The “house” of 42 consists of a large shared open computer lab space equipped with all the resources that students need. The space never closes and there are no formal courses. Rather 42 staff plays a background role in offering operational support and facilitating the “gamified” approach students take to learning. The organization’s website describes this process as being “organized according to a dependency tree that the ‘student-players’ can go through in order to earn levels in different competencies, at their own pace.” Essentially, students go on educational learning “quests” individually and collectively as they learn coding and other skills.

“It’s like a skill tree from a video game where you have the first couple of projects, you do the basic things and then once you get to like the third project, you can go [on] all these different paths,” says Reed Jocic, a current student at 42. This model integrates collaboration into the heart of 42’s design and practice, he says. Collaboration “is the biggest part of the school,” Reed says. “For any problem, you can go to pretty much any student and say, ‘Hey, I see you’ve done this problem. Can you talk me through something with this? Can you help me out with this?’ Everyone helps each other out with everything.”

Mutual support is not only emphasized but required for progression, as advancement within 42’s system is measured through the accruement of “experience” points, which comes from students completing peer-to-peer corrections through each line of code once a project is completed. Students are by no means limited by 42’s academic projects either, and are encouraged to submit project ideas to staff and implement them with other students.

This emphasis on collaborative process, creativity, and open-endedness of the program design itself is reflected back in the impact the school has on its students. As Reed reflects on his own experience: “You fail all the time in the Piscine and normally as a cadet,” he says. “But they teach you to view it as a learning experience. … It would have been great to get it right the first time, but you learn something from it and then you incorporate that into your next project, and you get better and better. I think the best way to learn is through failure.” Students have gone on to intern and work at various companies in Silicon Valley, including LinkedIn, Apple, and Microsoft. Having a low-stakes, supportive environment with the freedom to fail pushes students towards creatively testing what can be achieved cooperatively.

Header image by Emily Bender

The post How the nonprofit 42 is creating a free, collaborative approach to education appeared first on Shareable.

Our structure includes three distinct frameworks: the star, chain, and all-channel networks. As the most centralized, the star network acts as a central hub that all nodes of the network are connected and communicate through. While lacking a central hub, each node along the highly stratified chain network is connected along a predetermined path that obscures associations between nodes. Finally, the all-channel network is completely decentralized where all nodes are connected and can freely interact with each other. A visual representation of the three network styles is demonstrated below by John Arquilla and David Ronfeldt in their 2001 book on networks:

We manage ourselves through seven decentralized working circles that (mostly) have free association with one another — like the all-channel network above. All circles are open for any housemate to join, and everyone must be a part of at least one circle. However, looking closer at circle operations reveal different degrees of centralized decision-making and chain communication. For example, all circles have rotating “lead” position, some of which are paid. The lead circle is responsible for facilitating that circle’s tasks alongside acting as the circle’s primary representative with the larger community. But beyond this each circle’s structure diverges, and a brief overview of each is necessary in understanding how they work together:

Recruitment: The recruitment circle manages the task of bringing new people into our home. This group acts as a star network, where the individual tasks carried out by members of the circle, such as interviewing applicants, are all communicated back through the circle’s lead. The recruitment lead then acts as a liaison between potential applicants, exiting house members, and the rest of the community.

Food: The task of sharing food — one of the powerful ways we connect and collaborate — is carried out through an “all channel” network, which helps us navigate complex logistics. All housemates pay a fee towards buying groceries in bulk — together accessing cheaper prices for groceries than we would ever find individually. The majority of our food is delivered through two local food distributors, Veritable Vegetable and Imperfect Produce. We also have deals at the Sunday farmers’ market.

Labor: The labor circle oversees our chore system to make sure the common spaces are tidy. This includes facilitating monthly deep cleaning sessions, ensuring appliances and other things in the household are functioning well, and, in conjunction with the recruitment circle, onboarding new house members.

Events: The events circle, an entity without a rigid form, organizes fun gatherings like talent shows, live music, dance classes, game nights, writing workshops, and even a live dating game show. Living together with a multitude of people from a diversity of places and cultures opens incredible opportunities for continuous education, sharing, and fun.

Sustainability: The sustainability circle, like the events circle, doesn’t have specific day-to-day tasks, but is instead responsible for lowering our household’s environmental impact.

Finances: Besides overlooking the house budget and rent collection, the finances circle is crucial for other working groups that make regular purchases — such as food and labor. While the circle itself manages the flow of funds, the whole community determines the allocation. In this sense, this circle most resembles a chain network, carrying out the decisions made by the larger community.

Community Wellness: This circle, in which I currently serve as the lead, serves as a support system that bridges the working circles and the larger community together. We act as first-line mediators in interpersonal conflict issues. If initial mediation is unsuccessful, then the issue is brought to the rest of the wellness team, and if escalation continues, it’s brought to the larger community.

Integrating all three network styles allows us to successfully maneuver the tension between having an organized framework to maintain a cohesive, happy household and one that is dynamic and open to changing needs of our housemates. However, to make this function smoothly requires buy-in from all members. We aim to reaffirm our commitment at our bi-monthly, all-house meetings, where the circles report on their progress to the entire community. We find that this is usually when most conflict arises — but we work together to address triggers and fill in gaps in our structure. Doing this ensures that we’re all taking responsibility for each other’s well-being and creating experiences that wouldn’t be possible if we went at it alone.

All images provided by Emily Bender

The post How to manage a 30-person housing cooperative appeared first on Shareable.