Jessica's story

Transcript (6.26)

Interviewer: What would you say Kumon is to you?

Jessica: To me Kumon is almost more about how children and adults learn rather than just for pure academia. So, to me, what I've really noticed, both with my own children who study and the ones I have at my centre, is that they really grow in themselves as students and their ability to study transcends both the maths and English that we teach in the centre. But it gives them skills that are really important in life and school and beyond: tenacity; the ability to keep going when things are tough; to take pride in their work; and of course to master and excel at the pure maths and English that they're studying.

Interviewer: And what will, you said you first enrolled your son in Kumon, is that your first exposure to Kumon?

Jessica: Yes. So that was before, of course, I had my own centre.

Interviewer: Yes.

Jessica: So he's eight now, my eldest, and when he was four and a little bit in Reception, he'd always really had an affinity for numbers and enjoyed counting things, just the everyday learning that doesn't feel like learning that you do as parents. And, with me being a trained primary school teacher, I could see the parameters of the national curriculum. I think teachers have a really hard job with the class numbers and the ratios, even with teaching assistants. So we were looking for something that would bring him on, that would push him and motivate him so that he could really fulfil his potential, which I suspected would be slightly hampered in the average classroom scenario.

Interviewer: Obviously, you were already a primary school teacher before you became an Instructor. What was your reason for wanting to go into education in the first place?

Jessica: Well, actually, I graduated with a psychology degree, and then I qualified as a chartered accountant. So I used to work up in one of the big four companies in the city doing oil and gas tax consultancy. And then I after I had my first child, I realised . . . well, it wasn't after that, but it dawns on me that working in the city wasn't very child friendly, and I didn't really enjoy the job that I was doing. So, that's when I decided to retrain and become a primary school teacher. And that just gave me great insight. I knew it was never going to be very highly paid, and I never really had aspirations to be a head teacher, because I think, at times or very often from my experience, what I've seen is contact with the children is really diminished and there's a lot of time spent in meetings, which is such a shame because if you go into teaching, what you really want to do is make a difference, no matter how cheesy it sounds, into your pupils lives. So, yes, it was my want, desire to use a bit more of my degree and to have a much more child-centred job, both in terms of working with children and something that would fit in better and give me a better work/life balance with my own family.

Interviewer: What do you think makes a good Kumon Instructor?

Jessica: I think it's somebody that has a passion, somebody that's got vision and can believe in maximising the potential of all students, whether they come for remedial reasons, perhaps they need to catch up with their peers, or those who are at the other sort of percentile and are well exceeding what the National Average dictates. Of course, you need to be warm and friendly. But also, at times, quite firm and have a good relationship and a good communication between both the student and their parent or carer, so that you can all work together for the best of the child. And I would say to anyone you have to be super organised.

Interviewer: So, the kind of reward at the end of it is worth that extra investment that you undertake?

Jessica: Definitely. And it's really nice, I think the highest accolade is, for example, when parents recommend me and now I've got little clusters from different schools and some of them are friendship groups. That to me is the ultimate, not the ultimate reward, but one of the biggest ones, because then I feel that that family is really content so much that they've spread the word positively and then you get more. I get probably as many word of mouth inquiries as I do from the adverts and publications that I put out. And that to me shows me that people believe in it and are seeing the rewards themselves and talking to their friends about it.

Interviewer: Imagine in the camera is someone that is thinking about becoming a Kumon Instructor. What would be your key thing, this is what you get out of becoming a Kumon Instructor?

Jessica: Okay. I think one of the key things when you become a Kumon Instructor is the ability to play a role in the lives of students, both those who perhaps are struggling at school, seeing them come on both in terms of what they're capable of doing, their confidence, their demeanour, their attitude and readiness and motivation to work, as well as enabling them to have certain skills which will help them in everyday life and beyond as they become young adults. So the ability to keep going when things are tough, to take pride in their work, to be happy and celebrate their successes. I think it enables you to run a really successful business, partly from home if you have your own children, as well as enriching the lives of others who come.

Interviewer:  Okay. Thank you very much. Is there anything you'd like to add, anything that I haven't asked you that you wanted to get across today?

Jessica: I really would recommend Kumon as a career choice for somebody that's thinking of it because I think it's very rewarding and it's a fantastic way to work with lots of different children of different abilities and different perhaps socio-economic backgrounds and to play a part in setting them up for lifelong learning. And equally, I mean of course I fully subscribe to the program based on personal experience and from what I see with the children whom I instruct. I think some of the skills that it imparts are absolutely fantastic and not always directly measurable, but help build those children into very capable young adults who enjoy learning.