Re-imagining work-integrated learning through slow innovation in higher education

Work-integrated learning (WIL) can foster the capabilities of students across diverse sites of practice. Amongst universities, the challenges and opportunities of designing these complex spaces of learning are continually unfolding. The pace of such innovation is often rapid, with careful thought sometimes not taken about how these changes will be sustained, or their impact upon all stakeholders in the rush of implementation. This theoretical paper explores how a more participatory, values-oriented approach can be understood through the introduction of the term ‘slow innovation in higher education’. ‘WIL Innovation Flow’ is presented as a heuristic to frame the challenges, drivers, enablers and well-being which form such arrangements. Critiquing approaches to WIL, how new ideas are implemented and sustained, as well as broader implications invites a reflexive conversation about responsibilities and values. Increasing understanding of these holistic arrangements aims to enhance critical awareness of how WIL is re-imagined within contemporary higher education