Chess sport in Russian inclusive education: problems and prospects

Фотографии: 

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PhD, Associate Professor I.V. Mikhaylova1
Dr.Hab. A.S. Makhov1
Dr.Hab., Professor A.I. Seselkin1
PhD, Associate Professor A.I. Alifirov1
1Russian State Social University, Moscow

 

Keywords: sports, inclusive chess education, synergy, education, students, digital media, health technologies, rehabilitation, socializing, implementation. 

Background. Presently it is high time for a breakthrough research in the modern chess application matters to find the ways to mobilize the intellectual resource of the modern competitive chess system to secure due social rehabilitation of handicapped students based on the chess, sport and recreational educational process synergizing concept – which was tested under the study [3, 4].

Objective of the study was to develop and test benefits of the chess, sport and recreational educational process synergizing concept expected to offer an innovative toolkit for the inclusive education system improvement – with the new concept tested at RSSU with a special priority given to the progress-facilitating and safe education environment and post-graduation employment opportunities for the students with health limitations.

Methods and structure of the study. We offered new Elective Physical Education Course curriculum as an innovative education technology applied by the study group in the educational process including a special training module with application of the new adaptive physical and inclusive chess educational toolkits and methods. The elective curriculum was designed to offer a wide variety of modern training elements including: inclusive chess education and sports; psychophysical effects of chess-driven recreation and rehabilitation; creative intellectual chess practices; and extreme chess for psychophysical progress. In addition, we developed and tested elective chess courses under the valid Physical Rehabilitation and Sports in Recreation and Tourism master training program.

The inclusive chess educational technology was developed with a contribution from the programmatic education theory by B.F. Skinner; planned/ staged intellectual capacity and notional basis formation theory by N.F. Talyzina and P.Y. Galperin; and interdisciplinary and inter-sector socio-economic research analysis by A.L. Kudrina and L.N. Ovcharova. Subject to the inclusive chess education model tests were 1514 RSSU students in the period of 2012-2017.

Study results and discussion. The new chess, sport and recreational educational process synergizing concept and the relevant educational model were tested beneficial as verified by the students’ progress for the test period, with 100 students qualified with competitive chess classes and 52 students qualified for the chess refereeing classes; and with all the sample tested to successfully master the modern chess-driven information and communication technologies on the expert level. Furthermore, the students were tested with a significant progress in foreign languages from elementary to basic and even to advanced levels in some cases; with the language progress giving many of them the means to qualify for the chess probation courses in the USA, Greece, Germany and Spain.

Their progress in chess competency, competitive and refereeing skills with the formal chess qualifications was found to heavily contribute to their competitiveness and employment opportunities. As a result, every graduate with health limitations was employed in the general education and sport school systems and integrated social service centers in the Russian Federation as a coach or teacher of the advanced educational system.

As things now stand, a unique academic chess incubator was established in the local Chess House designed to support every inclusive chess education start-up initiative based on the open education platform offered by the RSSU [1]. The Student Associations Support and Development Program was used to publish two “Chess education and innovations in chess education system: problems and prospects” anthologies by a student research group of the Physical Education Department. The articles and theses by the RSSU bachelors, masters and academicians published in the anthologies cover a variety of top priority issues of the modern chess education and chess sport. The study and research has shown that the inclusive chess education model implemented on a broad and persistent basis and supported by the relevant competitive and recreational sport events – helps improve the educational service quality, post-graduation competitiveness and employment opportunities for the students with health limitations.

Conclusion. In 2017, the study group completed the Research Project #Р-45 by the order from the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, with the Project designed to offer theoretical and practical provisions and recommendations for the progress-facilitating safe academic educational environment being established for handicapped students with application of the modern inclusive chess educational model; followed by a proposal to develop a state social rehabilitation program for the students with health limitations based on the new chess, sport and recreational educational process synergizing concept.

The new chess, sport and recreational educational process synergizing concept may be successfully applied on a diverse and categorical basis to generate every benefit of the modern chess education; and for this purpose we recommend to have established an interdepartmental social partnership of the relevant governmental, commercial and public organizations to develop a modern educational system to facilitate the intellectual and physical development of the handicapped students.

 

References

  1. Mikhaylova I.V., Makhov A.S. Sozdanie federalnoy innovatsionnoy ploshchadki po formirovaniyu modeli i ideologii operezhayushchego adaptivnogo shakhmatnogo obrazovaniya v vuze [Creating federal innovative platform for dissemination of model and ideology of advanced development of university adaptive chess education]. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury, 2015, no 10, pp. 56-58.

  2. Mikhaylova I.V., Shmeleva S.V., Makhov A.S. Tekhnologiya adaptivnogo shakhmatnogo obucheniya detey-invalidov [Adaptive chess educational technology for disabled children]. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury, 2015, no. 7, pp. 38–41. 

  3. Mikhaylova I.V., Makhov A.S., Alifirov A.I. Shakhmaty kak mnogokomponentny vid adaptivnoy fizicheskoy kultury [Chess as multi­component type of adaptive physical culture]. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury, 2015, no. 12, pp. 56-58.

  4. Safiulin E.M., Makhov A.S., Mikhaylova I.V. Analiz prepyatstvuyushchikh faktorov razvitiya masterstva i chislennosti shakhmatistov s porazheniem oporno-dvigatelnogo apparata na etape nachalnoy sportivnoy podgotovki [Chess groups for beginner players with musculoskeletal disorders: mastery and participation restraining factor analysis]. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury, 2016, no. 4, pp. 33-35.

 

Corresponding author: helga@chessy.ru

 

Abstract

The study analyzes the attempt to apply conceptual systemic approach to mobilize the intellectual resource of chess and offer a harmonious educational model to develop an integrated system of elementary chess, sport and recreational competences and apply the model for social adaptation of people with health limitations. We made an analysis of the problems and prospects of inclusive sports in Russia to secure a wider access to them for the people with health limitations. We formulated a chess, sport and recreational educational process synergizing concept designed to improve the educational process. The study has summarized the practical experience of the Russian State Social University (RSSU) researchers in implementing the concept viewed as the innovative multifactor toolkit for the target group life quality improvement and rehabilitation. The study analyzes the prospects of the systemic federal-level innovative initiatives to implement and expand the new model and inclusive chess education and sport ideology in the multilevel academic educational media including the chess educational, competitive and recreational process; to fully employ the intellectual resource of modern chess sports viewed as a tool to secure equal opportunities for students. The authors underline the need for an interdepartmental social partnership of the relevant public agencies and civil organizations to help establish a rehabilitation service for the intellectual and physical resource of the target group to be fully mobilized and employed.