A CoderDojo will be a place where everyone is free to share and contribute to building an awesome social space for everyone participating. We not only encourage the use of open source software to learn, but the CoderDojo model itself is open source and community driven, allowing the autonomous nature of each individual local Dojo to feed back into the community and evolve it’s growth.

Different people have different strengths and this is the benefit of collaborating together and working in groups or teams. At a CoderDojo, young people of different abilities are encouraged to work together on projects and to learn from and mentor each other.

Instead of focusing on a curriculum model, a CoderDojo encourages that, once a student has learned the basics of coding, he/she can then focus attention on creating projects of interest and presenting their work to their Dojo. This method is much more conducive for successful and enjoyable learning than a strict curriculum path. CoderDojos focus on project work which allows young people to motivate themselves towards finding the necessary solutions to their problems, just like actual computer programmers!

CoderDojos encourage young people to see coding as a force for good in the world and to develop projects with their new found skills that can have a positive impact. Dojo attendees often develop apps, websites and games around themes such as bullying, environmental activism, aiding underserved groups in their communities and educational games and resources.

We desire youth to grow and be given responsibility as youth mentors in the Dojo as soon as is reasonable. One way of enabling this is to let young people who have mastered the basics give back to their Dojo by mentoring new students.