Cooperative Education and Other Forms of Experiential Learning
& Career Cruising
2 The Cooperative Education Course
2.2 Pre-Course Counselling and Interviewing
Close liaison should be maintained with the guidance department, the teacher-adviser, special education staff (if appropriate), the school administration, and the parents of students under eighteen years of age to ensure that students’ programming is appropriate to their educational or career goals as identified in their annual education plans. During this process, staff should be aware of students’ postsecondary destinations and the admission requirements of community colleges, universities, and workplace training programs (e.g. apprenticeship).
Career Cruising:
The assessment tools, Career Matchmaker and Career Selector, can be used to ensure that students are placed in areas that fit with their personal interests, career goals and education plans. The Education and Training section of Career Cruising makes it easy for students, teachers and counsellors to get information on university, college and apprenticeship programs.
2.3.1 Pre-placement Orientation
2.3.1.1 Student Preparation for the Workplace
Through the achievement of expectations included in the Preparation for Transitions and Change strand of the Career Studies course, students will have created effective résumés…
Career Cruising:
A Resume Builder is included in Career Cruising’s Portfolio Tool. The Resume Builder helps students record and organize their career goals, education, work experiences, skills, extracurricular activities, etc., and then create a professional-looking resume.
In addition to the knowledge and skills acquired in the Career Studies course, students in pre-placement orientation will be expected to demonstrate self-assessment skills, job-readiness skills and an understanding of…work ethics and the responsible use of information technology…
Career Cruising:
The program’s interactive Career Matchmaker is one of the top self-assessment tools in the world. Students can explore their work interests and see how and why they match up with various occupation choices. Career Cruising’s in-depth occupation profiles and multimedia interviews provide students with a rich, diverse experience of the workplace, as well as an orientation with regard to work ethics and information technology.
2.3.2 Integration
The integration portion of the classroom component of a cooperative education course involves sessions with students that are held at various times throughout the course and following the placement and is designed to provide students with the opportunity to
• reflect on and analyse their placement experiences;
• reinforce the job-skills theory acquired in the classroom and the skills, techniques, and principles learned at the placement.
Career Cruising:
The Career Portfolio Tool and Resume Builder provide a place for students to record, reflect on and analyze their works experiences. They can also make note of skills, techniques and principles learned at their placement.
Students are expected to achieve the expectations described below during their integration sessions. By the end of the cooperative education course, they will:
• demonstrate the ability to access related career information;
• demonstrate an understanding of labour market trends and the nature of the workplace in the future;
• demonstrate an understanding of the changing role of men and women at work;
• demonstrate an understanding of issues relating to human rights, discrimination, harassment, and disability;
• demonstrate the ability to produce an effective exit résumé.
Career Cruising:
Students can use Career Cruising to access comprehensive career and education/training information. Direct links to other valuable sources of information can be found in the Other Resources section of each occupation profile. Direct links to Job Futures for each occupation are also included, so that students can check on the most up-to-date Canadian labour market information.
In addition, the program’s multimedia interviews with real people in each occupation often address the changing nature of the workplace and emerging trends, as well as the changing role of women and men at work and issues of discrimination and harassment. The Resume Builder in the Portfolio section helps students produce effective resumes.