The international outreach of CIWIL (KAM AIL in English https://www.hv.se/en/research/research-environments/area-of-strength-work-integrated-learning/) was impressive at the ICERI 2024 conference. This world-wide conference attracted 780 attendees from 70 countries. CIWIL (KAM AIL) among others organized the special session Current Issues in Work-Integrated Learning (CIWIL) in Europe chaired by Ulrika Lundh Snis, Anna Karin Olsson and Kristina Areskoug Josefsson.
Europe is challenged by changes in the labor market and needs for life-long learning, development and innovation to meet demands from both society and industry. Many initiatives are related to the field of work-integrated learning (WIL) as they pay attention to various aspect of learning in different context such as education, collaboration, workplaces and research.
WIL can provide insights to the transformation of education and individual lives through its transdisciplinary characteristic as WIL research addresses real-life complex issues in society with a focus on the relationship between working life and learning. Through different study objectives WIL can contribute to employability, life-long learning and capacity building.
In this session we called for various contextual perspectives on WIL. The session presented an overview of current issues of WIL in research and practice from a European perspective, exemplified by cases from diverse applications of WIL practices and contexts in higher education. This was an opportunity for sharing WIL experiences and for creating networks to further knowledge and exploration of WIL.
While the session showed many different contextualizations on WIL, still one key “take-away” was about the genuine concern about the learning conditions for individuals. Many similar issues related to organizing and providing support structures to improve learners’ conditions were raised – no matter where the learner come from, i.e. a professional at a workplace or a student in higher education. Work-integrated learning was discussed as a field of study that can advance integrated knowledge about learning in higher education, in working life and lifelong.
The following papers were included in the session:
In addition, University West was proudly represented by more University West colleagues from all our four departments, presenting WIL research:
Read more:
ICERI2024 Conference proceeding is upcoming soon: https://iated.org/iceri/publications
Book ISBN 978-84-09-63010-3
DOI: 10.21125/iceri.2024
We are looking forward to further impact European higher education and working life through more innovative WIL research.
Ulrika Lundh Snis
Professor of informatics and head of the CIWIL
University West, Sweden
Anna Karin Olsson
Associate Professor in Business Administration
University West, Sweden
Kristina Areskoug Josefsson
Professor in Work-integrated Learning
Faculty of Health Sciences, University West, Sweden