Work Based Learning
Work Based Learning: Career Practicum
In an increasingly complex global economy, all students must be prepared with intellectual, technical, and social skills needed to compete and contribute meaningfully to their communities. For most, this will mean completing some postsecondary education or training; for all, it will mean learning about themselves and the world of work.
Work-based learning (WBL) is a proactive approach to bridging the gap between high school and high-demand, high-skill careers in Tennessee. Students build on classroom-based instruction to develop employability skills that prepare them for success in postsecondary education and future careers. Through experiences like internships, apprenticeships, and paid work experience, juniors and seniors (16 years or older) may earn high school credit for capstone WBL experiences. WBL coordinators are educators who are trained and certified by the department to coordinate these WBL experiences for students.
Work-Based Learning: Career Practicum is a capstone course intended to provide students with opportunities to apply the skills and knowledge learned in previous CTE and general education courses within a professional work environment. The course allows students to earn high school credit for select models of work-based learning, which allow students to interact with industry professionals in order to extend and deepen classroom work and support the development of postsecondary and career readiness knowledge and skills.
Career Practicum activities may take one of two forms:
1) Workplace-Based: Students participate in individual work-based learning experiences in professional settings when they meet the hours required for full time course equivalent. These experiences include registered apprenticeships, cooperative education (co-op), and internships.
2) Classroom-Based: Students are immersed in a classroom-based experience where they learn through targeted industry involvement that may take the form of industry-driven project-based learning, school-based enterprise, and virtual enterprise. This model should incorporate industry engagement through activities like tours, informational interviewing, job shadows, community service projects, and technical mentoring to achieve learning standards at professional-level expectations. Upon completion of the practicum, students will be prepared for postsecondary and career opportunities aligned with their interests and demonstrate professional-quality employability skills relevant to their chosen career paths.