Building Innovative Partnerships for Work Integrated Learning: Observations from a community service

1
Building Innovative Partnerships for Work
Integrated Learning Observations from a
community services initiative

• Work Integrated Learning (WIL)
• Transforming Futures
• Practice Pedagogy Partnerships
• WACE Asia Pacific Conference
• hosted by
• Australian Collaborative Education Network
• 30 September 3 October 2008, Sydney
• Lisa Harris, Martyn Jones, Sally Coutts,
• Sue Grigg Jen Plant

2
The Partners

• The Salvation Army Crisis Services
• Melbourne
• School of Global Studies, Social Science and
  Planning
• RMIT University
• Melbourne

3
Overview

• Emergence of an idea
• Development, implementation and evaluation of a
  partnership project
• Critical success factors
• Challenges for the future

4
The Salvation Army Crisis Services

• The Salvation Army large non-government
  community services organisation
• Programs Crisis response, housing, family
  violence, youth refuge, family accommodation,
  young womens programs and primary health care
  services
• Staffing Range of human services, health and
  allied health personnel

5
Forming the idea

• Shared history
• Shared values
• Shared strategic objectives
• Evolving shared language knowledge, power,
  expertise, research and practice
• Drawbacks of singleton model
• Potential benefits Student Placement Program
• Realising a Stakeholder Ethos

6
Development of the Student Placement Program (SPP)

• Action Learning Development Process
• Interrogating mutual conceptions of workplace
  learning
• Multi-student, multi-disciplinary program
• Community engagement
• Collaborative research
• Curriculum development
• Complementary practicum
• Organisational engagement in learning
• Ongoing peer and professional networks

7
Implementation of the Student Placement Program
(SPP)

• Visioning document for SPP
• Partnership Agreement
• All work groups providing two placement sites
• Dedicated SPP Coordinator
• Dedicated student workstations
• Training for student supervisors

8
Implementation of the Student Placement Program
(SPP) contd

• One student cohort per year
• Weekly Meetings of all students with Coordinator
  de-briefing, reflection, training
• Plus
• One-to-one supervision
• Plus
• Weekly lunchtime gatherings

9
The Story So Far

• Running for three years - review and evaluation
  each year
• Revisions e.g. session topics, supervisor
  training, student selection
• Positive evaluations from students and staff
• Students peer support, peer reflection,
  structured learning sessions
• Supervisors peer support, shared
  responsibility, professional development
• Organisation critical questioning,
  reflectivity, identity affirming, a place of
  knowledge-making

10
Critical Success Factors

• Attending to generic principles of partnership
  building e.g. vision, goals, plans,
  communication, review, etc
• Personal histories and relationships
• Organisational commitment and leadership
• Allocation of resources people and facilities
• Engagement and commitment of university personnel
• Evolving partnership

11
Challenges for the Future

• Enlargement of SPP all year round
• Non-exclusive partnerships
• Widening student spectrum
• Formal involvement in curriculum review
• Enhancing practitioner-based collaborative
  research
• Shifting university-field power relations
• Responsiveness of universities

12
Concluding Comments

• Transformative and adaptive learning through
  stakeholder ethos
• Benefits rippling out
• Sustainability ongoing investment, commitment
  and openness
• Embracing the consequences of success