Atlantic Canadian Students in Schools, Universities, and Community College Encouraged to Learn by Experience

  • Executive Council

October 31, 2019

The following is being distributed at the request of the Council of Atlantic Ministers of Education and Training (CAMET):

Students in schools, universities and colleges will be strongly encouraged to seize opportunities to strengthen and showcase their skills by learning from experience and being directly involved in their learning process. To assist students in their exploration of experiential learning opportunities, the ministers of education, early childhood development and post-secondary education from Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island are launching an online resource at www.experientiallearning.ca .

The Atlantic ministers are launching the activities to celebrate and highlight the 2019 Atlantic Canada Career Week, running from November 4 to November 8 and to showcase all the best practices and exemplars currently being used in Atlantic Canada. These resources serve to inspire and encourage students and can be replicated, modified and/or adapted to fit their own unique experiences and situations. Through these and other experiential learning opportunities, students are invited to connect with their communities, establish networks by developing new skills, expand their opportunities, and explore career pathways by undertaking concrete activities and practices.

All the resources contained on the website are meant to encourage all students to learn from experience and become active participants in their growth and development as learners. By engaging in experiential learning activities, students will overcome challenges by benefitting from mentoring and coaching, bridging the gap between theory and practice, and developing skills and confidence.

Atlantic ministers recognize that students’ active participation in experiential learning activities will yield tremendous benefits, including assisting students to understand and develop transferable skills and competencies that can be applied and enhanced in the workplace, and giving them opportunities to reflect on career options and explore potential career pathways in a low-risk environment.

Both the 2019 Atlantic Canada Career Week and the launch of the website www.experientiallearning.ca build on the efforts undertaken by ministers provincially and regionally in the area of career development and student transition, responding to the goals outlined in Future in Focus – Atlantic Career Development Framework for Public Education: 2015–2020, released by CAMET in June 2015.

The Council of Atlantic Ministers of Education and Training (CAMET) is an agency of the departments responsible for public and post-secondary education, and its purpose is to enhance cooperation in public (Entry–12) and post-secondary education in Atlantic Canada by working together to improve learning, optimize efficiencies and bring added value to provincial initiatives.

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Les élèves et les étudiants du Canada atlantique dans les écoles, les universités et les collèges communautaires sont encouragés à apprendre par l’expérience

Media contacts
Robert Duguay
NB Department of Education and Early Childhood Development
506-444-2179
Robert.Duguay@gnb.ca

Sarah Bustard
NB Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour
506-453-4090
sarah.bustard@gnb.ca

Tansy Mundon
NL Department of Advanced Education, Skills and Labour
709-729-0753
tansymundon@gov.nl.ca

Jacquelyn Howard
NL Department of Education and Early Childhood Development
709-729-0048
jacquelynhoward@gov.nl.ca

Pamela Menchenton
NS Department of Education and Early Childhood Development
902-424-8286
Pamela.Menchenton@novascotia.ca

Shannon Kerr
NS Department of Labour and Advanced Education
902-424-0847
Shannon.Kerr@novascotia.ca

Jean Doherty
PEI Department of Education and Lifelong Learning
902-368-6449
JMDoherty@gov.pe.ca

2019 10 31 10:30 am