We have kept two of the rooms set up as a child care facility and run community playgroups once a week. Parents from the local community bring in their children to participate in a range of activities. The students work with the children, but under the supervision and guidance of a lecturer, and the parents also stay with the children. This has provided a wonderful 'real life' opportunity for our students to practice what they are learinng in a safe, supported environment.
That sounds very interesting. We dont have that sort of activity in Sweden. Here the students meet pre-school children at their workplace-learning.
ReplyDeleteI think workplace learning is great. How long do students spend in workplace learing and what sort of activities are they expected to do in the workplace?
ReplyDeleteIn their first year they only do 3 days, to find out if the work suites them or if they maybe should choose another education or another direction in the programme.
ReplyDeleteIn second year they are at their workplace learning 3 weeks and in last year I think it is six weeks, but I´m not really sure about that.
Do you have workplace learning in Australia?
Yes we have workplace learning. I think it's important the students experience what it is like early on so they can choose whether it is for them or not. We have had instances where students have done a placement and withdrawn from the course because their expectations were quite different!
DeleteIn Certificate III our students do 15 days with babies and 12 days with 2-5 year olds. In the Diploma they do about 8 weeks (broken in to two 4 week blocks)
Hi Jody! I think the concept you describe is really interesting and as Petra said, we don't have that kind of arrangement. How many students will take part of the community playgroup? I guess they will have to take turns - how do you organize it?
ReplyDeleteIn Sweden, it is mandatory with at least 15 weeks of workplace learning when students take a three-year program in upper secondary education. Here is a link to info about the Child and Recreation programme
http://www.utbildningsinfo.se/content/1/c4/13/36/Barn-%20och%20fritid_en.pdf
We usually have about 4 students each week and they rotate their responsibilities each week;
Delete1. supervisor - welcoming families, filling in any paperwork etc
2. Preparing and supervising morning tea
3. setting up and supervising the bathroom and implementing a play experience
4. Setting up and supervising the outdoor area.
Every four weeks it starts again with a new group of four students.
Hi, Jody! This looks like great fun. I wonder, is it the same families that come every week? What age are the children?
ReplyDeleteAlthough the numbers vary, it's usually the same families that come each week. We have about six families and eleven children aged from very young babies up to three year olds.
DeleteHow do you prepare your students to go into their workplace learning? And then what do you do to support them in making sense of, and learning from, their experiences once they return from workplace learning?
ReplyDelete