International Handbook for Cooperative and Work-Integrated Education

The second edition of the International Handbook for Cooperative Education builds on the first edition, and is intended to become a major resource for cooperative education professionals worldwide. As a comprehensive resource it will appeal to placement coordinators, faculty, researchers, students, and employers. The book provides a broad coverage of cooperative education (co-op) and work-integrated learning (WIL) with an emphasis on practice – informed by research (where available).

The Handbook has four sections. Section I is concerned with the theory of cooperative education, with particular focus on the learning that occurs in the workplace. This part also addresses contemporary issues such as assessment of cooperative education, and identifies areas of needed research. Section II examines the practice of co-op worldwide. This part shows the breadth of disciplines of study, and is intended to allow co-op professionals see how co-op has been used in their discipline and other disciplines. This has been substantially revised from the first edition, with many more disciplines now covered. Each chapter in this section contains contributions from several authors, in most instances from more than one country, in order to gain an international perspective of the practice of co-op.

The chapters begin with an overview of the discipline as it pertains to co-op, and consider models of practice, outcomes, constraints, and conclude with a detailed case study of co-op in the discipline. Section III is concerned with the benefits of co-op for all three parties; employers, students, and educational institutions. Section IV concludes the Handbook by considering some current issues confronting co-op, and the future of co-op. This section also contains a description of WACE (the World Association for Cooperative Education), and details about establishing professional bodies and international organizations that seek to facilitate the practice of cooperative education.

How to access text

The Handbook sales have stopped, however, the Handbook is accessible at many institutional libraries and through library interloans, and many WIL research groups have a copy of the Handbook.

Future edition

A 3rd edition of the Handbook is currently being considered and we will provide an update when we can.