Work based learning has become well established and has gained popularity all over the world. However, there seems to be a considerable lack of clarity with the concept. The british government are still adamant that the way forward is to cram 50% of young people into university courses by 2010. However, I strongly believe that this policy is setting the next generation of adults to fail; starting their grownup lives with an average of just under £20,000 of debt. Is this drowning the university degree into insignificance through over subscription?
I’ve had my share of institutional education. But would I still be the same person if I hadn’t had worked part-time jobs? Or gained work experience in my chosen career path? Over the years, I have worked for a number of companies and organisations:
Cafe pot wash: easy work and gained pocket money for bubblegum and penny whistles…..and……stuff (aged 15)
Insurance company: loads of different roles throughout college. Met lots of people, never been better paid, good hours and several promotions…… After three years I got bored and left to work at a……
Pub: oh yes!!! The pub was an exercise in developing my charisma from the demented door-mouse that I was to a more approachable and professional worker. Pay sucked, hours sucked, customers were drunks and the manager didn’t give a toss… but on the upside I was a bit happier and introduced me to student culture; drink some beer, get a hangover, then drink some more!!
Work experience for an environmental charity: got some contacts, developed some of my existing skills. Learnt techniques in auditing, understood a lot more about how businesses are run, especially those on a tight budget. Volunteering is a good resource for businesses as they are a free, eager source of workers
The crucial role of a learning is to customize the program of study around the students career aspirations; while I worked in an office for an environmental charity, I gained the skills and experience that I felt would be most suitable need to secure a good job in the environmental sector. According to Candy and Crebert (1991), there is a growing gap between higher education and workplace expectations. One of the main criticisms that employers make of their new graduate employees is that they tend to emerge from university with their heads full of theories, principles and information but are often ill-equipped to deal with aspects of the workplace such as problem solving, decision making, working in a team, and interpersonal relationships. As a result, the new graduate entering an unfamiliar work setting is commonly confronted with “reality shock” (Arnold, 1985). I firmly believe that the experience gained from work based learning is of more value to me in the future than writing an academic paper.
I am also a strong believer that experience is a large factor that directly affects charisma and confidence. Shifting from an educational institution to a busy ‘nine to five’ career can be very alienating, often reducing the individuals confidence and creating a negative feeling towards the company or colleagues. Team work is a prime example of how confidence must be at a high when commencing with a career. When working in groups, it is important to stand forward and express some ideas, otherwise you may risk falling behind on work, compromising the project and potential contracts, and falling out with colleagues due to your ‘lazy work ethic’.
The majority of my personal work experience was gained from two companies; one was an insurance company for which I worked evenings; I did this efficiently and it gained me the confidence of my team leaders and fellow twilight workers. Afterwards, I worked for a Pub Co. This job role was paid less, had unsociable hours and occasionally required a firm hand when dealing with intoxicated customers and anti-social behavior. However, it was a job that I thought would ‘bring me out of my shell’ as mundane and repetitive office work had taken it’s tole on my social skills.
So not everything can be learnt in the classroom; Many large companies require more than just a list of paper qualifications. Cv’s are becoming more about experience and extra-curricular based activities, and graduates are often having to take extra work experience to add extra credits to their Cv’s.
