There’s a line from Norbert Quitter, The chess educator, that has stayed with me and made me think:
“Chess challenges me to prepare, adapt and grow, because children are the most demanding teachers you can have.”
Anyone who has spent time in a classroom or at a chessboard with a child knows the truth of this statement. Children constantly test the limits of our preparation, creativity and patience. They are not demanding because they are naughty; they are demanding because they are enthusiastic. They notice inconsistencies, they bring unfiltered honesty, and they push us, intentionally or not, beyond what we thought we could do.
So what does this mean for us as educators preparing for the upcoming academic year?
Preparing Beyond the Lesson Plan
A chess player does not only prepare openings; they study endings, patterns and strategies for positions they may never encounter. Similarly, teachers must prepare not only by designing lessons but also by anticipating questions that go beyond the curriculum.
In teaching, preparation means preparing yourself. Your patience, your flexibility, your humility. Children will ask the question you didn’t anticipate. They will misinterpret directions in ways you never imagined. They will come into class carrying moods, experiences and perspectives that no textbook can account for.
Prepare for unpredictability. This might mean:
- Building in buffer time in lessons for unexpected detours in curiosity.
- Preparing open-ended questions rather than only correct answers.
- Studying your own blind spots, whether cultural, generational or professional.
Adapting in Real Time
In chess, no plan survives unaltered once the opponent begins to move. Children, too, make their own moves. Sometimes brilliant, sometimes chaotic and surprising. To adapt is not to abandon structure but to allow space for flexibility. This means building lessons with “pivot points”: activities or discussions where students can take ownership or where the teacher can redirect based on energy, confusion or insight in the room.
After the first week of school, no matter how well-crafted the syllabus, reality takes over. Adapting is knowing when to adjust it.
This could look like:
- Reframing an activity when students show you a better angle than the one you had in mind.
- Adjusting expectations when you realise that last year’s strategies won’t work with this year’s personalities.
Growing Alongside Students
Growth is often framed as something we facilitate for children, but if we take this quote seriously, growth is reciprocal. When a child challenges our explanations, we refine them. When a child resists engagement, we expand our repertoire of activities. Growth, then, is not optional; it is demanded by the very presence of curious and restless learners.
Children are, indeed, demanding teachers. They demand honesty; they notice when we aren’t fully present. They demand consistency; they thrive on it even when they resist it. They demand relevance; they ask why something matters, and they deserve an answer.
The growth that comes from these demands is not incidental. It’s the very reason to keep teaching. Each academic year is not a repetition of the last, but a new game with new patterns, surprises and insights.
So, as we prepare for the upcoming school year, let’s take the above quote as both a reminder and a challenge.
Prepare beyond your plans.
Adapt beyond your habits.
Grow beyond your comfort zone.
Not because children require perfection, but because they require our willingness to learn alongside them. That, perhaps, is the quiet beauty of education: every move we make is also a move we learn from.
Looking Ahead to the New Academic Year
To translate this insight into action, consider three practical steps before stepping into the classroom again:
- Study your “endgames.” Not just the start of the year, but where you want students to be by June. Ask: What kind of thinkers, collaborators, or problem-solvers do I want them to become?
- Plan for flexibility. Build at least one moment in every lesson where you can adjust based on student input. This is your “mid-game strategy,” allowing for shifts without losing direction.
- Set your own growth goals. Just as you set targets for students, set one skill you want to develop as a teacher this year, whether it’s questioning techniques or strategies for deeper inclusion.
Children will test every gap in our preparation. They won’t wait politely for us to catch up, but they will reveal exactly where we need to grow.
If we are willing to accept their challenges, the classroom becomes not only a place for students to learn but also a place for us to continually reinvent ourselves as educators.