Work-Based Learning
Work-based learning is a cornerstone of Jobs to Careers. It is an approach to adult education and training that emphasizes the employee as learner, and the work process itself as a source of learning. It involves methods of education and training that capture, document, formalize, and reward learning that occurs on the job. Work-based learning establishes structured expectations and competencies, and results in academic credit or industry-recognized credentials for achievement. It shares features with (and builds upon) other forms of learning associated with the workplace, including on-site classes, internships, clinical rounds or residencies, and apprenticeships. Yet it is distinguished by being continuous with the job itself, which is structured to achieve learning objectives. These objectives, in turn, are derived from the skill requirements of the job.
Professions with higher skill and education requirements, such as nursing, offer important models, while educational components used in other fields offer valuable building blocks for work-based learning. These include mentoring, portfolio-based assessment, competency-based education, and credit for prior learning, among others. It is our hope that grantees in Jobs to Careers will contribute to building and testing a more fully realized model of work-based learning for the frontline workforce.
Resources on Work-Based Learning
These resources help to illustrate work-based learning strategies. While not all the program examples described here involve work-based learning per se, they do include models, techniques, and tools that can be adapted and applied to a variety of approaches, and they are applicable to work-based learning. Note that this resource list is not exhaustive. Where it mentions specific tools and products, it does so in the context of a case study or as an example of the types of tools and products that are available. There are many others and this list suggests other avenues available.
