Xinming Simon Guo has been honored with the Fred Flener Award from the Illinois
Council of Teachers of Mathematics (ICTM) for his work with the Weiqi/Go game-based learning program. This award recognizes educators who enrich students' learning of mathematics beyond the traditional classroom.
The Weiqi/Go game-based learning program uses Go to teach math concepts, promote mathematical thinking, and enhance problem-solving skills. “Since we began our research in 2013, the results have been outstanding,” Guo says. “We found that 60% of math content from kindergarten to third grade is covered by this game. The evidence is clear—students consistently demonstrate their mathematical reasoning and problem-solving abilities through Go.”
The American Go Foundation, named Guo Teacher of the Year in 2015, and he gave a keynote speech on “Uncovering the Link Between Go and Education” at the Go Congress that year. “I envisioned a future where all children could have opportunities to learn Go in their classrooms. Since then, we have started pilot programs at Lake Forest School District 67 and Barrington School District 220. We've taught over 45,000 students and trained more than 200 teachers on how to integrate Go into math instruction.”
Guo attended the ICTM awards ceremony on September 27 with his guests, Professor Xiuwen Wu from National Louis University, who has worked with Guo on game-based learning projects, and Evanston Go Club president Mark Rubenstein. “I had an unexpected and memorable moment when I met the son of another awardee,” says Guo. “After chatting, I learned that he is a student at the elementary school where I’ll be teaching next week. Over the years, I’ve met high school students who first learned Go from me in elementary school, as well as siblings who passed down their Go knowledge after learning it from me. However, this was the first time I’ve met a ‘future’ Go student before entering their classroom. This encounter reminded me that it’s a small world when you teach Go to more and more people.
At the 2024 Go Congress, Guo served as AGA Education Coordinator and collaborated with AGA Executive VP Chris Kirschner and Kim Myung Wan 9P, on Congress education workshops. “We trained Go players on how to teach beginners and shared strategies for promoting Go in schools, particularly in math classrooms. We also invited school teachers to join our online workshop, where we demonstrated how to bring Go into their classrooms.”
Looking ahead, Guo says he’s “excited to create more opportunities for Go players and teachers to bring Go into schools. One solution is the Go Instructional Specialists (GIS) program I’m developing, which aims to train Go players to provide Go-related educational services to schools and use Go as a powerful manipulative tool to enrich students' math learning. It’s a win-win situation for both the education community and the Go world.”