"They want to come to school": Work-based education programs to prevent the social exclusion of vulnerable youth.

Objective: This paper describes and compares exemplary work-based education (WBE) programs in Ontario Canada designed to meet the needs of two groups of vulnerable youth - at-risk youth and youth with severe disabilities.

Participants: Two focus group interviews were held, one with professionals from exemplary programs designed to meet the needs of at-risk youth and one with professionals from exemplary programs for youth with severe disabilities.

Method: Standard qualitative analyses were conducted on each focus group transcript to generate themes which were subsequently grouped into larger patterns.

Learning in the workplace: Fostering resilience in disengaged youth.

Objective: International reports on school-to-work transition make it clear that worldwide youth are at-risk for educational disengagement and are three times as likely to be unemployed as their adult counterparts. Work-based education (WBE) is one of the most frequently recommended solutions for youth disengagement which suggests that WBE serves as a protective factor and encourages resilience in at-risk youth. The objective of this study was to describe and compare the experiences of two at-risk youth enrolled in WBE.

Negotiating accommodations so that work-based education facilitates career development for youth with disabilities.

Workers with disabilities are entitled to have their individual needs accommodated in a way that allows them to perform the essential duties of their job. However, adults with disabilities are often lacking in career development and are ill-prepared to negotiate workplace accommodations. This has led educators to seek workplaces that can accommodate the needs of adolescents with disabilities, so these adolescents can learn to negotiate accommodations and enhance their career development through work-based education.