WORK-STUDY PROGRAMS IN VOCATIONAL AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION

 

 

In keeping with today's world, the labour market is constantly changing. Technological development and new means of production and organization of work oblige the Québec labour force to continually adapt and improve its occupational competencies.

The education system must efficiently meet the varied and ever-growing requirements of the labour market. Forging close ties between employers and educators is a promising means of attaining this objective.

Collaborative partnerships are not new between business and education. For example, representatives of the business world are invited to participate in the development of programs of study. This cooperation ensures greater consistency between the real needs of the labour market and the determination of the competencies that must be acquired in school in order to practise a trade. The development of work-study programs in vocational and technical education will bring this cooperation between schools and businesses to new levels.

 

Definition

The work-study approach to vocational and technical education is an educational strategy that is applied to a program of study leading to certification. The approach combines, in a structured way, periods of learning in school and periods of practical training in the workplace.

 

Objectives

The main objectives of work-study programs in vocational and technical education are to:

-  provide students with the best possible learning activities given the additional possibilities afforded by the workplace;

-  gradually integrate students into the labour force;

-  enhance students' performance from the moment they enter the labour force;

-  increase expertise by pooling the knowledge, skills and attitudes of educators and employers;

-  establish the basis for a partnership between schools and businesses;

-  encourage businesses to participate in training.

 

Relevance

The work-study approach to vocational and technical education is favoured because:

-  it is an educational strategy that enhances the value of students' training profiles;

-  it enables students to benefit from the resources and expertise available in the workplace and in school and therefore offers them better training possibilities and conditions;

-  training in some vocational and technical education programs cannot be obtained solely in school;

-  experimentation has brought to light the effectiveness, flexibility and potential of the approach;

-  the development of competency-based programs, as well as the consultations with workplace representatives that helped define these competencies, supports the application of the approach in programs for which it is deemed relevant.

 

Benefits

The work-study approach can have appreciable benefits. In particular, it benefits:

-  educational institutions because:

• it helps them establish and maintain close ties with the workplace and participate actively in regional development;

• it allows teachers, through close cooperation with businesses, to keep programs of study up to date, which ultimately benefits not only participants in work-study programs, but all students;

 

-  businesses because:

• it makes it easier to create banks of potential employees;

• it reduces recruitment costs;

• it reduces the time required to train new personnel, who become productive more quickly;

• it makes it possible, through cooperation with educational institutions, for them to keep abreast of the latest technology;

 

-  and especially students because:

• it allows them to better relate theory and practice, that is, to apply the knowledge acquired at school in an actual work context;

• it helps them acquire a more realistic view of their occupation, which helps them confirm or rethink their career choice more effectively;

• it provides greater motivation and consequently decreases the drop-out rate;

• graduates find employment more quickly.

 

Characteristics

The work-study approach applies to programs that:

-  are offered in educational institutions recognized by the ministère de l'Éducation;

-  lead to certification of studies in vocational education (secondary level) or technical education (college level);

-  require full-time studies.

 

Work-study programs:

-  include more than one practicum in the training process;

-  call for a considerable number of hours In the "Cooperative Education Model," each practicum must last at least 12 consecutive weeks, or the equivalent of one semester. of practical training in the workplace;

-  are developed in such a way as to include:

- basic training in school at the beginning of the program;

- a minimum of two weeks in school after the last practicum.

 

While the work-study approach can prolong the training process, it can neither increase nor decrease the number of units specified in the program of study.