Welcome back to our series on Work-Based Learning Experiences (WBLEs), where we have been exploring the ways that students can participate in WBLEs and how teachers can seek them out in their local learning environment. 

We started in Part 1 by establishing some of the criteria for what constitutes a WBLE while in Part 2 we dove into ways teachers might be able to establish such experiences in their classroom or school. In Part 3 we looked at some specific examples of types of WBLEs, and to round out our series we are going to look at the different stages of learning students can engage with in pursuing WBLEs.

Much like every student is in a different place when it comes to any other skill set they might practice, every student will benefit from different stages of learning at different points in their career exploration journey. 

Some people might need help establishing broad guidance and guardrails for themselves while others might have a hyperspecific focus and benefit the most from hearing from people with specialized knowledge or experience. 

Let’s look at some of the broad ways we can define different stages of learning when it comes to WBLEs.

One of the core underrated components of work-related skills that only grows more and more important as time goes up are the skills that help us learn how to work any given specific job. 

Even when we have specialized knowledge of a skill, different organizations typically have different methods of operation and there is some degree of catching up as someone starts a job to the point where they are fully up to speed. Struggling with that in-between period can be more difficult the more time you need to catch up. 

This is an area where school simulations can be valuable tools - because these skills aren’t necessarily related to a specific job being able to practice lots of scenarios without worrying too much about the specific details can make a big difference in building up those skills without requiring a huge set up process every time.

Beyond the initial skills that help us succeed in a workplace, students interested in pursuing careers may or may not have an idea of what is out there, what each of those things entails, and what might be most interesting to them. 

It’s a space where inviting guest speakers or holding informational interviews can be a big help, as inviting individuals to share what they do doesn’t require a vast amount of resources but can give students a much better idea of what they are getting into with various careers.

One step beyond learning what a given career is is learning what it’s like to work in that intellectual space and whether that is a good fit for a given person. 

Developing an intrinsic sense of what a given work experience may be like can be so much more valuable than considering it hypothetically, as our reactions to our experiences can often be an easy way of informing us whether a particular thing is right or wrong for our needs. 

One obvious way to incorporate such an experience is to visit a given workspace and see how it operates and talk to various staff members to get a real sense of the working environment. But don’t underestimate the value of exploring the specific subject matter either! 

One great way to do that is to hold career competitions, whether it’s a competition to create and present a new product or a mock trial or anything in between. 

The experience of engaging with subject matter is just as important as engaging with the environment and can help students get an idea of whether a given career is something they really want to spend a huge chunk of their day thinking about.

Once we are past hypotheticals and into making decisions about what we might want to do in the future, one skill that can be helpful for people considering many professional fields is practicing specific procedures so that they don’t have to learn the basics at the start of a given job. 

Whether it is a specific physical procedure like mopping floors or a given protocol that will be used regularly in a place they expect to work, students who have a strong idea of what they want to do can benefit greatly from having some of those skills built up ahead of time! This type of learning can happen in school simulations or at a given job site!

One step beyond practicing the procedures associated with work is real-world experience. Students might not experience the full responsibility of a given job until after they graduate and are hired, but via internships, students can learn what it’s like day to day in a given workspace and to work with the people in that organization. 

Internships are a valuable enough WBLE experience for people with specific career aspirations that they can often be a de facto prerequisite for certain types of jobs. So if you have a student who knows exactly what they want to do it is definitely worth considering whether there may be a specific internship opportunity locally available.

With that we are wrapping up our WBLE series and we hope it has offered a strong idea of what WBLEs can bring to the table and how you might approach incorporating them into your curriculum based on your students and their needs. 

If you would like to share your WBL experiences with us or request we cover this topic more in depth then we would love to hear from you! Just drop us a line at hello@autismgrownup.com and we will be back next week with a new series on Self-Regulation.