Work-Based Learning
Two perspectives on work-based learning
| Perspective | Driver | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| Narrow | Employer needs and motivations | Learning in the workplace for the employer’s benefit |
| Broad | Individual driver | Learning that relates to work, driven by the individual |
What WBL is
- A spectrum, not a single method
- Can be formal or informal
- Improves performance from a personal perspective
- Develops skills in new work settings
- Brings knowledge into the workplace
Pedagogical features of WBL
- Outcomes-driven and process-driven curriculum
- Learner-centred
- Includes a learning contract between learner and school
- Focused on “how to learn”
- Experiential, related directly to teaching practice
- Immediate benefits for teachers
- Support from colleagues and mentors
- Blends with evidence-based assessment
Two key influences
- Accreditation and assessment of workplace learning
- Amount of support provided by employer
A teacher learns more about teaching in their first year of actual classroom work than in any single course before that. The classroom is a powerful place for learning, if the learning is structured. Work-based learning is the name for the structure.
The basic idea is that the workplace itself is a site of professional development, not just where the work gets done. Capturing the learning that happens there is the project of work-based learning.
What work-based learning is
There are many words associated with work-based learning. Continuing professional development. Work-related learning. Professional development. Learning through work. The terms overlap, and the field is comfortable with that overlap.
A spectrum runs across all the terms. The spectrum has two ends.
The narrow perspective
The narrow perspective talks about learning in the workplace and is driven by the employer’s needs and motivations rather than by the individual.
In a school, this looks like: the school decides that all teachers need training in the new curriculum, sets up sessions, and the teachers attend. The motivation is the school’s. The content is determined by what the school needs the teachers to know. The learning fits the employer’s strategy.
This is not bad. Schools have legitimate reasons for shaping teacher learning. But the narrow perspective is only one part of the spectrum.
The broad perspective
The broad perspective shows learning that relates to work and is driven by individuals, not by the employer. The teacher decides what they want to develop. The work is the site, but the agenda is theirs.
In a school, this looks like: a teacher notices their questioning could be sharper, sets a personal goal, finds a mentor, runs experiments, and develops their practice. The motivation is the teacher’s. The content is determined by what the teacher wants to know. The learning fits their professional growth.
A school that supports both perspectives produces stronger teacher development than a school that only supports one. A school that only does the narrow perspective produces compliant but uninspired teachers. A school that only relies on individual initiative misses opportunities for shared development.
What work-based learning does
Work-based learning is complex by nature. It has the ability to extend the knowledge and abilities of teachers in ways that pure off-site training cannot.
Five things work-based learning does well.
- Helps teachers become better reflective practitioners. The reflection happens on real classroom material, not on hypothetical cases.
- Can be formal or informal. Both kinds count.
- Improves performance from a personal individual perspective. The teacher gets better at their job, in their own context.
- Develops skills in new work settings. A teacher moving to a new role or a new school can use work-based learning to come up to speed.
- Brings knowledge into the workplace. The teacher who has been on a course can use work-based learning structures to actually apply what they learned, instead of letting the course knowledge drift away.
The fifth point is significant. Most off-site training has a low retention rate because there is no structured way to apply it back at work. Work-based learning provides that structure.
The pedagogical features of work-based learning
A work-based learning model has several pedagogical features. These distinguish it from classroom-style training.
Outcomes and process driven
The curriculum of work-based learning is driven by both outcomes and process. The teacher knows what they are aiming for (outcomes) and how they intend to get there (process). Both matter.
Learner-centred
The teacher is the learner, and the learning is shaped around them. The school provides support, not a fixed track.
A learning contract
Many work-based learning structures include a contract. The learner and the school agree on what will be learned, when, and how the learning will be assessed. The contract gives the work shape and accountability.
A teacher who agrees in writing to develop a particular skill in a particular timeframe is more likely to do so than one who has only agreed verbally or has set a private goal.
Focused on “how to learn”
A core feature of work-based learning is the focus on how to learn, not only what to learn. The teacher develops the meta-skill of being a self-directed learner. This is more durable than any single piece of content.
A teacher who has learned how to learn from work can keep learning across a career. A teacher who has only learned specific things stops learning when those things are no longer relevant.
Experiential, directly related to practice
The learning happens in the workplace and is directly related to the teacher’s practice. There is no transfer problem because the work and the learning are in the same place.
Immediate benefits
Work-based learning produces immediate benefits for teachers. They see results in their own teaching within weeks, not years. The fast feedback keeps motivation high.
Support from colleagues and mentors
A work-based learning programme is not solo. The teacher is supported by colleagues, by a mentor, by communities of practice, by the school’s structures.
Blends with evidence-based assessment
Work-based learning produces evidence: lesson plans, student work, observation notes, recordings, the teacher’s own reflective writing. This evidence supports assessment. A school that takes evidence seriously can run rigorous work-based learning. A school that does not produces softer learning.
Two factors that influence WBL
Two factors significantly affect work-based learning.
Accreditation and assessment
The first factor is how learning in the workplace is assessed and how that assessment is validated. If the assessment is loose, the learning tends to be loose. If the assessment is rigorous, the learning has to be too.
A school that wants strong work-based learning needs to think about how it will be assessed. The assessment does not have to be like a school exam. It can be evidence-based, peer-reviewed, mentor-validated. But there has to be some real check.
Support from the employer
The second factor is the amount of support provided by the employer. A school that gives teachers time, materials, mentors, and a culture of development supports work-based learning. A school that does not provide these reduces it to a slogan.
This is one of the key questions for any teacher considering a school: how much real support does the school give to teacher development? The answer shapes how much development the teacher can do there.
Narrow is driven by employer needs; broad is driven by the individual
The narrow perspective focuses on learning in the workplace for the employer’s benefit. The broad perspective focuses on learning related to work, driven by the individual’s own development goals. Both are valid. A strong professional development system supports both.
How a teacher can use work-based learning today
Even in a school that does not formally support WBL, a teacher can apply the principles.
- Treat the workplace as a learning site. Each lesson is a chance to learn something specific.
- Set learning outcomes for yourself. Even informal ones. Without outcomes, the learning is hard to track.
- Write a small contract with yourself or a mentor. A few sentences specifying what you will learn over the next term.
- Focus on how to learn, not only on what. Meta-skills first.
- Build evidence. Notes, recordings, student work, reflective writing.
- Assess yourself or have someone else do it. The evidence is reviewed; the learning is validated.
Done well, this produces real development even without formal structure. Done badly, it produces another set of unfinished notebooks.
The discipline of work-based learning is most useful at points of transition: a new role, a new subject, a new age group, a new school. Setting up a structured WBL programme for those transitions usually shortens the time to competence by a significant margin.