Authentic learning and learning in context are both valuable experiences for a learner. In a changing world of employment and skills, the majority of graduating learners are not ready for the workforce – whether that be at the end of secondary schooling or after tertiary education. This makes internship learning essential.

Allocating time and significance to internship learning is a priority for Learnlife. In fact, multiple internships would be of maximum benefit. A goal would be to create long term internships where a learner gets to really understand. 

Employers increasingly want to see experience in the graduates they hire and they see internship programs as the best path for hiring entry-level candidates. 

For the learner, internship learning enables you to take your career plan for a test drive while gaining valuable understanding of the work or career context. Internships are themselves a means by which to grow skills, confidence, motivation and work habits. It also potentially introduces the learner to the world of networking.

 

Examples:

Internships and Work Integrated Learning

Internship Student Handbook

 

Web resources:

Importance of Internships for Your Professional Career

Adult Internships

https://internsinasia.com/5-reasons-internship-important-future-career/

College Students: You Simply Must Do an Internship (Better Yet: Multiple Internships)!

5 Reasons An Internship Rocks

Ace Your Internship by Setting the Right Goals

 

Application:

Industry partners can enable learners to gain work experience in various settings. Learning communities will act as base camps, with learners spending much of their time working and learning in the community.  The work of the Learning Guide should be to help learners enrich and expand their avenue for internship learning, and to reflect on their experiences.

As learners become more self-directed, the amount of time dedicated to internship learning would increase. Ideally, learners would spend a day a week in an internship learning context as they were headed towards industry-specific employment. 

 

Internship learning is one of the 25 learning methodologies in the Learnlife learning paradigm toolkit. Learn more about the different ways to engage learners through the different learning methodologies.