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Work-Based Learning

What is Work-Based Learning

Work-based learning is at the heart of hands-on instruction and application of real-world experience in the classroom. By providing students with experiences that are in a working environment they are able to put their education to practical use. The introduction of real-world experiences into the classroom helps students to be familiar the expectations of the employer/client as well as gives them many opportunities for problem solving. These skills and experiences enable students to be ready to enter into the work-force, with real expectations of how they will conduct themselves as professionals.

Faculty members are able to utilize work-based learning projects to introduce and illustrate concepts that can be addressed in an applicable manner, with the student applying those concepts to a task at hand. This input to outcome transference of information enables faculty and students to see the direct result of their education and how they can apply that when in the job force. Work-based learning provides faculty a rich and meaningful method of instruction, one that has proven to be invaluable to students.

Addressing Statewide Initiatives

The following is a summary of the information found in the Board of Governors document on the Workforce Development Initiative located at: http://www.cccco.edu/BOGWDevelBCPDistInputJune7.doc

The Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges recently identified six initiatives that are being given priority over the coming year, one of which is workforce development. They have established the Workforce Development Initiative to bolster the community college's role in workforce preparation and economic development. This is primarily in response to the statewide demand for skilled workers in high demand sectors, such as health careers and information technology. 

The state has established an Innovation Fund to provide supplemental resources to community colleges to encourage the development of regional career ladders and help sustain them. The Innovation Fund will encourage training pathways that will target high demand sectors as an opportunity to demonstrate career ladders on a large-scale, statewide basis, in industries that reflect significant potential for career progression as well as widespread demand. The funding will support colleges that meet the following set of criteria:

• serve a wide spectrum of individuals at varying stages of career development
• develop a regional collaboration that includes partnerships with workforce and community organizations
• demonstrate a significant commitment of external regional funding to support program development and organization
• provide a continuum of career education beginning with basic skills and extending through upgrade training

The state has identified the need for funding to assist in College Capacity Building in providing a variety of activities including:

• professional development of administrators, faculty, and staff
• improvements in pedagogy, such as development of integrated and contextualized learning
• supporting "best practices" for the integration of vocational and academic education including learning communities and instructional centers
• development and expansion of career ladders strategies
• labor market research

The state has also acknowledged that Current College Best Practices among those institutions that have already developed practices in the area of career ladders that are exportable models. The models are those that meet all of the practices listed in the set of activities above. The Innovation Fund will be able to assist those colleges in continuing those best practices and expand upon them.

Career Ladders Approach 

The following is a summary of the information found in the Board of Governors document on the Workforce Development: A Career Ladders Approach located at:
http://www.cccco.edu/BOGFramingDoc.doc

The Board of Governors Committee on Economic Development and Vocational Education recently prepared a framing document entitled "A Career Ladders Approach to Workforce Development." This document details the need for a career ladders approach, as well as actions and potential outcomes. 

The state has identified the driving force behind the need for workforce development, both in California and nationally, as the new economy. The new economy is illustrated by the change from the economy of a decade ago, where self-sufficiency was gained through hard work and motivation, to today's economy, which is centered around skills, flexibility, and a willingness to learn and adapt. As a result some critical facts are increasing evident:

• The relationship between education and earnings is growing, to the point where post-secondary education and training is effectively a pre-requisite for the ability to support a family, with more than 50% of jobs requiring this education.
• The average tenure in jobs is decreasing, with the average being 3 years.
• High skill sectors are reporting continuing difficulty in finding and keeping a skilled workforce.

If colleges are to meet the needs of the new economy, they will need to provide education and training to a growing number of individuals, in a variety of disciplines. Colleges will also need to be adaptable to changes in the knowledge bases required in the workforce and provide for the educational development of those skills. These skills include traditional workplace skills, such as reading and writing, but also other skills such as:

• effective oral communications
• mathematical reasoning
• critical thinking and reasoning
• problem solving
• teamwork
• interpersonal skills
• planning and organization
• continuous learning
• and other specialized skills in particular job sectors

The need to provide education and training designed towards long-term skills development is manifested by the increasing number of low-income individuals who have been trained to join the workforce in entry-level positions and lack the skills necessary to allow them to advance in the workforce. To address this need the career ladders approach has been developed. Career ladders provide for long-term career progression pathways that help individuals advance, particularly in high wage, high growth careers.

The career ladders approach calls for a coherent system of education that allows programs to be linked into a series of sequential education and training activities that allow individuals to progress from relatively low skills levels to higher levels of skills, progressing from relatively unskilled and poorly paid positions to better-paid and more stable occupations. To meet the needs of individuals career ladders should:

• Target high wage, high growth sectors of the economy in areas of the greatest employment need.
• Provide a full spectrum of education and training from basic skills through advanced skill sets.
• Provide a variety of learning and training opportunities.
• Integrate academic and career skills and knowledge.
• Integrate work and learning by providing educational opportunities for individuals while they are pursuing work and a career.
• Provide lifelong education and training opportunities allowing for continued learning and skill development at any stage.

Community colleges have been identified as the best resource for providing a career ladders approach to education. With the vast number of community colleges and substantial geographic spread allowing access to the education, there are opportunities in many regions to offer this type of education. With the expanse of online and distance education that outreach has grown exponentially.

If you would like to know more please read the article located at:
http://www.cccco.edu/BOGFramingDoc.doc 

 

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Last updated September 30, 2003