Students’ Learning Activities Within and Between the Contexts of Education and Work

Many professional educational programs combine learning at an educational institute with learning in the workplace. The differences between these contexts, and the resulting challenges for learning, have been well-documented. However, there are few studies that explore the same students’ learning in both contexts, and even fewer that compare that learning to the learning that results from an integration of learning in both contexts. In this study we investigate, in detail, the similarities and differences of students’ learning activities both within and between the formal educational and workplace contexts of a professional educational program in the Netherlands. To that end, we analysed 1866 learning experiences of 148 students in a dual teacher education program. Analyses revealed that although the different contexts appear to be more conducive to certain kinds of learning activities, thereby confirming prior research, all learning activities did occur in all contexts. Our findings also confirm the value of learning that combines the educational and the workplace contexts, as this learning results in integrations of theory and practice and reflections on professional identity. Implications for dual education programs include focussing on increasing the diversity of learning activities within a single context and supporting students in learning how to learn, next to what to learn, irrespective of the context in which this learning takes place.