West African boardgame teaches students life skills

TORONTO:

Jamaican parents Tamalia Smith and Andrew Kennedy are proud of, and amazed at their son’s performance in a game that has its genesis in West Africa and teaches more than just mathematics.

Kameron Kennedy, nine, of Pelmo Park Public School emerged the winner at Brookhaven Public School’s First Annual Oware Mini Tournament where students from four schools of the Toronto District School Board competed, and international Oware grandmaster Trevor Simon of Antigua and Barbuda flew in to be the special guest.

Smith said Kameron is an introvert and shy, but the game brought out another side of her son – his confidence. “I can just see him doing big things because of this game,” she said.

When she asked him how he knew the game, Kameron responded: “Mom, Ms. Cooper just teach me this game to help me with my math and I don’t know, my brain is just telling me how to do it.” Now, he is excited and telling everyone in the building where he lives about the game.

Sherikka Cooper, who taught him the game for two years, said the activity allowed him to gain the focus that he did not have in other areas of the classroom.

“In addition to that, he wasn’t the most confident person and I think that kind of hindered his learning as well. But with the game he had a certain level of confidence because I would often have him teach other students how to play too. And that helped him to be a little bit more successful when it came to learning other math concepts in the classroom.”

Cooper, a Jamaican, has been teaching the game for many years says that often when students were not able to focus on other areas of learning, they were able to do so and control their emotions while playing Oware.

“Oftentimes kids get upset when they lose in other games but for some reason with this one, they graciously get up, shake hands and walk away. I feel like the game has a spirit of its own,” she said.

COMMUNITY’S ENTHUSIASM

Last year, Brookhaven’s Black Student Alliance (BSA) introduced students and staff to Oware, an abstract strategy game among the mancala family of board games or pit-and- pebble strategy games.

Through regular workshops led by community support worker, Jamaican Kofi Sankofa, students improved their skills, and staff at one of their own meetings this year set aside time to train all Brookhaven staff on Oware and its connections to Mathematics.

“My ultimate vision is to develop Oware “Math” schools from primary to high schools where our students can develop cultural competencies, focus, concentration, positive attitude, leadership and mental math skills. Oware teaches life skills and strategies to become successful citizens in Jamaica, Canada, USA and the Caribbean,” said Sankofa.

Following the community’s enthusiasm, the decision was made to stage Brookhaven’s first Oware Tournament, which hosted surrounding schools with BSAs: Pelmo Park, Maple Leaf, and Amesbury. The tournament featured 32 students in total – eight students per school – and participants were also invited to attend training on June 10.

In 2005, Adisa Oji, a Jamaican who lived in Canada before moving to Ghana, introduced the “Oware Africa in the Classroom Initiative” to schools in Ontario. Since then, working alongside a team of supporter she and others increased awareness of the valuable lessons of the boardgame.

Grandmaster Simon, who led the training and tournament last week, said: “The game of Oware teaches them the background of our African heritage to begin with because we always delve into the history when we do it. But most importantly, the knowledge that you pass on to these children is how to use the game of Oware to become better persons in life,” said Simon who led the training and tournament last week.

He says his template teaches students how to problem solve and how to do mental calculations rapidly. “We teach them how to analyse, we teach them how to focus, how to concentrate, and how to be better students by taking on a better attitude. We do a theoretical exercise before we engage them in playing Oware by outlining some words. We don’t just teach them how to play Oware. We let them know Oware is a game of life. It teaches them respect; it teaches you how to lose and why losing should not be something that you make a burden, because in losing you learn more lessons than winning.”

Simon was the Oware world champion from 1999-2002 and won all the international tournaments held at the Mind Sports Olympiad (MSO) London from 1998 to 2000. He was accorded the title “Oware Grandmaster” by the Mind Sports Council in 1999.