JUMP Interview

Inteview by Catarina Abreu

John Mighton, the founder of JUMP-a non-profit mathematical education aimed towards improving academic preformance. Although Canada was ranked highly in a PISA study which compared student preformance in various categories including mathematics, immigrant and lower economic class children struggle more than their remaining peers. John's program attempts to bridge the gap between the high and low preformers of this subject with successful and rewarding results.


What it your personal definition of social entrepreneurship?



Anyone who is trying to tackle a problem rigorously but not for profit. Entrepreneur[ship] usually means making profit, but social entrepreneurs aren't like that. There are reasons to use this work, they need a way to evaluating their work. For [social] entrepreneurs it is the social results of their work.



Measuring this impact?



In a complex system, difficult to gage long term effects of your actions. This is why some social entrepreneurs understand complexity. Mathematicians have shown that in complex systems the best way is to present a number of solutions to a problem, and test them and learn from failure. Social entrepreneurs need to be able to adapt [to] this way, and constantly adapt their business.



What inspired you to create JUMP, and what challenges did you face in setting up this organization?

I was tutoring years ago mathematics to make a living. I saw changes in my first students that really shocked me and made me thnk that there was a lot more potential in my students than the school system was nurturing. Started charity to give local kids tutoring in math after school. Teachers invited me to work in classrooms. It was surprising to see how the weakest kids would change when they were called upon in class, showing off in front of their kids.

Challenge has been working in a conservative system that wants to keep things the same; finding teachers who could demonstrate the impact of the program; and developing the materials. Being willing to learn from my mistakes has helped, and also the good will of teachers has helped enormously. When they are presented with the means of doing so, they get passionate.



What role do you think the education, government and private sector could play in the growth of social enterprises?

Governments and educational institutions should be testing new ideas rigorously and put resources in testing them. Having organizations of communities who evaluate objective bodies. Very quickly we would find things that work.

Educational sector has to start working with doctors and psychologists. Real scientists that understand how the brain works and do real vigorous testing for programs in schools. We have to test them to see why they are not working, and which ones are working. There is no excuse for leaving these kids behind when they are born with these abilities. We have to stop accepting the failure of so many kids.



What are the main challenges for children learning mathematics in the current school system today? And what steps does JUMP take to approaching them?



There is all kinds of research now that shows the brain is plastic and can develop new abilities at any age. Very little happens if the brain is not excited and attentive. The first challenge is how can you get kids to be engaged in learning? In JUMP we do this by confidence building exercises so they can believe they can. We have limitations of brain [such as] poor memories. [So the program includes] practice for ideas to solidify. We need review. Jump materials try to provide all those things very rigorously. Teachers have to know mathematics very well. They have to present the lesson of one idea leading to the next so that kids can fill the gap and make their own discoveries.



What future role do you see your organization playing in Canadian math education?

There are schools now working closely with us to train teachers and provide them with materials. The program is growing exponentially because the results speak for themselves. We expect to continue training teachers and develop good materials for them. We have now formed partnerships with psycholoigists, educators, doctors, who are now designing experiments to test the program to prove its effects and also to improve the program.



For more information on the JUMP program, visit the website at http://jumpmath.org/