Project Overview

The impetus for this project was to explore what type of education we should be delivering in order to prepare children for life in the 21st century.

In response to the problems we uncovered, we created Project 42: a learning supplement that encourages children (8 - 12 years old) to think and learn differently. There are many ways to learn, but many of our schools focus only on the ‘academic’ way. At Project 42, we aim to work with children’s natural curiosity and creativity, allowing them to learn through hands-on activities, using all of their senses. We believe education should celebrate individuality, question-asking and open exploration – because it’s the original thinkers, makers and doers who will shape our future. Our programme helps develop learning confidence, enabling all children to become Fearless Learners.

When you look into the eyes of a young child what you see is an unquenchable thirst to learn. Coupled with this is raw intellectual audacity and willingness to try. But somewhere between birth and schooling age, our children begin to develop a phobia: the phobia of making mistakes. It is in our opinion that this illness has reached epidemic levels. Project 42 exists to help young people to preserve, as well as to harness the power of Fearless Learning.

Project Details

Imagination is the source of all human achievements. What we have witnessed in the past century is the industrialisation of schools. During this period adult literacy and numeracy has improved multiple folds but at the cost of creativity and imagination. The four of us came together to see how we might apply our creative training to unlock the creative potential of others.

We believe that human beings are all born creative. It is in our nature to see the world, and ask why? Our curiosity serves us in two distinct but complementary ways. Firstly, from an evolutionary standpoint, we seek to learn about our world so we can survive and thrive. And secondly we seek to learn because it is intrinsically rewarding – think back to the time when you learnt how to tie your shoelace or when you learnt the first song on the guitar.

When you look into the eyes of a young child what you see is an unquenchable thirst to learn. Coupled with this is raw intellectual audacity and willingness to try. But somewhere between birth and schooling age, our children begin to develop a phobia: the phobia of making mistakes. It is in our opinion that this illness has reached epidemic levels.

Project 42 exists to help young people to preserve, as well as to harness the power of Fearless Learning. There were two parts to our project. In the first month we carried out our user research, in order to outline out theoretical foundation, as well ran our early prototypes of our proprietary pedagogical system. The second month we prepared a full-scale pilot, which manifested in a Summer Camp held in West London in July of 2014.

To see the reports for this project please see proj42.com. Volume I outlines the philosophical and pedagogical foundations of Project 42, and volume 2 takes on a more practical tack and focuses on the physical application of our pedagogical system. Within, you will find all of the methods and collateral that we used, as well as the learning we have gathered from our camp. All of our teaching tools can be found at http://tinyurl.com/nokobkx, free for all to view, use and share.

With the graduation of the first cohort, we drew a close to the Summer season but our work is not done. We’ve been working hard to fine tune our model with the aim of creating a format that could benefit more people in our community. We are currently working with a number of teachers in London to infuse Project 42 philosophy and methods into their classrooms. Our end goal is to create a learning system that be used and enjoyed by all. As such, we are always looking for feedback and input from people around us. Please use our feedback to us via our website proj42.com, and if you have any further questions or comments, please get in touch at hello@proj42.com.

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