Source code
What makes 42 a unique, innovative training program, in line with the needs of the market, while shaking up the codes of education?
Our pillars
The bases of 42
No lessons. No teachers. No classes.
Thanks to its innovative pedagogy, 42 is able to offer excellent training without having to resort to lectures. The pedagogical team accompanies students in the search for their own solutions. To progress at 42, it is necessary to work in groups, to call upon the community to surpass oneself and then to share one’s teachings with peers. It is out of the question to learn IT by taking notes in front of a board and writing programs on a sheet of paper !
Project-based training
The students of 42 are the stakeholders in their own success through a 100% practical curriculum. To surpass oneself is to move forward: one can always count on the strength of the group, give and receive information, and in turn train and learn. This collective intelligence that develops, allows to get closer to the working world. All parties are guaranteed the success of a project carried out by several people.
To err is to move forward
Failure is valued at 42. It is the path to success: test a program, take notice of mistakes, correct them and go further. Learning at 42 rewards the personal search for solutions. It is not about copying a model without understanding it. The final success is the only thing that counts: it doesn’t matter if the path is fast or a little longer.
Peer-to-peer learning
Entering 42 is no longer about waiting for knowledge to be dispensed by someone “who knows”. It’s about being ready to go and find it oneself, to go to one’s peers to understand it before applying it and explaining how it works to others. This exercise allows to advance and hone one’s abilities by searching, experimenting and defending one’s ideas.
Peer-to-peer evaluation
In traditional learning, the correction comes at the end of the learning process. At 42, it is the time when we learn the most. Peer evaluations ask students to grade each other by using a scale established by the teaching staff. Rather than fearing a grade, the open dialogue allows students to receive essential advice on how to move forward and to discover other ways of doing things. No standard correction is ever given at 42, no model to be reproduced and learned by heart.
Working in groups is not cheating
In a classroom, it’s considered unwise to work together to solve an exercise or share tips. At 42, it’s the opposite. When projects seem impossible to complete, forming a work group allows to move forward by sharing points of view. By getting together with people who also have doubts and don’t have the solution, points of view are confronted. Everyone brings something to the table so that together, the skills needed for a successful project are assimilated.
Gamification
Playful learning
42 offers a motivating and entertaining environment, anchored in the theme of games, known to increase both the quality of learning and the well-being of students. When you make a mistake, you start over until you succeed, just like in a video game. Projects earn experience points. The levels earned represent advancement in the curriculum – and the skills developed appear on one’s intranet. There are even achievements for special occasions and coalitions to compete with others.
Dealing with tomorrow
Why learning to learn ?
Learn to learn is to be able to renew oneself throughout one’s career. When you leave 42, no IT language or technology is inaccessible… whether it already exists or not! That’s why 42 is a sustainable training program. It is the opposite of training courses based exclusively on learning specific or “fashionable” technologies that become obsolete very quickly. How can we invent the world of tomorrow if we only learn by heart the technologies of the past ?
Duration of the training
A 3-year program... on average
Not everyone learns at the same pace, so why should we have to impose one? The 42 program doesn’t follow an administrative or academic calendar. On average, students enter the job market after 3 years. The curriculum is divided into two parts: the common core and the second part with its IT specialties. The common core must be completed in a maximum of one and a half years. The second part can take longer, depending on the orientation chosen. It is up to everyone to organize themselves: for example, most of the projects requested have a realistic estimate of the time needed rather than an imposed deadline.
Initial duration
The one and a half year time limit for the common core is a long way off for students who are invested in their education. It allows students to progress at their own pace while allowing those who need to work or want to deepen their skills to do so.
Freeze
In order to deal with unforeseen events, students have a tool at their disposal: the Freeze. It allows students to pause their studies up to a maximum of 3 times, for a total duration not exceeding 6 months.
Launchpad
After the common core, our students are inevitably drawn to the job market. In this context, we give them the opportunity to decide at the end of their studies to become alumni. This switch can also take place after a period of inactivity and after a certain level of skills has been achieved.