There is an increased expectation that Australian universities should assume responsibility for ensuring that their
graduates are work
-
ready. Victoria University (VU) in Melbourne is in the midst of implementing a commitment
to Learning in the Workplace and Community (LiWC) which requires that 25% of all courses involve learning in
and through the workplace and community. The LiWC approach seeks to achieve an enriched learning experience
for students through workplace learning
, increased industry engagement with curriculum and enhanced work
-
readiness in our graduates.
Work placement as a teaching strategy has a long tradition in legal education and, indeed, the historically and
legally entrenched value assigned to the experie
nce of the ―real‖ work environment as basic to the student of law
and training of legal professionals considered worthy of admission to practice. In the Law degree at VU, work
placements have often occurred outside the curriculum and have often been invisi
ble in terms of measurable
learning outcomes. Law in Practice is a new unit that provides a way to accredit and recognise the learning that
occurs in the legal workplace. It also invests the workplace with academic rigour to ensure that it is a
professiona
lly appropriate and rich learning space. As well as reporting on the curriculum design of the online unit
and evaluations of student learning in a pilot of Law in Practice activities, the discussion will draw on generalised
analysis of student journals to
report on student responses to LiWC as a learning experience enhanced through
personal and social reflection in online discussion.