Page 33 - Creating Pathways to Success

Education and Other Forms of Experiential Learning: Policies and Procedures for Ontario Secondary Schools, 2000. (Additional career-focused programs that include an experiential learning component are described in section 5.1.6.)
5.1.5 Cooperative Education Programs
Cooperative education programs provide students with the opportunity to earn
a secondary school credit (or credits) while completing a work placement in the community that is related to the learning expectations of a secondary school course in the Ontario curriculum, which must be completed before the placement or simul- taneously with the placement. Cooperative education complements a student’s academic programming and is a valuable component of a school’s comprehensive education and career/life planning program for all students, whatever their initial postsecondary destination.
Cooperative education programs provide students with workplace experiences that contribute a wealth of information for students’ reflection with respect to the four education and career/life planning inquiry questions. Students develop and come to recognize their own strengths, interests, and skills with respect to expectations in the workplace; deepen their understanding of educational and career/life opportunities available to them; explore the specific skills and education or training required to pursue these opportunities; and set goals, make plans to achieve their goals, and prepare for their transition from secondary school to their initial post- secondary destination. Workplace supervisors and the cooperative education teacher are mentors to students in cooperative education programs, providing guidance and support as students reflect on the inquiry questions. Teachers support students in reflecting on their workplace experiences and capturing their learning in their Individual Pathways Plan.
All cooperative education programs must be developed and implemented in accordance with ministry policy as outlined in Cooperative Education and Other Forms of Experiential Learning: Policies and Procedures for Ontario Secondary Schools, 2000.
5.1.6 Programs with a Pathways Focus
Many secondary schools and school boards offer programs that focus on students’ preparation for postsecondary endeavours and address the particular interests, strengths, needs, or aspirations of students. Such programs assist students in making successful transitions to the initial postsecondary destination of their choice (apprenticeship training, college, university, or the workplace). Teachers involved in these programs should actively support students in reflecting on their experiences and capturing their learning in their Individual Pathways Plans.
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