Lived Experience: Learning Through High School Co-Operative Education

Abstract

Co-operative education in which senior high school students are placed in supervised workplace settings and gain credits towards a graduation diploma is the type of work-based education offered in Ontario. The purpose of this retrospective qualitative research was to examine how students learn in co-operative education placements and to explore the environmental conditions that facilitate student learning and motivation. The conceptual framework guiding this research consisted of three theories: Billet’s (2014) theory of mimesis, Munby et al.’s (2003) theory of metacognitive routines, and Snyder’s (2000) hope theory. Three former high school students who had been in automotive co-operative education placements participated in semi-structured interviews that followed a modified version of Seidman’s (2019) three interview technique. While the findings did not support Munby et al.’s (2003) ideas about routines, they corroborated the use of mimesis as a means of workplace learning (Billet, 2014) and Snyder’s (2000) writings about work and motivation. In this study, a successful placement involved three factors: social belonging and active learning and the reciprocal relationship between them, as well as the hope that was ignited, which crystalized the academic and career goals the students set for themselves. Moreover, workplace conditions that fostered a sense of social belonging and co-workers who provided informal instruction on technical and interpersonal skills contributed the most to the participants’ learning in their co-op placements. Implications for schools and co-operative education teachers are discussed.