Dr. Faisal Alayyan is president and CEO of Higher Colleges of Technology, the UAE’s largest higher ed institute, and a geostrategic expert.
In the exciting confluence of the Fourth Industrial Revolution—where AI, digitization and automation are increasingly interlacing—the need to reshape education becomes essential. Traditional education must boldly evolve to embrace the opportunities and challenges that this change presents.
At the crux of this evolution stands another AI that is equally important for today’s educational environment: Applied Education and Industry Engagement.
A Three-Pronged Approach
Applied education emphasizes immersive experiences and real-world context, replacing passive knowledge absorption with active application. It challenges the conventions of classroom confines and theoretical learning, instigating a more practical, hands-on approach. In this environment, knowledge becomes an active tool, not a passive acquisition.
For example, a traditional lecture-based course might teach students about project management principles. An applied education approach might involve students working on an actual project, such as planning a community event or managing a small-business project. Through this experience, students have the opportunity to apply what they’ve learned about project management in a real-world context. Here are a few resources for further exploration:
1. Association for Experiential Education: This association provides resources on experiential education, a form of applied learning that involves learning through doing and reflection.
2. National Society for Experiential Education: This society offers resources on various forms of experiential learning, including internships, service learning and cooperative education.
3. World Association for Cooperative and Work-Integrated Education: This association focuses on cooperative education and work-integrated learning, both key aspects of applied education.
Complementing applied education are apprenticeships, where knowledge is transferred through direct, practical work experience. These programs, although traditionally associated with the manual trades, are experiencing a resurgence and extending their reach into various sectors, including technology, healthcare and business. Apprenticeships offer students an unparalleled opportunity to engage with the job market and hone their skills in a real-world setting, while simultaneously pursuing their academic interests.
Equally crucial, if not more so, is the role of active industry engagement, a concept that connects education with the evolving job market. This engagement is not a one-off interaction but a continual dialogue that allows education to stay in sync with the demands and changes of the industry.
But why does this three-pronged approach—combining applied learning, apprenticeships and industry engagement—hold such significance in the new era of education? For three reasons:
1. We must consider the demands of the current job market. In this landscape, a mix of practical skills, adaptability and problem-solving acumen are coveted. Applied learning, apprenticeships and consistent industry engagement provide an efficient solution to the growing “skills gap.”
2. The flexible and dynamic nature of applied education and industry engagement lends itself perfectly to the rapidly advancing technological landscape. Instead of relying on rote memorization, and struggling to keep pace with this rapid evolution, these practices offer a more nimble framework, allowing for quick alignment with changing industry trends and societal needs.
3. This approach fosters a more inclusive and equitable education system. By offering diverse learning pathways, it acknowledges and nurtures the unique talents of learners who may not thrive in conventional academic settings.
How Vocational Education Has Evolved
Apprenticeships have long been a cornerstone of vocational education in Western countries whereas, in contrast, the Middle East has traditionally placed greater emphasis on academic and theoretical education. However, the trends are now changing. Here is what is happening with this trend around the world:
Europe
Countries such as Germany, Switzerland and the U.K. have robust and well-structured apprenticeship systems that are integrated into the mainstream educational landscape. These programs, which span various industries from engineering to finance to IT, provide a blend of classroom instruction and practical on-the-job training.
They are strongly backed by government initiatives and are often developed in collaboration with industry partners, ensuring their relevance to the job market. Germany, for instance, boasts a dual vocational training system where apprentices spend part of their week at a vocational school and the rest at a company, learning hands-on skills. Similarly, Switzerland’s apprenticeship system has been lauded for its efficiency in reducing youth unemployment and ensuring a steady flow of skilled labor for the economy.
The United States
While the tradition of apprenticeships is not as deeply ingrained as in Europe, there is a growing recognition of their value, especially in advanced manufacturing, healthcare and IT sectors. Increasingly, public and private entities are partnering to expand and promote apprenticeship programs.
The Middle East
The concept of apprenticeships is relatively nascent in the Middle East. Traditional societal views often favor academic degrees over vocational training, leading to the underdevelopment of apprenticeship programs.
However, there has been a recent shift in this perspective as countries in the region grapple with youth unemployment and the need to diversify their economies beyond oil. Progressive countries like the UAE are investing in technical and vocational education and training (TVET), including apprenticeships.
My university, for example—UAE’s largest higher education institution, the Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT)—recently launched its new comprehensive five-year strategic direction, which relies substantially on applied education with close coordination with the industry.
The Way Forward
For applied education and industry engagement to thrive and bear fruits, a well-structured and deliberate approach is vital. Stakeholders—educators, technologists, industry partners and policymakers—all play critical roles in actualizing this vision.
In order to create a functional applied education ecosystem, industry and academia need to establish clear objectives. We might even need a top-down approach to mandate industry engagement for educational institutions. Likewise, much like parents taking an active role in setting academic directions for their kids, the industry must play an equal if not a more active role in developing an integrated curriculum, training the educators, assessing and iterating the academic output of institutions, and finally planning the future workforce in partnership with academia.
In other words, as the world rapidly shifts to new needs related to the fourth industrial revolution, everyone has a role in ensuring today’s students and tomorrow’s employees are equipped with the skills they need to thrive.
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