What is Work-Based Learning?

Q: Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) and WBL

Definition: WIL is an education pedagogy that integrates structured work experiences such as internships, practicums, and co-ops into academic programs, with the aim of enhancing graduate employability. Focus: It is curriculum-bound, organized through academic institutions, and measured in academic credit. WBL Difference: WIL is a pedagogy. WBL differs in kind: it is not curriculum-bound or time-limited. It recognizes contributions as learning wherever they occur, not just within education.

Q: Work-Based Training (WBT) and WBL

Definition: WBT is the design and delivery of training programs within a workplace context, primarily for staff development. It blends guided theory-based learning with employer-led practice, delivered both on and off the job. Focus: WBT is essentially training-as-pedagogy: it aims at competency development, staff upskilling, and workforce capacity-building. It is often treated as a variant of vocational education and training (VET). WBL Difference: WBT is training. WBL is not a training model. It is a field and practice that recognizes knowledge wherever contribution happens — in work, community, or family. WBL can guide and strengthen how training is designed, but it is broader than training itself.

Q: Work-Applied Learning (WAL) and WBL

Definition: WAL is a change model and research method developed for managers and organizations. It frames the workplace as the crucible of learning for change, using structured cycles of reflection, action, and improvement — formalized in the “Work-Applied Learning Formula.” Focus: It is organizational, aimed at introducing and sustaining change through action learning processes. WBL Difference: WAL is a model for organizational change. WBL differs in kind: it is not a formula but a transdisciplinary field. As a practice, WBL supports WAL by recognizing the contributions generated through its processes as legitimate knowledge, making them legible and portable beyond the boundaries of one workplace.

Reference Definition

Orienting WBL in Practice

Clarifying Aspects of WBL

For everyday use

Summary Definition

The generation of knowledge through purposeful contribution, where value is situated in context and validated through social and communal recognition; it is both a way of learning and a field of study.

For research and publications

Reference Definition

Work-Based Learning does not yet have an official entry in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). The following definition guides our work and is encouraged as the scholarly reference point for defining work-based learning.

Work-Based Learning

WERK-bayst LUR-ning

[mass noun]

Learning that arises through purposeful contribution within personal, organizational, or community contexts, where the contribution produces value for others and is acknowledged by those who are the direct beneficiaries of that value.

Example: Work-Based Learning occurs when a parent managing a household budget develops financial skills that are affirmed within the family through decisions about income and expenses.

The generation of knowledge, skills, and understanding by undertaking situated tasks, responsibilities, or roles, the outcomes of which are recognized within the community, workplace, or social context of the contribution itself, rather than solely by an instructional authority.

Example: Frontline staff demonstrate Work-Based Learning as they gain conflict resolution skills recognized by customers and colleagues during daily interactions.

A transdisciplinary field underpinned by contributive epistemology, in which knowledge arises through acts of contribution and becomes legitimate through social or communal recognition.

Example: Work-Based Learning is increasingly studied as a transdisciplinary field that bridges education, labour, and community recognition systems.

(Definition ratified by the Council Advancing Work-Based Learning and authored by Jeremy McQuigge, Secretary-General, 2025)

Orienting WBL in Practice

Work-Based Learning is not the same as...

Work-Based Learning is often confused with other terms, such as Work-Integrated Learning, Work-Based Training, or Work-Applied Learning. Each has value, but none captures Work-Based Learning as a system of knowledge built through contribution.

These related approaches focus on education programs, employer-led training, or organizational change. Work-Based Learning is broader: it recognizes knowledge created through contribution itself — wherever it happens, and whoever makes it.

Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) and WBL

Work-Based Training (WBT) and WBL

Work-Applied Learning (WAL) and WBL

Understanding work-based learning

Clarifying Aspects of Work-Based Learning.

While often conflated with training programs or academic placements, work-based learning is an autonomous learning system rooted in the "Third Space" of purposeful contribution. This section answers common questions about work-based learning.

Q1. Where does knowledge originate in Work-Based Learning?

A: Knowledge originates directly within the act of purposeful contribution. Rather than starting with theory in a lecture hall and applying it later, WBL begins with action—solving a problem, fulfilling a responsibility, or meeting a community need. Knowledge is not an abstract asset to be acquired; it is a dynamic outcome of engaging with situated tasks that produce value for others.

Q2. Who determines the validity of my learning?