Cooperative education provides Eastside Secondary School students with a wide range of rigorous learning opportunities connected to communities outside the school. It is designed to recognize and respond to the diversity of Ontario’s student population, and it can engage all students. In cooperative education, students learn in safe, culturally responsive environments in the community, and they are actively involved in determining what they know, how they learn, when and where they learn, and how they demonstrate their learning. Participating in cooperative education can lead to transformational change, engaging students in unique experiences they will remember throughout their lives.
“Experiential learning is particularly helpful in developing self-knowledge and awareness of opportunities – two areas of learning in the education and career/life planning framework – which are critical steps that precede setting goals and making plans.”
~ Creating Pathways to Success
providing you with a wide range of rigorous learning opportunities connected to a community outside school.
immersing you in a culturally responsive environment, where you are actively involved in determining what you learn, how you learn, when and where you learn, and how you demonstrate your learning.
promoting the acquisition and refinement of skills, knowledge, and habits of mind that support education and career/life planning
fostering a positive attitude towards learning, helping you become an independent, lifelong learner.
Class Overview
Students begin with Pre-placement, covering Health and Safety, Resume and Interviews, WHMIS, Personal Hygiene, Human Rights, and Entry into the Trades. Afterwards, they transition to hands-on learning at worksites arranged by teachers through interviews and questionnaires.
Teachers conduct site visits to document learning, and students return to school monthly for Integration days to reflect, discuss experiences, and complete additional curriculum. To earn credits, students must complete 220 hours for two credits or 440 hours for four credits; extra hours do not grant additional credits. Work placements are offered in diverse fields such as trades, retail, education, personal care, and more.
Throughout your experience in cooperative education, you will develop:
• a reflective habit of mind to derive meaning from your experiences;
• the ability to apply (e.g., transfer) your learning to influence decisions and actions in various aspects of your life;
• the skills, knowledge, and habits of mind required to become a competent and confident education and career/life planner.
The term “habits of mind” refers to ways of thinking, attitudes, and dispositions that have become habitual to the point of being second nature. In experiential learning, the term refers to a prevailing disposition to reflection, inquiry, and action.
Experiential learning is an inquiry-based approach that provides opportunities for you to co-construct your learning by participating in rich experiences connected to a community outside school; reflecting on those experiences to derive meaning; and applying your learning to influence your decisions and actions in various aspects of your life. This learning process, rooted in the “experiential learning cycle”, helps deepen your learning and supports you in developing the skills, knowledge, and habits of mind you need to successfully navigate your future.