What is Co-operative Education?

NZACE defines co-operative education as:

"A strategy of applied learning which is a structured programme developed and supervised either by an educational institution in collaboration with an employer or industry grouping, or by an employer or industry grouping in collaboration with an educational institution, in which relevant, productive work is an integral part of a student's regular academic/educational programme and is an essential component of the final assessment."

Essentially, co-operative education is a partnership between education and work, in which enhancement of student learning is a key outcome. Co-operative education programmes are:

• work-based, where the learning is in context with the student spending an appropriate period of time in the work environment,
  
• structured, with formal (academic and employer) supervision and assessment
  
• productive, where the student does 'real work' that has economic value or definable benefit to the employer. It is NOT simply work experience, although this may be a by-product of such programmes, and
  
• relevant to the student's area of study. The work should have clear linkages with/add to the knowledge/skill base of the qualification/education programme.