Work
Experience (Grades 11 and 12)
During the later
years of high school (normally Grade 11 or Grade 12), students must participate
in a minimum of 30 hours of Work Experience. The purpose of this requirement
is to:
- provide students with
a minimum of 30 hours of experiential learning in real-life work environments
in the community
- enable students to develop
and practise the critical skills required of the Canadian and international
workforce, as identified by organizations such as the Conference Board of
Canada and the Business Council of British Columbia
Students may also choose to
participate in any one of a number of career programs that build on the learning
outcomes of Career and Personal Planning (CAPP) and provide a more focussed and
longer Work Experience component.
As a unique component of
students' schooling, Work Experience should involve placement in a workplace
setting outside the school, although practical considerations may dictate that
schools consider school or classroom-based Work Experience arrangements for
some students. Such arrangements should only be made where absolutely necessary
and, like all Work Experience placements, must:
- reflect current Work
Experience guidelines, policies, and best practices
- allow students to fulfil
learning outcomes identified for Work Experience placements
- demonstrate a link to
the community or an employer
The Work Experience component
may be either school-arranged or non-school-arranged:
- School-arranged Work
Experience includes Work Experience placement designed to meet the CAPP curriculum
requirements for grades 11 and 12. It also includes Secondary School Apprenticeship
programs, Career Preparation programs, Co-operative Education programs, and
Special Education programs.
- Non-school-arranged Work
Experience includes students' current and past work experience, such as employment,
community service, or entrepreneurial undertaking. This type of Work Experience
may be arranged independently by the student and then brought forward as something
that meets the Work Experience requirement.
To ensure that Work Experience
placements are successful and educationally meaningful, students should be well
prepared with background information (e.g., on expectations of employers, on legislation
and standards related to the workplace, on general workplace safety rules) before
beginning a placement. Work Experience placements should also be designed to enable
students to achieve a set of goals that are identified specifically for such placements
and that call for students to:
- complete Work Experience
placements that provide substantial and authentic experiences in a workplace
- perform assigned activities
in a workplace
- participate in Work Experience
activities that support their career, education, and personal goals as described
in their Student Learning Plans
- practise and demonstrate
the skills, attitudes, and behaviours necessary for employment, as identified
by organizations such as the Conference Board of Canada and the Business Council
of British Columbia
- demonstrate an understanding
of organizational structure within the workplace
- link the skills, abilities,
and aptitudes acquired during their Work Experience to the objectives identified
in their SLPs
These target expectations for
Work Experience correspond in large measure to the 12 prescribed learning outcomes
identified here under "Links Between CAPP and Work Experience." For
additional information regarding Work Experience, teachers should consult the
Work Experience Handbook.
Links
Between CAPP and Work Experience
The Work Experience component
of CAPP provides a means of enabling students to achieve the following prescribed
learning outcomes for grades 11 and 12 (bracketed references following each
outcome identify the organizer under which the outcome has been placed).
It
is expected that students will:
- complete 30 hours of
Work Experience that relates to their career, educational, and personal goals
as described in their Student Learning Plans, performing tasks as assigned
(Career DevelopmentCareer Preparation)
- demonstrate a variety
of job-seeking and job-keeping skills (Career DevelopmentCareer Preparation)
- demonstrate and evaluate
their employability skills and document them in their Student Learning Plans
(Career DevelopmentCareer Preparation)
- follow basic workplace
safety regulations (Personal DevelopmentSafety and Injury Prevention)
- demonstrate an understanding
of a variety of management and organizational structures that exist in the
workplace (Career DevelopmentCareer Preparation)
- relate legislation governing
employment to their experiences in the workplace (Career DevelopmentCareer
Exploration)
- use their experiences
in the workplace to evaluate personal, educational, and career plans (Career
DevelopmentCareer Preparation)
- evaluate the effect of
lifestyle choices on society and the workplace (Personal DevelopmentHealthy
Living)
- relate emotional health
and well-being to personal productivity and to the workplace (Personal DevelopmentMental
Well-Being)
- evaluate components needed
to build and maintain healthy relationships in their adult lives (Personal
DevelopmentFamily Life Education)
- set short-term goals
and evaluate long-term goals, revising as necessary (Planning Process)
- access, use, and evaluate
services, resources, and advice related to their educational, career, and
personal goals (Planning Process)
Not all Work Experience placements
will ensure that all prescribed learning outcomes on this list will be met. In
these cases, some additional activities and assessment will be required.
©Copyright
1997All Rights Reserved. BC MOE Curriculum Branch.
Maintained by: Career and Personal
Planning Coordinator
Revised: January 25, 1999
BC
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