School Manager
池尻大橋校
清岡 由香
１９８７年の秋、初めて自分の赤ちゃんを胸に抱きました。生まれたての我が子を手にした時、大きな感動でその手が震えたことを今でもはっきり覚えています。
その後、何もできなかった赤ちゃんが、どんどん物を覚え、私の声がけに反応するようになり、急速に成長していきます。成長の速さに驚き、その瞬間を目の当たりにするにつけ、今度は親としての責任を重く感じる様になりました。
どのように教育すれば我が子は幸せになるのだろうかと真剣に考える様になり、その時、七田真先生とお話する機会を得、幼児教育に携わるようになりました。我が子も教室の子供達も、漢字や数式、俳句や詩でも、楽しければどんどん吸収し、周りの大人を驚かせてしまうのを目の当たりにする日々でした。子供達のポテンシャルの大きさを実感した最初の体験です。
では英語教育についてはどうなのか。結婚前より、２言語、３言語を話す人たちと一緒に仕事をしていた経験から、高度な英語教育を受けている日本人が、何故英語に対して苦手意識が強いのか、大きな疑問を感じていました。受験英語ではなく、自由にコミュニケーションができる英語を身につけることが肝心、とは誰しもが思うと
ころではないでしょうか？
大手英語教育事業で、幼児〜児童期向けのカリキュラム制作責任者を経験しました。バイリンガル教育について著名な先生の本や講演などに触れ、また脳科学者による研修等で勉強させて頂きながら取り組みました。そして、北海道から兵庫県まで英語教育の現場で多くの子供達に接し、「年齢」「接触量」「環境」の３項目が適切な条件で揃うと、どの子も自然と英語を身につけることが可能である事を体験しました。
これらの体験により、子供達が日本語を犠牲にすることなく、日本の幼稚園、保育園、小学校に行きながら、「ことばとしての英語」を身につけることが可能な英会話スクールの誕生が必要だと考えてきました。日本の子供達にとって、できる限り多くの英語量に接する環境、まるで英語を話す家族と暮らす留学先のホームステイのような環境が、近所にあればどんなに素晴らしいだろうと願ってきました。
そのような強い想いからWings Kids Familyが誕生しました。私達スタッフの長年の経験と知識を凝縮した集大成の英語プログラムです。
私自身もワーキングマザーとして２人の子育てを経験してきました。その様な体験を通し、「ママの子育サポート」をしながら地域貢献に根付いた英語教育機関を目指します。
WingsKidsFamilyのスタッフは、言語として多様なバックグラウンドをもっていますが英語と日本語の両方を話し「子供と英語教育」分野での経験者です。そして、何より子供達への愛情が深く、英語教育への熱い思いを持っています。
どうぞ、是非一度スクール見学をして頂き私達に会って下さい。お会いできる日を楽しみにしています
English Teacher
池尻大橋校
OLIVER from Canada
Working at Wings Kids Family is a great privilege. Whereas other schools follow strict curriculum and textbooks, Wings Kids encourages learning dynamically through fun and creativity. The thing that immediately stuck out to me compared to my experiences working with children in Canada was the quality of the children.
In Canada, the average group of kids were poorly behaved with a few nice ones sprinkled in. At Wings Kids Family, it's the opposite. A large majority of the children are excellent.
They're well behaved, fun-loving and learn quickly. It's a very satisfying job to see them improve along with your lessons. I've seen children go from inarticulate scribbles to neat writing in just over a month.
I've seen children integrate colloquial vocabulary and phrases into their everyday speech after only hearing them a couple of times. I think the reason the learning is so abundant here is because the kids aren't aware they're learning. The daily mixture of relaxed classes and fun activities makes each day something to look forward to for teachers and students alike. Unlike the more common, rigid types of schools, you will be commended, and in fact rewarded, for your creativity working here. All of the staff have opportunities to pitch in ideas for activities, and there are very few constraints on how you operate your class, which allows you to add your own personal touches to the kids' learning experience. Aside from business related endeavors, the school is also extremely helpful with your integration into life in Japan. They'll help you create a Japanese bank account, escort you to the doctor when you are sick, among general language assistance if you have any questions about Japanese! The staff here are very friendly.
In my time here we've had countless laughs and I've made some good friends. If you are an easy-going, fun-loving person looking for an ultimately chill working experience in Japan, you've found it!
English Teacher
池尻大橋校
DANI from U.K.
Hi! My name is Dani, I’m a 26 year old Oxford graduate, animal-lover, WWE fanatic, history-enthusiast, and all-round one-person pep squad from England, and I work at Wings Kids Family English School. For context, I’m in Japan on a Working Holiday visa for one year, and my Japanese is pretty awful, although slowly improving. I’ve been working at WKF since October 2016, and it is an awesome place to work – I genuinely feel lucky to have been accepted as a teacher here.
The core tenet of this school is advocacy of learning through doing, not telling. At WKF, rather than teaching grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation by rote, our students actively tackle and engage with the English language by playing games, being involved in activities, giving presentations, singing songs, and reading stories.
In practice, teachers’ day-to-day tasks include devising and running activities, helping with lunch and snacks, changing diapers for younger kids, cleaning the classrooms, shepherding park visits, facilitating short student presentations, leading classes, and teaching reading and helping with reading practice.
Teaching here also requires a great deal of natural empathy and patience; in all communication listening is more important than speaking, and teaching English at WKF is no different. Yes, it can be exhausting. Yes, it will challenge you. Yes, you will sometimes come home with glittery pipe cleaners in your hair. And yes, it is every bit as awesome as it sounds.
English Teacher
池尻大橋校
WHITNEY from U.S.A.
Hello! My name is Whitney and I am an American studying abroad in Japan for an academic year. In high school I was fascinated by Japanese pop culture, but when I entered college, I found a deep passion for the Japanese language and the traditional culture and history of Japan. As such, I followed my passion to Japan, and here I am! Since I love language and I am an aspiring author, I thought that teaching English in Japan would be an interesting feat and experience. With no sense of direction and no conception on how to find work in Japan, I searched all over the web and read countless blogs until I miraculously stumbled upon World Wide Wings Kids Family. Being the type of person who needs an interactive teaching experience to actually learn, instead of passive teaching through reading and writing, I really fell in love with and feel so passionate about the conversation platform that World Wide Wings prides themselves on. Though I've never experienced the passive teaching/learning in Japanese schools, I've heard so much about it and thought a change in academia, as this company is trying to do, would be a great place to work!
What I absolutely love about working at World Wide Wings is the atmosphere and personal connections the teachers can make with the kids. One of the best things about studying abroad has been working at WWWings. I love coming to work and being a part of these kids’ education and being their friend. While I have so much fun playing around with the kids and getting to learn more about them and the Japanese culture through the kids, one of the most rewarding things about the job is when I teach the kids something small for a few consecutive lessons and after a while they are able to remember how to use the word or phrase to the point of teaching other kids. Though, just saying that does not do WWWings justice. You see, I have two favorite quotes, the first is “As one person I alone cannot change the wold, but I alone can change the world of one person.” The second quote goes, “You never truly know your own language until you've studied another.” I think WWWings really embodies these two quotes. Because of the teaching environment at this company, I feel like I am learning more from the kids than they are learning from me. I am learning how to be a better person and teacher along with learning more about my language and their language. They are changing my world to the point that when I don't teach for a week, I end up dreaming I am teaching them. I only hope that I am making an impact on their lives as they are making on mine.
Hi!
English Teacher
池尻大橋校
CLARA from SINGAPORE
Hi there! I’m Clara, a communications major at Singapore National University. I’m studying abroad in Japan this year, drawn by its beautiful culture and art. I’ve always been fascinated with languages, so I decided that coming to Japan to pick up the local language would be a great immersive experience. As a child of migrant parents who don’t know English in an English-speaking country, I realised from a young age how language can act both as a wall and a bridge to the world around you. When it’s seen as an insurmountable challenge, language becomes something that shuts you off from unfamiliar cultures, yet when you approach it with a positive attitude, it opens you to new ways of thinking and seeing. While I’m studying Japanese, I hope to be able to help English learners here find the same excitement I have in exploring an unfamiliar language!
Before coming to Japan, I’d only taught intermediate to advanced English students on a one-to-one basis, so teaching the kids here has been a new experience, and definitely in a good way. The children have such bright and unique personalities and it’s almost magical how quickly they grow and learn, which makes it a joy to teach here! Each day is well-organised and filled with different activities, from indoor games to trips to the park, so time passes by really quickly, and it’s been a great learning experience for me as well. The staff are also super friendly, so it’s easy to ask questions or simply chit-chat. Even as a part-timer I feel that our opinions matter to the company, as we’re involved in planning and evaluating activities, and we’re given the freedom to manage our schedules every month. To be honest, I’d had some apprehensions about the working culture in Japan before coming here, but Wings Kids Family really shatters the ‘black baito’ (unethical part-time job) image and there are hardly any issues with balancing work with the rest of your schedule. It’s a cosy and fun environment that, beyond being a workplace, is a great place to experience life in Japan.
Hello!
