Since Edge was founded almost a decade ago, the foundation has taken great strides to champion technical, practical and vocational learning. Edge funds and supports education innovation in a range of ways with a number of highly innovative projects and institutions that blend academic and vocational learning within the curriculum. A year ago, a unique new project, the Edge Hotel School, brought together the experience, expertise and dedication of Edge, The University of Essex and Kaplan.
The story of the Edge Hotel School is one of leadership, innovation, employer involvement, challenging educational convention and creating a new type of educational institution – an institution that has a symbiotic relationship with a real hotel because its 'home' is within the Wivenhoe House Hotel, a four-star fully commercial luxury country house hotel. Students at the Edge Hotel School 'learn by doing' as the basis of their two year fast track foundation and degree qualification in hotel management.
The inspiration for the development of the Edge Hotel School came from the passion of Sir Garry Hawkes CBE. As Chairman of the Edge Foundation and a senior hospitality industry figure, he believed that vocational education in the UK has always been treated as the second-class option and that the hospitality industry and students were badly served by much of hospitality education. The industry has been very critical of hospitality education with the reliance on teaching theory and the diminution in the importance of professional practice. It also expressed concerns that graduates lacked the professional skills, culture and ethos essential to ensure a rewarding worthwhile career.
It was not surprising that internationally recognised examples of best practice hotel schools are not found in the UK. Although aspects of the development and design of the Edge Hotel School were based on research of those international examples, there is no direct comparator anywhere in the world. The School is totally unique and the only specialist hotel school with the focus and curriculum based on "learning by doing". The learning experience is active learning in developing professional skills, knowledge and understanding, rather than being passively ‘taught'. It is the integration of practice with theory that is at the very essence of the idea, where the theory is derived from the participating in the hotel operation, rather than being an abstract concept.
Developing a degree programme based on an experiential model was not without challenges. Challenging the convention of the academic year with multiple entry points and an accelerated 2 year programme pushed the boundaries. For example, as student loans from the Student Loan Company are based on the traditional notion of an academic year with a September start, it has difficulty with students who want to start in May. The curriculum also requires student involvement in active learning for 27 hours a week for 45 weeks per year, somewhat at odds from the current conventions.
A new model faces many challenges and much can be learned from addressing those challenges. The most obvious lessons are to recognise that many of the challenges are from fear of the unknown and that entrenched systems will try to automatically default to status quo. When the vision is so new that it's never been done before, it needs innovative and committed leadership that recognises it will not be 100% right first time, but that very detailed planning and commitment in the implementation ensure success. It's also unrealistic to expect everyone to share the same passion and enthusiasm, but it's vital not to allow established convention to modify the vision.
Much of the language of education is based on established norms and another significant challenge was changing the nature of that language. Rather than referring to learners as "students" for example, they are referred to as "student practitioners" to place the emphasis on the learning through professional practice. Similarly the hotel staff are known as "professional practitioners" in recognition of their "mastery" of their profession and their role in passing on those professional skills.
The marketing strap line of the hotel is "intriguingly different" and all aspects of the education and operation of the hotel can be characterised by that phrase. It is different and it is still evolving. What it has achieved is the recognition by the stakeholders of the value of this innovative approach. The industry has engaged with the school from the outset, embraced the concept and committed significant time and financial resources in sponsorship and support. It was no accident that a significant number of the student practitioners recruited into the first cohort came with industry background and experience.
The Edge Hotel School has attracted significant interest in what can be achieved when challenging convention. Both the hotel and school are on track, commercially and with students. The ideas behind the school have changed the thinking in the design and delivery of vocational education and the recognition 'learning by doing' has an equal place in the lexicon of higher education.
Peter Jones has a background in hospitality education, including West London and Bournemouth universities. He also has first-hand knowledge of running a hotel school, having spent four years as Principal and CEO of the Blue Mountains International Hotel Management School.
