Work Integrated Learning

Work Integrated Learning (WIL) is acknowledged as being an effective learning tool for students in the higher education sector. Its implementation into the curriculum of higher education providers is endorsed by the previous and current federal Governments as well as industry groups such as the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The Innovative Research Universities (IRU) Australia group, of which La Trobe is a member, issued a Briefing Document dated 22 August 2008 which contained the following focus statement designed to guide the participants in a IRU Australia WIL Forum held in Brisbane in late October 2008.

Across advanced industrial economies, the provision of higher education is now increasingly emphasising and focussing on specific occupational preparation: higher vocational education. As part of this shift, there is a growing expectation that university graduates will enjoy a smooth transition to being able to practice their selected occupation. That is, these graduates are to be job ready. These kinds of outcomes are what employers of graduates want, students desire and governments increasingly expect from higher education provisions. However, these educational outcomes are unlikely to be realised without extensive interludes of student experiences in the kinds of setting in which they will practice (i.e. workplaces) and undertaking occupational tasks (authentic work activities), and the effective utilisation and integration of those experiences within higher education curriculums. Organising and realising these processes and securing the desired outcomes stand as an important challenge for the member universities. This forum seeks to draw upon expertise and experiences across member universities in addressing these important educational challenges and to find ways of working collaboratively in securing these important institutional goals.

The Forum facilitator, Professor Stephen Billet Professor of Adult and Vocational Education in the Faculty of Education at Griffith University, provided the following guidance as to the types of WIL programs commonly found in tertiary curriculum:-

Structuring of WIL through partnerships

  • Sandwich (e.g. industry experience, internship, a year, often paid)
  • Block release (e.g. practicum)
  • Day release (one day a week)
  • Opportunity-based (midwives follow throughs)
  • Post-program completion (e.g. nurses graduate year, lawyers articled clerk, doctors residency)

Curriculum models of WIL organisation

  • Structured experiences across institutional and institutionally organised practice-based support (e.g. nursing, clinical educators, preceptors)
  • Semi-structured across institutions and practice based support (e.g. physiotherapy, school teaching)
  • Institution-initiated and organised (i.e. journalism, human services)
  • Opportunity based (and student organised) (AVE teaching)

Professor Billett also provided the following pedagogical considerations for WIL embedding in curriculum:

Before practice-based experiences

  • Establish bases for experiences in practice setting
  • Clarify expectations about purposes, support, responsibilities etc
  • Prepare students as agentic learners (- the importance of observations, interactions and activities through which they learn
  • Prepare students for contestations
  • Required skills

During practice-based experiences

  • Direct guidance by more experienced practitioners (i.e. proximal guidance)
  • Sequencing and combinations of activities (i.e. practice based curriculum)
  • Identifying and utilising pedagogically rich work activities or interactions (e.g. handovers)
  • Promote effective peer interactions (i.e. collaborative learning)
  • Active and purposeful engagement by learners in workplace settings

After practice-based experiences

  • Sharing and drawing out experiences (i.e. articulating, and comparing - commonalities and distinctiveness)
  • Making links to what is taught (learnt) in the university setting
  • Emphasising the agentic and selective qualities of learning through practice (i.e. personal epistemologies)
  • Encourage critical perspectives on work and learning processes

In his presentation to the Forum Professor Richard Johnstone, Executive Director,
Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) stated that, Work Integrated Learning is a priority area for the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) and that the ALTC contributes to Work Integrated Learning via its projects, citations, awards and fellowships. Professor Johnstone noted that, To date, the ALTC has supported a number of projects in the following areas: Nursing; Music Teacher Education; Exercise Science; Physiotherapy; Pharmacy; and Speech Pathology. Further in 2008/2009, ALTC Awards, Citations and Fellowships relating to Work Integrated Learning included:

  • 13 citations awarded to staff in 13 universities;
  • 3 Teaching Awards for Excellence; and,
  • 6 Fellowships.

LTC funding provided to support work integrated learning Finally, To date, the ALTC has provided funding in excess of $4.4m across all programs for WIL related projects.

In her presentation to the Forum Ms Mary Hicks, Director, Education and Training, Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) noted that, One of the ways that the Australian Government is supporting the development of Work Integrated Learning in the higher education sector is through the Diversity and Structural Adjustment Fund. The Government recently invited applications for projects that aim to enhance graduate employability skills as part of the 2008 funding round. More than $200 million has been allocated to the fund in the four years 2008 to 2011. Ms Hicks suggested that the IRUA and the ACCI enter a memorandum of understanding that will include an application to the federal Government for funding under the Diversity and Structural Adjustment Fund to further WIL.

In her presentation to the Forum, Dr Caroline Perkins, Branch Manager, Tertiary Participation and Equity, Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, stated that one of the core functions of universities is to:

Develop high level knowledge and skills for self-fulfilment, personal development and the pursuit of knowledge as an end in itself throughout and individuals life; and to prepare a highly productive, professional labour force, alongside the vocational education and training sectors, appropriate to the needs and opportunities of the economy and its component industries and sectors, including in the preparation of graduates in relevant fields for professional practice.

Dr Perkins made mention of the fact that 48 of the 345 submissions to the Bradley Review discussed employability skills of graduates. She also noted that three universities in the Australian sector have addressed such skills through the following programs:

  • Victoria University (Learning in the Workplace and Community)
  • Macquarie University (Global Futures Program)
  • University of Western Australia (consideration of community service component)

Dr Perkins noted that proposals that will enhance outcomes in graduate employability skills were invited under teaching and learning performance (priority b) for the 2008 competitive round of the Diversity and Structural Adjustment Fund and that the federal Government has allocated $200 million over four years (2008-2011) to support structural reform by higher education providers.

In a directive from the then Minister for Education, Science and Training, The Honourable Julie Bishop, the Business, Industry and Higher Education Collaboration Council was asked to advise the federal Government on ways to improve employability skills in the higher education sector. On 11 September 2007 the Precision Consultancy Report entitled Graduate Employability Skills was handed to the federal Government.

Some of the findings of the report include that: industry is satisfied with technical skills but see employability skills as under-developed; Universities and industry acknowledge role in developing employability skills; and employability skills are acquired through many different experiences. In particular the report stated (at 30) that:

WIL reflects best practice collaborative education programs by:

  • Structuring its format to enhance student learning and reflection of experience in the workplace
  • Aligning with students studies
  • Involving supervision by the academic institution and the workplace
  • Monitoring with mechanisms for feedback from students and employers built into the design of the program
  • Involving a partnership approach to student learning (student, employer, university)

The report has recommended an Employability Strategy Fund to support development of strategies to address employability skills and Funding to support Work Integrated Learning initiatives and integration of employability skills into curricula. In particular recommendation 3 of the report suggests that higher education providers, [i]mprove and increase access to Work Integrated Learning (WIL). The report suggests a feasibility study into options for a national data base or portals by industry and/or professions, where employers willing to offer student placements can register their details and interest and universities can provide details of the placements they can require.

At the Australian Collaborative Education Network (ACEN) conference in Sydney in early October 2008 a lunch time session was hastily arranged to allow a representative from British Columbia in Canada to showcase the WIL portal they run. The portal is identical to the portal suggested by the Precision Consultancy recommendation to increase WIL opportunities throughout the tertiary sector. The meeting heard that ACEN would like to form an incorporated association to establish such a portal and initially seek partnerships from the IRUA members and industry and the professions to get the portal running.

For more information on the IRU Australia WIL Forum please visit their forum page.

La Trobe University is in the process of formulating its strategic approach to WIL but at Faculty level we are committed to a phase-in of both work integrated and experienced based learning (ExBL). There are some pockets of WIL and ExBL being delivered throughout the Faculty but there is a need for a more coordinated and wide spread approach to both styles of learning.

Commencing in 2009, the Faculty will be developing a plan to roll-out WIL and ExBL across the Faculty. This may well involve the development of a common unit for all students enrolled in the Faculty that will see them participate in a WIL or ExBL style program. Such a unit may involve cohorts that are interdisciplinary in composition but allow students to develop their discipline based knowledge into work-ready skills and provide a valuable learning experience that earns them credit in their degree program

For more information contact

Professor David Spencer, Associate Dean (Academic)

Matthew Riddle, Educational Designer

Bernadette Knewstubb, Academic Designer