Page 66 - THE ONTARIO CURRICULUM, GRADES 11 AND 12 | Canadian and World Studies

THE ONTARIO CURRICULUM, GRADES 11 AND 12 | Canadian and World Studies
Classroom teachers support students in education and career/life planning by providing them with learning opportunities, filtered through the lens of the four inquiry questions, that allow them to apply subject-specific knowledge and skills to work-related situations; explore subject-related education and career/life options; and become competent, self- directed planners. The curriculum expectations in Canadian and world studies provide opportunities to relate classroom learning to education and career/life planning that will prepare students for success in school, work, and life.
COOPERATIVE EDUCATION AND OTHER FORMS OF EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING
Planned learning experiences in the community, including job shadowing and job twinning, field trips, work experience, and cooperative education, provide students with opportunities to see the relevance of their classroom learning in a work setting, make connections between school and work, and explore a career of interest as they plan their pathway through secondary school and on to their postsecondary destination. In addition, through experiential learning, students develop the skills and work habits required in the work- place and acquire a direct understanding of employer and workplace expectations.
Experiential learning opportunities associated with various aspects of the Canadian and world studies curriculum help broaden students’ knowledge of employment opportunities in a wide range of fields, including parks and recreation; environmental industries such as water management or alternative energy development; public institutions such as government offices, libraries, museums, and archives; the public service; local not-for-profit organizations; financial and law-enforcement institutions; and the tourism industry.
Students who choose to take a two-credit cooperative education program with a Canadian and world studies course as the related course are able, through this package of courses, to meet the Ontario Secondary School Diploma additional compulsory credit requirements for Groups 1, 2, and 3.
Policies and guidelines regarding workplace opportunities, including job shadowing, work experience, and cooperative education, are outlined in Cooperative Education and Other Forms of Experiential Learning: Policies and Procedures for Ontario Secondary Schools, 2000, which is available on the ministry website, at www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/ curricul/secondary/coop/cooped.pdf.
For guidelines to ensure the provision of Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) coverage for students who are at least fourteen years of age and are on work placements of more than one day, see Policy/Program Memorandum No. 76A, “Workplace Safety and Insurance Coverage for Students in Work Education Programs” (September 2000),
at www.edu.gov.on.ca/extra/eng/ppm/76a.html. Teachers should also be aware of the minimum age requirements outlined in the Occupational Health and Safety Act for persons to be in or working in specific workplace settings.
PLANNING PROGRAM PATHWAYS AND PROGRAMS LEADING TO A SPECIALIST
HIGH SKILLS MAJOR
Canadian and world studies courses are well suited for inclusion in Specialist High Skills Majors (SHSMs) or in programs designed to provide pathways to particular apprenticeship, college, university, or workplace destinations. In some SHSM programs, courses in this
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