Work-integrated Learning: Good Practice Guide – HE Monitor No. 12

Abstract

There is considerable interest, both in South Africa and internationally, in curricular and pedagogical reform that will both support students from diverse backgrounds and prepare them for the challenges of the global economy and responsible citizenship. Governments around the world are concerned that universities make the highest possible contribution to students’ ‘graduateness’ in various forms. Programmes that promote graduates’ successful integration into the world of work and that enable graduates to make meaningful contributions in contexts of development, require innovative curricular, teaching, learning and assessment practices. South African universities’ commitment to positive graduate outcomes, global citizenship and community engagement add extra dimensions to the importance of WIL in curriculum design and development, as a process of reciprocal involvement that can benefit students, professions, workplaces and communities. This guide to work-integrated learning (WIL) was produced to assist academic staff to address these issues in their different programmes and disciplines. The guide was produced in the context of the promulgation of the Higher Education Qualifications Framework (HEQF) and processes of national curriculum review. The HEQF proposes six higher education levels (Levels 5 – 10), with different qualifications requiring appropriate credits at different levels. Thus the guide also intends to assist academic staff, particularly those where existing programmes are undergoing revision, in developing appropriate forms of WIL for different levels of the HEQF. It is thus the purpose of this Improving Teaching and Learning (ITL) resource to provide university teachers with a guide to planning, implementing and managing good WIL practice.