WBL Overview

 High-Quality Work-Based Learning is: 

• Related to student's career goals and interests

• Must be connected to a course

• Performed in Partnership with businesses and organizations

Work-based learning (WBL) is a program that connects the workplace and classroom for all students to explore and develop employment interests and career options. WBL involves more than a student getting a job. It is a collaborative effort between employers and schools to provide structured learning experiences for students. By giving students opportunities to apply classroom knowledge and skills to real-world situations, a high-quality WBL program can also make school-based learning more relevant (Hoff et al., 2021). 

What types of work-based learning opportunities are there for students?

Work-based learning is a school-coordinated sequence of experiences that are related to a student's career goals or interests. It enables students to apply classroom instruction in a real-world business or community.

The experiential learning model provides competencies for describing job demands and corresponding educational objectives. It also emphasizes the critical linkages that can be developed between the classroom and the "real world" with experiential learning methods. The experiential learning model pictures the workplace as a learning environment that can enhance and supplement formal education and foster personal development through meaningful work and career development opportunities. (Kolb, 2014).