The Unlimited Benefits of Work-Integrated Learning: Reflections, Shifts, and Other Transformations by an Educational Leader, Improvement Scientist, and Math Pun Enthusiast

“What is an owl’s favorite type of math? Owl-gebra.” And what might be an aspiring educational leader’s favorite type of learning in the years to come? Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) offers future teachers and school leaders the opportunity to combine real-world experience with the more abstract lessons learned in a classroom to prepare educators not just for the theoretical, but also for the practical applications of the day-to-day life of an educator. My WIL experiences with my doctoral program in educational leadership prepared me for the increased responsibilities of my future roles as Mathematics Department Chairperson and as Assistant Principal of Academics at a high school in New York. The use of WIL through my doctoral dissertation research conducted at my high school taught me how to incorporate WIL during my preparation for future roles in order to continually improve the educational outcomes for all the students at my school. With all its benefits for future educational leaders, WIL warrants a place in the conversation about best educational techniques to consider in devising a learning program, just as the math pun enthusiast in me perhaps deserves a place in the “pun-itentiary” for all the math jokes in the chapter to follow.