to physical health. Perhaps this is why the Republic of Armenia has made chess a required part of the primary curriculum since 2011.

In this post, we explore some of the specific metacognitive benefits to children in learning to play chess.

Having a goal

In the most successful games of chess I play, I usually have some idea of what I am aiming for. This can be an idea for a checkmate, or a broader strategy of trading less valuable pieces for an opponent's more valuable pieces or a better overall position. Conversely, games where I do not have a goal in mind often result in defending against an opponent's plan, or failing to spot an plan completely until it is too late.

Of course, to play chess well, it is as important to be aware of your opponent's goals as you own. Good chess players play two games of chess: their own and their opponent's. One of the things I try hard to teach children about chess at school is to spend just as much time considering your opponent's best move as your own.

How does having a goal translate into metacognition across the curriculum?

Children should have an idea of where their learning fits into a 'big picture'. This motivates them to persevere with challenging tasks and helps them to see the value in what they are learning. It might be that a particular skill is being practised with a view to it being used in a showcase event, or final project. The opposite of this, learning without a goal, is somewhat akin to aimlessly moving pieces around on a chessboard.

Having a strategy, or plan, in chess can be the difference between successful and unsuccessful games

Awareness of the whole picture

In chess, it is easy to become so focused on one area of the chessboard that a threat, or opportunity is overlooked elsewhere. Teaching children to 'scan the whole board' before making moves helps guard against this.

Across the primary curriculum, it is just as important for children to develop an awareness of the whole picture of their learning. In English lessons, children can spend their entire time writing one aspect of a story, to neglect other required parts of their writing. In Maths, children can become side tracked on the wrong information, or aspects of a problem that are not required.

In computing, abstraction is a good defence against these types of pitfalls. Abstraction teaches children to 'rule out' unnecessary parts of a task and focus on key information. This is the sort of approach that is worth practising explicitly with children and which saves them time in the long term.

Study

Success in chess comes from far more than playing games. This is perhaps more obvious in chess than in disciplines like painting and sport, although I would argue that this principle holds just as strongly in disciplines across the whole curriculum.

Success in chess comes from a mixture of study, solving puzzles to reinforce pattern spotting and playing games to apply knowledge. Players who simply play game after game will quickly find that they have reached a ceiling and are losing as many games as they are winning. A ratio of about 40% playing to 60% studying, through watching videos and reading, and solving puzzles is what I would recommend for improving at chess.

I have mentioned that this approach is relevant to other subjects and it is through teaching children about metacognition that they realise the value in this. Children learn that they can improve at a subject through studying aspects of it effectively, examining examples of success and replicating these. They learn that success is not something inherent, but can be achieved through effective, targeted practice.

Patience and resilience

Success in chess often comes as a result of patiently waiting for an opportunity, or carefully building and adapting a plan. In chess, it is always important to remember that you are playing against another human, and that all humans eventually make mistakes!

This patience translates well to subjects across the curriculum. Children can be taught that success is usually not achieved immediately and often requires build up, planning and perseverance.

Lateral thinking

Lateral thinking is fascinating to explore with children. Presenting them with opportunities to see solutions other than the most obvious is empowering and often, deeply rewarding. This is also a key part of chess, connected to 'scanning the whole board' as mentioned above.

Children can be taught that even if they do not know the answer, attempting the question can often lead to them discovering wrong answers, or often, a solution or the right answer itself.

Chess is a perfect opportunity to teach lateral thinking, pattern spotting, patience and planning

Pattern spotting

In chess, pattern spotting allows players to make the best moves in certain situations. It also minimises cognitive load and importantly, saves time in chess games. In chess, players can utilise patterns through learning openings and defences to openings. In effect, this can save players from having to think about the best move for at least the first three or four moves, of course dependent also on the moves their opponent makes. Players can learn common checks, checkmates, forks and traps. They can learn the mantra 'check, capture, attack', which is not a pattern of moves, but a pattern of play, teaching players to proritise their moves accordingly.

Children can learn and apply pattern spotting across the curriculum. As in chess, this can have the effect of enabling them to succeed, reduce their cognitive load and increase their confidence. Pattern spotting in writing helps children recognise useful sentence structures, sentence starters and compositional techniques. In Maths, children can recognise that there are a finite number of questions about a given topic and that by following a procedure, they can be successful and save their thinking for more advanced application. In sport, children can learn patterns of play, techniques and strategies, increasing their success in individual and team sports.

Concluding thoughts

Chess is a good vehicle for teaching and training metacognition in schools. Many of the qualities of successful chess are applicable to metacognition across the primary curriculum. In a sense, chess 'distills' thinking and metacognition, since without developing these skills, success and progress and difficult in a way that is perhaps not as obvious in other disciplines.

Whether or not chess is used as a vehicle for teaching and training metacognition in schools, time spent developing metacognition in primary and secondary school can develop children's confidence, agency and success in their learning. It would be fascinating to develop metacognition in primary schools to the point where children could talk about and use a common approach across subjects.

Developing a digital strategy

"Those who are victorious plan effectively and change decisively. They are like a great river that maintains its course but adjusts its flow."

Sun Tzu, 'The Art of War'

A school's strategy outlines its vision and includes a long-term plan for achieving this. It contains goals which reflect the philosophy of the school and its stakeholders. Once a strategy is established, goals can be prioritised in the knowledge that all actions taken according to this strategy contribute to a clear and established goal.

This approach makes selecting technology to use in school focused. It makes CPD goal-orientated and attending shows like BETT purposeful.

We will explore some of the things that a school might consider in its overall strategy. For each of these, we will consider the role that digital technology might play. In this way, the school's digital strategy becomes a supportive and vital part of the school's long term aims and vision.

Health/Happiness

Health and wellbeing are at the heart of everything schools do. Teachers act 'in loco parentis' and are expected to care for children to the same standards that parents would. All decisions that a school makes should begin with ensuring that pupils are physically and emotionally safe and that their wellbeing needs are met.

In terms of digital strategy, this includes keeping children safe through effective education about safe, discerning and healthy use of technology. It includes use of filtering systems and clear rules and routines to prevent incidents and monitoring tools to pick up the occasions when children get it wrong.

Communication and dialogue with pupils is key here. Pupils at all ages must understand that rules and systems are there to keep themselves and others safe. Frequent, age-appropriate discussions of scenarios as part of a well-planned PSHE and computing curriculum can help ensure this. E-safety is also increasingly becoming part of other subjects.

The discussion about rising levels of anxiety among young people should also prompt schools to consider ways that they can further support children with their emotional wellbeing. As part of the school's digital strategy, this will include education on the effects of social media, cyberbullying and healthy use of digital devices.

Admin

In schools, admin systems organise and structure the learning environment. This includes keeping track of attendance, monitoring progress, completing paperwork and planning, communicating internally and externally, organising equipment and preparing lesson materials. A school's digital strategy should look for ways to minimise time spent on admin tasks, which can otherwise mount up and detract from the time that teachers spend guiding children with their development. A digital strategy should also ensure that admin tasks are carried out effectively, producing outputs that are useful and of a high quality.

Teaching

A school's vision should include plans for the role of teachers in the classroom. What does teaching look like in the classroom? This will include how the teacher questions, models, includes all learners, encourages, challenges and explains. Technology may well play a part in many of these areas, depending on the age of the children being taught and the vision of the school. In many cases, whole-class teaching will be deemed effective, some all or parts of the lesson. Alternatively, children may receive instruction at their own pace using digital tools. It is likely a mixture of these approaches would be beneficial, although this depends on factors such as resources available and the age of the children.

Assessment and feedback

Assessment is at the heart of effective teaching. A teacher who carries out accurate assessment knows what to focus on in lessons, can help learners appreciate the progress they are making and highlight their next steps. A school's digital strategy may include ways that technology can be used to perform regular and effective assessment opportunities. This can include self-assessment by students or teacher-led assessment. Digital form tools like Google Forms offer quick ways for teachers to carry out assessments and for students and teachers to receive instant results.

Attainment

Effective teaching and assessment should result in high standards of attainment. Technology, when chosen carefully, can raise standards of attainment and this should be one of the goals of a school's digital strategy. Examples include use of data loggers in science, use of filming in sports or use of music technology.

Inclusion

The goal of SEND provision is to remove barriers and ensure that all students have equal access to learning opportunities. One of the most exciting aspects of technology in education is it potential for removing some of the barriers that children face to their learning, allowing them to fulfil their potential. A school's digital strategy will outline how digital technology facilitates the school's aims for SEND provision. This will include use of technologies that address children's individual needs. Some technologies might be able to meet differing needs, such as the provision of resources to be accessed at a child's own pace or tools to make reading accessible. Other specific technologies will be provided to meet needs and remove barriers.

Digital literacy

Just as schools have a duty to make children literate in terms of English or maths, they also now have a duty to ensure that children become responsible, safe, effective, creative and discerning users of technology. Literacy begins with discussions about technology, helping children to notice it in the world around them. By the end of primary-years, children should be able to talk with confidence about when it is appropriate to use technology and which technology is the most effective for the outcome they desire. Digital literacy is one of the three strands of computing, but is increasingly part of other subjects across the curriculum. A school's aims for the digital literacy of its staff and students should be part of its digital strategy.

A.I. literacy

AI has been part of children's lives for over a decade. AI-powered algorithms govern content that they are exposed to online, provide assistance in internet searches and word processing and control characters in games that they play. The widespread availability of generative AI tools since 2022 has added another dimension to children's experience of AI. Now, children can have realistic conversations with AI bots, can view content that is almost indistinguishable from human-generated content and can begin to harness the power of AI in solving complex problems. As with digital literacy, AI literacy begins with discussion, early AI literacy has been called 'AI awareness'. For young children, AI tools can offer outputs that are indistinguishable from a human output and this must be addressed. AI literacy at primary-level will be defined by a school's digital strategy, paving the way for children to contribute to a world where AI is increasingly prevalent and effective.

Media literacy

Digital media offers incredible creative opportunities to children in schools. Children can create content that can be seen by an audience globally. They can share their ideas through podcasts, short films, animations or documentaries, drawing inspiration from examples made in the professional field. As with AI literacy, media literacy starts with awareness. Children need to be taught that media is made by humans, often with goals in mind. They need to recognise that media can have powerful effects and can be persuasive. Media literacy was on one of five areas recognised as needing further attention by the 2025 curriculum review and as such, schools should address media literacy as they form their digital strategies.

Sustainability

Sustainability was another area recognised by the 2025 curriculum review as needing further attention in schools. On the one hand, sustainability might seem separate from a school's digital strategy. However, as I discussed in this blog post, technology provides exciting ways for schools to meet their sustainability needs.

Knowledge

I have seen it suggested that the availability of information digitally decreases the need for children to memorise knowledge and information. I could not disagree with this more. As Tom Sherrington highlights through analogy, knowledge is like the 'trunk' of a tree in the rainforest. Creativity and the application of this knowledge are represented by the foliage and stable conditions for learning are represented by the roots. This analogy highlights the need for all three aspects and avoids false dichotomies. As Greg Ashman points out, 'knowledge is what we think with'. A school's digital strategy might take into consideration how knowledge is presented or made available. Children might discover knowledge through using exciting digital tools, for example some of the tools I covered here. Schools might find that they wish to evaluate the knowledge taught, giving children access to more modern or more challenging knowledge. They may also re-evaluate opportunities for applying this knowledge, including using digital tools.

Thinking skills

In this blog post, I talked about the need to teach children metacognitive skills. Children who are aware of these skills gain greater ownership over their learning, appreciating the need to a logical approach and perseverance in solving problems and understanding why things go wrong. Digital technology offers useful ways for children to develop their thinking and metacognitive skills. Children can solve real-world problems, including working on project like Apps for Good, or by solving coding and robotics problems. Computational thinking, which is part of the computing curriculum, is an approach that can be expanded and adapted to subjects cross the curriculum. Thinking skills, their value and opportunities to develop these should be part of any school's digital strategy.

School identify

A school's digital strategy will contain some elements that are common across schools preparing children for the modern world. It will also contain elements relating to the ethos and priorities of the school, the school's vision and its unique perspective on education. Some of these things will be influenced by the location of the school, its history, the specialism of its staff and what the school offers to prospective students. In developing a digital strategy, schools must evaluate aspects of digital technology that should be common in effective education. Schools should also be confident to select technology depending on the aims and value that make a school unique and valuable in the community that they are established in.

Conclusions

In this post, we have considered some of the areas of school strategy that can be impacted by technology and would help shape a school's digital strategy. While technologies can change quickly, matching a school's digital strategy to the strategic aims and ethos of the school ensures that all decisions taken about deployment of technology are justifiable in terms of meeting long term aims. Approaches towards meeting this visions can change, but the course will remain constant and clear.

Developing Thinking through Chess

One of the most important parts of the computing national curriculum is its requirement to teach computational thinking. The curriculum states,

'A high-quality computing education equips pupils to use computational thinking and creativity to understand and change the world.'

For key stage 2, this is expanded, requiring that pupils,

'solve problems by decomposing them into smaller parts.'

Requirements for pupils to use repetition, selection and variables allude to the widely recognised stages of computational thinking:

• Decomposing a problem

• Looking for patterns

• Focusing on the most important information (abstraction)

• Designing an algorithm to solve the problem

• Testing and debugging

In this blog post, I wrote about the importance of metacognition. Children can be taught to follow thinking processes that they can use across subjects. These can include steps such as:

• Reading the instructions carefully

• Looking at the tools available to me

• Deciding what success looks like, including looking at examples

• Thinking about patterns

• Remembering where I have done this before

• Pausing

• Breaking the problem down into solvable chunks

• Thinking about things I get stuck with and ways to overcome these barriers

• Being considerate of others and the environment I am in

• Persevering when something is difficult

• Implementing and testing a solution

Teaching children about metacognition gives them greater agency over their work and increases their chances of succeeding.

Almost every aspect of children's primary education can benefit from following steps such as those outlined above.

Examples include:

• Writing in English or other subjects. Children read instructions, look at examples of similar writing and follow conventions (patterns), break the writing down (i.e. setting, character, description), read, evaluate end improve their writing

• Success in sport - children break games or movements down onto manageable steps and practise these

• Programming - children break a problem down in to programmable steps, write, test and improve algorithms to address aspects of this problem

Children who program, such as in App Lab (above) will be successful if they decompose tasks, look for patterns and test their algorithms.

Chess is an activity that lets children practise so many of the steps outlined above. The value of chess in developing thinking skills is that it is a visually simple environment, with few distractions or factors contributing to cognitive load.

Chess is even usually played in silence!

Children playing chess will play according to patterns in the opening, middle game and endgame, will think ahead and will scan the whole board to see the resources available to them and to their opponent. Success in chess depends on doing these things.

Computational thinking skills, including decomposition and pattern spotting are vital for success in chess.

Research on the benefits of chess

• How effective is chess in developing thinking skills, and other aspects of children's academic development?

  
  

• Is time spent practising chess justified in terms of its impact on children's academic performance?

Chess is a valuable activity regardless of the answer to these questions. Chess is a social activity and an enjoyable hobby and pastime. It brings children together, gives them an exciting topic to talk about and it is a part of the heritage of many countries.

However, I was (and still am) interested to explore the measurable impact that chess might have on aspects of children's academic performance thinking developing their thinking and strategic skills.

The website, chess.com reports many benefits to children from playing chess. As reported, these include development of critical thinking, memory, focus, patience and perseverance. Chess.com also states,

'Studies have shown that playing chess can positively increase academic performance especially in subjects like math, due to its emphasis on logical reasoning, pattern recognition and problem solving.'

The Frontiers in Psychology paper, 'The Effects of Chess Instruction on Pupils' Cognitive and Academic Skills: State of the Art and Theoretical Challenges', (link) by Sala, Foley and Gobet, reviews prevailing research on the impacts of chess on children academically.

This paper recognised PISA findings that suggest differences in mathematical proficiencies, vital for the technological development of countries, recognising that, 'there is a growing feeling that novel methods of teaching have to be developed to make mathematics instruction more effective.'

The meta analysis reported by this paper suggested that chess does seem to improve pupils' performance in mathematics and overall cognitive ability. Limitations of this studies were also recognised, including failure to adequately compare chess-treated groups with control groups.

This paper also reported on a study by the Institute of Education, stating that while it did not provide conclusive evidence against the impact of chess on cognitive skills, it also failed to establish its benefits.

Chess in Armenia

In 2011, Chess was introduced as a compulsory academic subject for all primary children in the Republic of Armenia.

In 2012, research began on the effectiveness of this program and in 2014, results were published in a 136-page booklet, which is viewable on the FIDE website.

This booklet is entitled, 'Chess in Schools', edited by Vahan Sargsyan, Anita Martiosyan and Varduhi Sargsyan. contains a summary. It is a collection of essays and findings by experts in chess, education and psychology. Some interesting findings include:

• 4th grade students learning chess were found to have reported a higher degree of efficiency in differentiating the main elements of structure and were able to use abilities of dynamic attention and imagination, consequently their logical thinking developed. (Armine Khachatryan, PhD)

• Creativity is the person's ability to generate unusual ideas and find original solutions (Ruben Aghuzumtsyan, PhD)

• Early school age is a sensitive period for the development of creativity and chess lessons promote the development of creativity (Ruben Aghuzumtsyan, PhD)

• There is an impact on children's psychology though chess, but only if it is taught by teachers who help children see the beauty and wisdom of chess. (Ruben Aghuzumtsyan, PhD)

• Radislav Atanassov quotes Dr. Peter Dauvergne as stating, "Chess is the last best hope for this country to rescue its skiding education system and teach the young generation the forgotten art of nurturing an attention span."

Armenia is a fascinating example of a country that has recognised the value of logical thinking, creativity and concentration and addressed these through chess, which is also an important part of Armenian history and heritage.

The Republic of Armenia has made chess part of the primary curriculum since 2011

Teaching chess effectively

As the findings from the Republic of Armenia reported, the impact of chess on children's academic and cognitive development will be affected by the quality of chess teaching and the extent to which teachers highlight the patterns and beauty of chess.

This does not mean that only grandmasters can introduce children to chess in schools!

I would draw an analogy with teaching PE in schools. Effective PE lessons are taught by PE teachers who focus on one or two techniques or skills, give children time to develop these through focused activities, provide support and extension and allow for application in a larger game.

In the same way, teachers of chess in primary schools can focus on one or two skills in a lesson. This could be setting up the board, learning how to move individual pieces, opening principles, castling, discovered attacks, forks or checkmates.

Teachers should be confident to give children a few pieces and ask them to play 'mini games', just as would happen in PE lessons. This could be queen and king v queen and king, bishop v knight and so on. Teaching children the 'ladder checkmate' and asking them to practise this against each other is a valuable drill.

On the resources section of this website, I have included a chess progression of skills, which could form the basis of chess teaching. The website Chesskid, (https://www.chesskid.com/) also has a full program of study and has published useful videos on their YouTube channel.

Conclusions

Chess, at its core, is the representation of a struggle, a problem to be solved. In this way, it bears many similarities to sports. Chess focuses entirely on the mental aspects of this challenge, giving children a valuable opportunity to practice these.

Chess is also an opportunity for children to develop a hobby that they can share with their teachers, friends and family members. Children should be encouraged to play chess at breaktimes, read books about chess and solve daily chess puzzles. Through these approaches, chess will become a celebrated part of community culture. Chess is an important part of the culture and heritage of so many places in the world and something that children will benefit from understanding.

In terms of thinking skills, chess an opportunity for schools to raise the profile of metacognition, which will lead to independence and agency in children. This metacognition will develop through shared language in subjects across the primary curriculum.