Education unlocks everything

It may seem counter-intuitive for a business to coach their clients not to need them, but then The Hive’s owner Michael Maskell, a career changer from journalism, isn’t your typical businessman - or educator, for that matter.

He talks about things like the Pomodoro, chunking, interleaving, learning styles, analytics data measuring learner engagement and their mastery of subject matter, behavioural change, productive failure, shifting the focus from success to process — and having fun while learning.

Previously trading under the Aldon Tutoring Centres franchise banner, Mr Maskell said he became frustrated by a lack of real analytics, and he wasn’t fully satisfied with the franchise’s material, either.

And with families paying their hard-earned to get results for their children, he decided to part company with the franchise.

“I feel that helping children is just too important a role to be resting on your laurels,” Mr Maskell said.

So, he set about hand picking proven educational platforms from around the world, and recruiting new and old resources for learning.

“While the science of learning has opened up incredible cognitive tools for modern educators to help their students, ‘traditional’ skills like handwriting, vocabulary and grammar are critical, and sadly I’m seeing children who have big gaps in these areas,” Mr Maskell said.

Mr Maskell said it breaks his heart to have children declare to him that they ‘hate’ school.

“It’s not that they hate learning, but because they have such a problem with school, whether it’s because they’re bored, are anxious, are being bullied, or have low self-esteem, the classroom is a torturous place,” he said.

“We are about making learning fun and giving children the tools and confidence in themselves to know that they can learn anything and become learners for life.

“When that ‘aha’ moment arrives for the student, then they know what it feels like to be learning.

“There is nothing like it. Your body is literally flooded with a chemical release from your brain each time this happens. It’s addictive.”

Mr Maskell said the recipe for successful learning is allowing the student enough time to learn, giving them constant encouragement and praise for their attitude to learning, and providing the right resources at just the right time.

Now, Mr Maskell is preparing to push the individualised learning envelope for his clients further by engaging students when they are not at his learning centre.

He plans to do this by leveraging students’ intrinsic motivation to achieve mastery on a topic.

“For learners to learn, they first must engage,” he said.

“Traditional learning platforms, such as schools, are designed around a one-and-done usage pattern, which can decrease learner engagement.

“Our new resource “HiveLearn” will promote high learner engagement by creating a regular, daily training cadence, which normalises learning sessions into the learner’s routine.”

■For more information, contact Michael at the Kyabram Transit Centre, 53 Union St, Kyabram or on 0414 815 527.