A Typology of Educational Benefits Associated with Learning to Play Chess in Schools: Understanding Education Stakeholder Perceptions Towards School Extra-curriculum Improvement

Chess is widely available in schools globally due to its perceived academic benefits. Many policy makers, educators and parents advocate for its inclusion as a co- or extra-curriculum activity. Stakeholders’ beliefs that chess in schools contributes to education improvement is apparent in the positive advocacy and growth of chess as part of education systems. The literature suggests numerous and diverse benefits, but studies that seek to provide a holistic perspective of the nature and extent of these benefits are scarce. Previous studies have mostly focussed on the impact of learning to play chess in relation to standardised literacy and numeracy test scores with researchers questioning whether this is a viable line of enquiry. As such, this paper adopts a stakeholder theory perspective where perception studies are particularly helpful when confronted by seemingly ambiguous or ‘tricky’ issues such as that of attributing educational benefits to chess. Indeed, education research recognises the importance of understanding stakeholder perceptions in all educational improvement initiatives. A survey of 315 stakeholders was conducted to investigate stakeholder perceptions as they relate to the educational benefits of chess in primary schools in Australia. A factor analysis reveals clusters of educational benefits attributed by stakeholders to learning to play chess in schools. The clustered benefits were (a) social and learning skills, (b) creativity and life skills and (c) thinking skills. From the results, a typology is presented that aims to prioritise possible lines of enquiry for future research associated with ‘chess in schools’.