Relating school learning to work can make adolescents take school more seriously. One mission of schools is to prepare the young to assume work roles. Schools were used to teach basic academic material and a work ethic that were equally applicable to a wide range of occupations. John Dewey argued that preparation cannot be effective unless it simultaneously addresses immediate needs and interests. Although U.S. vocational schools teach job-related knowledge and skills in preparation for employment, the German Berufsschule teaches the same lessons after employment has started. The Berufsschule comes about as close as possible to integrating instruction in job-related knowledge and skills at school and work. Schools should engage young people in critical reflection on their work experience as a means of fostering their ability to understand workplaces as sociotechnical systems and, using that understanding, to act constructively to improve them and to improve their positions in them. This is very different from seeking the direct transfer of job-specific knowledge and skills, general academic subjects, or of problem-solving strategies. Principles for practicing this integration include the following: (1) reflection is a process of discovery; (2) learners become action-researchers; (3) the social impact of technology should be examined; and (4) journals, critical incidents, and literature are useful aids to reflection. (23 references) (CML)