Educating for the modern world: a report review

Abstract

Purpose This review explores the Confederation of British Industry Education and Skills Annual Report (2018), which considers the issues and challenges facing employers in managing future workforce requirements against a backdrop of unprecedented global change. The review examines the evolvement towards the broader competencies of problem solving, resilience, communication and leadership to address concerns of a growing talent shortage. The review incorporates debate surrounding the relevance of student-owned identity, work-based learning, degree apprenticeships, lifelong learning and reflective practice. The purpose of this paper is to share a practitioner’s view of the report and provide a range of recommendations to develop and improve employer and higher education institutions practice. Design/methodology/approach This review combines desk research combining an industry-based perspective with a literature review to effectively consider the implications upon current and emerging higher education institutions and employer practice. Findings There were a number of key themes which emerged from the report. These include the need for effective, employer-led curriculum design, resilience building strategies, effectively situated workplace learning, the creation of time and space for reflective practice and normalising lifelong learning. Research limitations/implications As global change and technology continues to gather pace, skills demands will shift, new programmes and competitors will enter the higher education market and opportunities, funding and resourcing will rapidly change in the context of government policy, impacting upon employer appetite and strategies for supporting lifelong learning. This means that additional findings, beyond those highlighted within this review may emerge in the near future. Practical implications There are a number of practical implications in supporting skills development in the workplace from this research. These are reflected in the recommendations and include the development of flexible, innovative and collaborative curricula and effective work-based pedagogies. Social implications This review is of particular social relevance at this time because of the alarming fall in part-time and lifelong learning numbers juxtaposed with the threat of funding cuts and United Kingdom Government’s failed initiative to expand the number of apprenticeships in the workplace to 3m new starts by 2020. Originality/value This review is based upon one of the first published skills reports of the employers’ perspective within the new apprenticeship policy context in the United Kingdom. As a result, the work offers a unique insight into the emerging challenges and issues encountered by higher education institutions and employers working collaboratively in the twenty-first century business environment.

A structured reflective process supports student awareness of employability skills development in a science placement module

“…These changes have transformed skills development in students in spite of initial reservations by some staff that the University curriculum should only focus on academic subjects. The development of these skills had greatly aided student learning, but the focus has recently shifted to employability skills and preparedness of students for the workplace [4][5][6]. The inclusion of graduate employability statistics in the UK National Student Satisfaction (NSS) survey and the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF) have highlighted the importance of this metric for Universities, and prompted further efforts to strategically embed employability skills more visibly in curricula [7].…”

‘Everyone is trying to outcompete each other’: a qualitative study of medical student attitudes to a novel peer‐assessed undergraduate teamwork module

“…For example, graduates of bioscience programmes must be able to work in multidisciplinary teams, to be critical and open to new information and to reflect upon and develop their skills [1]. More broadly than that, it is clear that HE across Europe needs to do more to equip graduates with skills they need to thrive in modern workplaces in all sectors [14,15].…”

A structured reflective process supports student awareness of employability skills development in a science placement module

“…These changes have transformed skills development in students in spite of initial reservations by some staff that the University curriculum should only focus on academic subjects. The development of these skills had greatly aided student learning, but the focus has recently shifted to employability skills and preparedness of students for the workplace [4–6]. The inclusion of graduate employability statistics in the UK National Student Satisfaction (NSS) survey and the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF) have highlighted the importance of this metric for Universities, and prompted further efforts to strategically embed employability skills more visibly in curricula [7].…”