Semantic and metaphoric reflection on the training of decentralized staff responsible for supporting students in terms of work‐integrated learning: a distance education university scenario THOMAS GROENEWALD ∗ , MIA LE ROUX University of South Africa, Private Bag X6, Florida 1710, South Africa This article provides both a current and a historical perspective, as well as describing the journey of a distance education institution. It contains a synopsis of the imperatives pertaining to work‐integrated learning within higher education in South Africa. The article gives its readers a glimpse of the role of decentralized learner support staff at a distance education university in soliciting potential host organizations and placing students for their prerequisite work‐ integrated learning. It also contains an overview of a week‐long seminar. The research entailed both a semantic and a metaphoric evaluation of the training. The findings include an analysis of semantic indicators of the reflection by participants and a review of the metaphors participants used to express their feelings about the seminar. The article concludes with the benefits message subsequently developed. (Asia‐Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education, 2009, 10(2), 121‐140). Keywords: cooperative education; work‐integrated learning imperatives; roleplayer responsibilities; distance education university; decentralized learning service centers; key performance areas; product knowledge; sales skills; good quality standards; constructivist‐evaluation method; semantic indicators; metaphors; benefits message The University of South Africa (commonly known as Unisa) originated in 1873 and was initially known as the University of the Cape of Good Hope; it changed its name to Unisa in 1916 (Unisa Online, [sa]; Wikipedia, 2008). One of the most significant changes to have taken place in the 136‐year history of the institution is that Unisa became the single distance comprehensive institution of South Africa in January 2004. This happened when the former Unisa merged with Technikon SA and incorporated the distance education component of Vista University (VUDEC). The latter was established in 1981 by the then apartheid government as a multi‐campus university to cater for urban black South Africans seeking tertiary education (Wikipedia, 2009). Technikon SA (TSA) emerged from the former Witwatersrand Technikon’s correspondence wing in April 1980 as an independent institution, namely Technikon RSA. In August 1993 the institution re‐launched itself as Technikon SA (Unisa Online, [sa]). Technikons—as a type of higher education institution—emphasized cooperative education as a foundation principle (Groenewald, 2003) of their teaching and learning strategy. Cooperative education is a holistic educational strategy that advocates the integration of structured real‐life learning experiences into the qualification curriculum, which is a product of collaboration with representatives from the occupational field the qualification is intended for. Around 2004, the World Association for Cooperative Education (WACE) adopted the term “work‐ integrated learning” to include various forms of real‐life learning experiences (Coll et al., 2009). The former Certification Council for Technikon Education (SERTEC)—a statutory body in terms of the (now repealed) SERTEC Act 88 of 1986, as amended by the (now repealed) ∗ Author for correspondence, email: tgroenew@unisa.ac.za