Notcourses’ first goal is creating a big country inside every Arabic country throughout the world, this "country" will offer an alternative second nationality (Notcourses nationality) to people when they become qualified proactive, professional people with good interpersonal skills all of which they will gain by living inside this "country". Notcourses’ competitive advantage is that the school depends on acquisition instead of learning, through practical workshops with experts in their fields. This competitive advantage eliminates all other learning styles and their various limitations and defects. Eliminating those old-school techniques in our teaching style guarantees that we deliver success. The differences between learning and acquisition are as following:
LEARNING ACQUISITION
● Artificial ● Natural
● Technical ● Personal
● Priority on the written language ● Priority on the spoken language
● Theory (language analysis) ● Practice (language in use)
● Deductive teaching ● Inductive coaching
● Preset syllabus ● Improvised activities
● Activities ABOUT the language ● Activities IN the language
● Focus on form ● Focus on communication
● Produces knowledge ● Produces an ability
● At Not Courses we have a unique balanced approach to vocabulary, grammar, phonology, pronunciation, construction,
fluency and accuracy, we have fine-tuned our approach to achieving the desired results in all these areas weighting
particular aspects in particular levels
● There is an assessment strategy in place, with both formative and summative assessments used to assess students.
● Using blooms taxonomy as a guide to pitch expectations from students, the curriculum is a dynamic one that has structures
in place to constantly move with the times.
● The assessment strategy is there to preserve our very high standards and to guarantee the progression of our students from
one level to the next.
● The oral placement test determines the student is put in the right level for them to make sure our students hit the floor running.
Learner’s entry requirements are well defined.
● The product department ensures that all content is relevant, accurate and up to date. It also ensure material used in the
workshops are pitched and delivered at the right level for learners at different phases of the program. The product manager
analyses the balance of teaching and learning methods for appropriateness ensuring that enough time is afforded to learners
to ensure actual learning takes place.
● The key aspects of the methods that we use are; Student-centered, Problem-based , Integrated, Community oriented , Electives
(+ core) and Systematic all these parts come together to produce the unique learning atmosphere that is Not Courses Workshops.
● From the most important of the above mentioned aspects is the student-centered element. A student cantered approach.
This approach emphasizes adult learning methods and approaches and uses active learning (in which students participate actively
in the learning process) rather than a more didactic, teacher-led approach which traditionally saw students as passive recipients
of knowledge, as ‘empty vessels’. Our programme embodies a student cantered approaches which typically is designed to enable
students to define some of their own learning objectives, select learning resources and decide the sequence and pace of learning,
the program also helps them to develop lifelong learning skills. This approach is more resource intensive as it relies on smaller
groups and much more advance planning is needed by teachers. Students also learn to shift from more didactic teaching style to
a more student centered one.
● Our key objectives are to ensure our students are measurably progressing through the various bands and levels and that the learning
objectives are realistic and relevant.