Engaging disengaged students

Abstract

Workplace based learning programs such as internships are designed to reverse the trend of students dropping out and becoming part of the disengaged young adults neither in school nor working. A content analysis was performed for this study to analyze the internship programs at two academies located in one high school facility serving a high risk urban population. The academy programs are designed to provide students with real life experiences and opportunities to develop work related soft skills. Career focus of this kind provide students with experiential learning experiences enabling the development of the skills and attitudes that benefit students not only in post-secondary education but in later careers as well. Student responses regarding the internship experience are discussed and responses analyzed according to soft skills taxonomy. As indicated by this study, real work experiences in high poverty skills motivate students and enable students to develop career soft skills.

Keywords: High school internship programs, soft skills development, career training, high risk students, experiential learning.