Live Safe! Work Smart!

Cooperative Education, Work Experience, Job Shadowing, OYAP

Traditionally, cooperative education teachers have had more hands-on involvement with informing students about safety on the job than other teachers, because of their curriculum expectations requiring classroom safety instruction and their role in placing co-op students in workplaces. With new Ministry of Education initiatives such as Specialist High Skills Major and Student Success, other subject specialist teachers may become more involved with experiential learning. These Ministry of Education initiatives stress the importance of experiential learning opportunities for all students and particularly those who may benefit from learning experiences outside the traditional classroom environment.

With so many students going out to workplaces for job-shadowing and work experiences as well as co-op placements, the importance of assessing workplaces for safety and preparing students to work safely, as required by the Ministry of Education policy, is greater than ever. Fortunately there are a number of resources available, some designed specifically for co-op teachers or teachers involved in experiential learning. These resources will assist teachers in preparing classroom safety lessons and in effective assessment of placements to help ensure they're safe for students.

Resources for co-op teachers

There are a number of resources available for use by teachers in co-operative education and the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program. All are free for use by Ontario teachers.

Curriculum-based resources

Resources from the Ministry of Labour

Additional selected resources

Videos

Additional resources by industry

For those situations where you might need learning resources that go into considerable detail about particular industries where students might be placed, for instance construction or health care, there are resources available from associations free of charge or at minimal cost.

For example, some construction technology teachers use the video called “New on the Job” available from the Construction Safety Association of Ontario to help prepare students to go out to a construction site placement. Similar resources are available from other Safe Workplace Associations.

In the co-op section



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