Page 17 - THE ONTARIO CURRICULUM, GRADES 11 AND 12 | Cooperative Education

OVERVIEW OF THE PROGRAM
The cooperative education program provides opportunities for all students in secondary school, including adult learners, to apply, refine, and extend, in the classroom and in
the context of a community outside the school, the skills and knowledge outlined in
the cooperative education curriculum.
Two cooperative education courses are included in the Ontario curriculum: • Cooperative Education Linked to a Related Course (or Courses)
• Creating Opportunities through Co-op
The inclusion of these two courses in the curriculum is intended to ensure that all students have access to cooperative education, to meet the diverse needs of individual students, and to support a broad range of experiential learning opportunities. Schools are encouraged to offer both cooperative education courses.
Cooperative education places additional responsibilities on students; consequently, it is generally offered to students in Grades 11 and 12. However, when it is deemed to be in the best interest of a student in Grade 9 or 10, that student may also participate in cooperative education. In order to participate in cooperative education, students must be at least fourteen years of age. For details on age restrictions, see “Stage 1: Planning for the Opportunity”, on page 33.
All secondary school cooperative education courses must be scheduled for a minimum
of 110 hours per credit. A cooperative education course may be planned as a single-credit or a multiple-credit course, depending on the student’s interests, strengths, needs, and aspirations. A multiple-credit course is planned to further extend and enhance the student’s learning and refine skills. For details on credits, see “Granting of Credits”, on pages 46–47.
All cooperative education courses must include a classroom component and a community component (see next page).
15
THE PROGRAM IN COOPERATIVE EDUCATION