Reflections on Work-Integrated Learning: Preparing Screen Production Students for Sustainable Creative Careers

Work Integrated Learning (WIL) is often considered by students a single transition point  from university to industry, typically via a work  placement. This presentation reframes WIL as a process embedded into the continuum of curriculum, creative and professional identity formation.

The presentation is informed by three inter-related personal experiences: as a novice who undertook an industry attachment to enter the film industry, as occasional  industry mentor and finally as screen educator delivering tertiary curriculum explicitly built around a Work-In-Learning agenda. In this context, the paper considers how students encounter contemporary screen production environments and how educators may better prepare them for sustainable creative careers by shifting from abstract notions of industry engagement toward authentic participation practices.

Attention is also given to interpretive decision-making and identity formation, and how proactive professional behaviours can be developed beyond a narrow focus on competency-based assessment outcomes. 

You can view the presentation below. It runs from 00.24.18 - 00.38.26