HEAD OF THE CLASS

Innovations in tutoring and early education are revolutionising the way children learn while creating fresh opportunities for passionate educators to help young Australians fulfil their potential. Here are three brands fresh to the market.

Innovations in tutoring are revolutionising the way children learn.

There are big numbers at play in the world of education, with tutoring stepping up to fill in the gaps left by formal schooling. The demand for out-of-hours assistance with learning shows signs of continued growth as parents focus on boosting their child’s learning capacity and academic results.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in 2017 there were 339,243 children aged four or five enrolled in a preschool program. The Australian Tutoring Association drew on ABS figures to reveal 35,000 tutors were working full time in 2017, with the figure predicted to rise to 39,400 in 2022 [ ABS Labour Force Survey, Department of Jobs and

Small Business trend data to May 2017 and Department of Jobs and Small Business projections to 2022].

While tutoring businesses are well established in Australia with some wellknown brands operating in the franchise space, there are new players on the scene offering a different approach. Here, Inside

Franchise Business discovers three distinct business and teaching models.

MINDCHAMPS

Is education about curricula and measurement, or is it developing a way of thinking? David Chiem, the founder of the MindChamps learning model, believes there needs to be a shift in mindset from the way children have been taught to think. Popular perceptions about learning techniques were developed about 20 years ago, he points out, and today’s digital world needs a fresh approach. And it’s one that harnesses creativity.

“If art is a mirror for society, it’s not enough to be a mirror alone. Education should be a toolbox to building the future,” he says.

MindChamps’ teaching philosophy is based around research on how the brain learns. And for teachers to not understand the learning process is like a director not understanding how to work with actors, he says.

This is something he’s familiar with. The Vietnamese refugee came to Australia with his family aged nine, and as a 14-year-old was the first Asian to appear in a lead role in a popular TV series [Butterfly Island]. Despite his father’s preference he take up medicine, the academic high achiever went on to study acting, securing roles in iconic TV shows A Country Practice and Sons and Daughters.

It was when he was exposed to the idea of learning the craft of film-making that he had a mindshift himself. Chiem realised learning is a craft that could be taught, and there was a gap in teaching that limited the ability of many students to fulfil their potential.

He began researching neuroscience and educational psychology, and how theatre skills could have a role in creating a learning mindset.

And so the idea of MindChamps was born. At the heart of the teaching philosophy are three distinct elements:

The Champion Mind celebrates an individual’s uniqueness, going beyond conventional wisdom and overcoming adversity to achieve success.

The Learning Mind provides strategies on learning how to learn that actively assist any learner to understand, store, recall and synthesise information and concepts.

The Creative Mind connects multiple perspectives and integrates them to solve problems and generate new, creative ideas.

A lot of the work behind the tutoring business is based on empirical evidence, he says, and he has published six books on the topic.

“It’s nurturing every individual to be the best. There’s no point in comparing kids. It’s about celebrating what is uniquely them. The measure is that they are not afraid to be themselves,” he says. “The value system at MindChamps is 100 per cent respect of ideas but zero fear.”

It’s important to keep teachers inspired to learn, and there’s a global buddy system for teachers.

Although Chiem set up the MindChamps concept 20 years ago in Sydney, he took the business to Singapore to test it in the highly competitive education market. Now there are 40 centres there and Chiem claims more than a third (38.5 per cent) of the preschool market; the business is about to roll out a year K–12 program, and then add tertiary education.

MindChamps is a global business today,

with a presence in China, Vietnam, UAE, the Philippines and now Australia.

So why franchise?

“It allows people who are deeply passionate access to the science. About 80 per cent of franchisees are parents who approach us.”

“If you want to put on The Phantom of the Opera in 1000 cities simultaneously, how would theatre do it?” he asks.

The consistency is crucial. Guarding intellectual property is also important to make sure people’s investment is protected. There’s a global approach to maintaining the MindChamp way, and that means ensuring the training is compulsory and stringent to keep the integrity of the programs, he says.

Ten businesses across three groups in Sydney have been acquired for conversion to MindChamps and these will showcase the brand in Australia. The second phase is to ramp up franchising and generate parallel growth across corporate and franchised outlets.

Find out more at https://au.mindchamps.org/.

DYMOCKS LAUNCHES POTENTIA

tutoring sector is highly fragmented. That’s the view of Steve Cox, managing director of the Dymocks Group, which has just stepped into the market with a brand new business, Potentia. “We offer a point of difference,” he says. “No other tutoring business is part of an Australian business focused on supporting readers. If you look at the results from schools, and the ranking of Australian students, there is certainly the opportunity to support learning outcomes. There’s a natural tendency for families to want more,” Cox suggests.

And he believes that Potentia is the brand that can offer an approach to really make a difference.

“It’s about inspiring confidence in children. We want children to enjoy the learning experience and this is giving them life skills to support their future learning.

“This is learning on a holistic level, it’s about the whole student experience. We work with educational psychologists to ensure it’s backed by rigour.”

Mohan Dhall, the former head of the

The value system at MindChamps is 100 per cent respect of ideas but zero fear. It’s important to keep teachers inspired to learn, and there’s a global buddy system

for teachers.