Career Development and Creative Arts Students: An Investigation Into the Effectiveness of Career Theory and WIL Experiences on Practice (Case Studies) (Case Study‪)‬

In the current Australian higher education environment, there is significant attention around work-integrated learning or 'WIL', as evidenced by such publications as the 'WIL Report: a national scoping study' (Patrick, Peach, Pocknee, Webb, Fletcher & Pretto, 2008) and current projects undertaken by national bodies such as the Australian Collaborative Education Network who in partnership with the majority of Australian Universities is establishing a 'National WIL Portal' (Australian Collaborative Education Network, 2009). Indeed the focus on WIL is strong across the international higher education context (Billett, 2008), with significant research and scoping work undertaken by such organisations as the Higher Education Academy (2009) in the UK and by the National Commission for Cooperative Education (2009) in North America. While the concept of WIL is not new, having been a feature of professional programs (for example, in education, nursing and engineering) for many years both internationally and within Australia (McIlveen, Brooks, Lichtenburg, Smith, Torjul & Tyler, 2008), it is less easily defined in its application to and procedures within programs in other areas, such as the creative arts. At the same time, while it is arguable that WIL has been a part of creative arts learning environments for some time and some examples of practice exist (for example, Draper & Hitchcock, 2006), it is difficult to source either models of practice or literature that clearly define these practices within the contemporary higher education context and with evidence to support the validity of these processes. WIL is a broad term that may be defined as authentic learning activities that connect students to the workplace, be this directly through such methods as internships or work placements, or indirectly through class strategies such as simulations or role play--for example, scenario-based learning (Errington, 2008). The concept of WIL has also broadened to include notions of career development and planning, including career theory (James Cook University, 2009). For many universities in the Australian context, WIL is a priority strategy. For example, the member institutions of Innovative Research Universities Australia held a significant forum on WIL in 2008 (James Cook University, 2009) in order to promote and foster the development of WIL.