About Me

I've felt for a long time that people do not know which way the train is going, myself included. Forget the cynicism—I mean this in a deep sense. Like me, many have vague notions about how change happens, rely on others to drive it, or choose to look the other way. In my experience, this insight or the entire topic has not been popular with some or can even be uncomfortable for others.

I heard an ancient proverb that said, “A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer.” Can anyone relate to this when they think about what stands in the way of progress? I bet they can because it’s hard to know what progress even means, especially when it means something different to everybody, contrary to our public perceptions. It’s so rare when we feel real change in our lives when it’s deliberate. People motivated by conscience are often motivated by fear, too, and can feel powerless, rightfully so.

Having a purpose in my life has been important for me. I’ve spent years thinking about education, especially because I didn’t do particularly well in school myself, which feels a bit ironic. My aunt, a psychologist who helped high school students with career planning, suggested I take a thorough aptitude assessment in my mid-twenties since I had no clear direction.

The results were revealing. While I understood much of what was taught in school, it never really clicked for me, and I wasn’t motivated to study or apply it. Traditional, language-heavy education seemed full of ambiguity that didn’t suit the more structural way my mind worked. I’m not a psychologist, so I still don’t fully understand it all, but the experience made me realize how important it is to recognize and support different ways of thinking and learning.

In my mid-thirties, I discovered chess, and it completely changed how I think about learning. The game opened up new ways for me to understand abstract relationships, patterns, and how to organize information—things that language alone often can’t fully capture. I now see chess as a powerful tool for exploration and experimentation, and I believe it has real potential to help us rethink how we educate future generations.

To truly transform education, we need to move beyond traditional methods of assessment and embrace whole new systems of learning. While sensory-based approaches and learning styles are valuable, I believe they only scratch the surface. Psychology has its place, but I feel we’ve leaned too heavily on it. We need to bring in insights from anthropology, public health, and systems-thinking fields like process management and engineering to create a more balanced and responsive approach.

Education must evolve to meet the complexity of today’s world. I believe memorizing unprovable facts is far less important than learning how to connect ideas that seem unrelated. That’s where true understanding—and better decision-making—begins. And that’s why I believe chess can play an essential role in shaping the future of education.

Broadly, I feel that language in education today can no longer be the only tool for thinking and expression as originally intended. Trampled on and relegated for some unknown purpose, I feel our use of language today has limits to help us see how our world was shaped and how it will meet our future needs. Language alone accelerates cognitive bias, which has carried over into education in a wasteful way.  

I’m interested in connecting with futurists who can help me better understand some of the thinking out there around education.  By engaging with chess strategically, I have ideas to help education leaders use situational awareness to not only diagnose learning challenges for students but also understand the prognosis to take corrective actions.   Methods like these I believe will orient the student toward learning in a way that is more natural.

As I continue to pursue using chess in education, I am enthusiastic about sharing this newfound knowledge with others who are eager to embark on this transformative journey alongside me.  I have a strong feeling about the game's potential to change how we learn and see the world. I’ve begun to connect with educators who are interested in basic reasoning and visualization concepts and who want to do this in an immersive classroom setting. I'm looking for ways to build credibility as a trainer and coach so I can support teachers worldwide in bringing new, meaningful tools like chess into their classrooms.

I’m exploring collaboration, especially in challenging the status quo—something that resonates deeply with my own experience. I’m interested in understanding how collaboration has been applied in education and plan to research its impact and potential more deeply. My inner world is where ideas take shape. How I think in the long run will be far more impactful to others than I think at this point. I can now let the people in who are willing to take the risks I am. Together, I think we can change education forever.

— Warren White, Course Creator