At 42, there are no teachers or professors. We have an academic team who oversees the curriculum and add industry-leading modules for today’s in-demand areas such as blockchain or machine learning. Without being given demands, students learn self-management and self-motivation to advance in their work.
Collecting grades has never been the best form of motivation. Progress at 42 is accounted for using experience points, (which was inspired by the way this happens in video games). Students develop their competencies through each of the proposed projects and receive experience in exchange for this. Each completed project unlocks the next project(s); each successive project is increasingly more substantial and more highly-rewarded. This gamification mindset allows all learning to be fun, while enhancing students’ passion, persistence, and motivation to get to the next level.
Removing time barriers such as a course that lasts a semester allows students to invest as much time as they need in order to successfully master the skills associated with a particular project or subject area. Not all students will struggle with the same concept or skill, thus project lengths are estimates not obligations.
Further, when students struggle or don’t know what to do, they ask fellow students. This encourages an exchange of knowledge, wisdom, and resources and allows students to overcome obstacles on their own. Students also have an innate sense of pride and passion in their work knowing that once they complete a project, they will be asked to help at some point and are bound to be able to answer questions from other students.
There are no classes and no professors: at 42, students are the ones in charge of their success and the success of their classmates. In order to progress on the projects that are offered to them, they must rely on the strength of the group, giving and receiving information while alternating between training and learning. This dynamic removes the subordinate relationship of students as each student within the group is responsible for a part of the project’s completion and success within the group just as it would be in the workplace.
Once a student is already familiar with a project, they are encouraged to push and exceed their limits. For example, after having worked with a certain type of technology during an internship, it is not uncommon for our students to see associated 42 projects in a new light. As a result, they can progress faster and take on more complex challenges without having to wait for their classmates to catch up with them.
Each student advances at his or her own pace. Some concepts are instinctively easier to develop, while others will require additional effort. Learning at 42 is nearly void of time barriers: students are not restricted to progressing at the same rhythm as their peers as would be the case in a traditional class where the student who is the furthest behind slows down the rest of the group.
When following 42’s educational curriculum, it is difficult to fall behind because the pace of the curriculum is adaptable and individualized.
Removing time restraints also allows students to learn how to fail in a safe environment, to learn how to accept criticism, and take on internships and/or employment. If a student must pause their schooling for an extended time period, upon their return to 42, they will find their projects right where they left them
Removing time restraints also allows students to learn how to fail in a safe environment, to learn how to accept criticism, and take on internships and/or employment. If a student must pause their schooling for an extended time period, upon their return to 42, they will find their projects right where they left them
We encourage students to pursue their passion, so if they discover a subject area that they love, students can extend a project and continue learning in a given area beyond the scope of the project. Additionally, those who prefer to take their time can progress beyond what an assignment requires by extending the project and delve deeper into a given subject area.
It should be noted that some projects have specific dates during which they must be completed. Time constraints are a reality in the world of work, and it is normal that their training integrates with that notion.
42’s directors have proven that a rigorous, open curriculum, one that actively involves students in passionate and collaborative projects, is the type of training method that forms the most inspired developers and computer scientists.
42 implements a particular training method that is different than most traditional educational institutions. Our commitment to this unique academic approach stems from twenty-plus years of research and experimentation in the field of programming education by Nicolas Sadirac and his team. 42’s program design represents the quintessence of this peer-to-peer methodology and the integration of our determined and continuous efforts to perfect it over time.
We attract and accept the best-of-the-best students who acquire a variety of abilities, while inventing new solutions when faced with new obstacles. Students practice and learn to work efficiently in teams as well as individually. Acquiring programming and problem-solving skills, which are in high demand in today’s technology-driven workplace, allows these students to be fully prepared for their careers upon completion of their studies.
Watch Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Jack Dorsey & others in short film to inspire kids to learn how to code
An RSA cartoon adapted to a talk given by Sir Ken Robinson on the need to change the educational paradigm.
An RSA cartoon adapted to a talk given by Sir Ken Robinson on the need to change the educational paradigm.
A cartoon by Steven Johnson
