Work-Based Learning for the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Industry 4.0 is used as a synonym for Cyber-Physical Production Systems (CPPS). Sometimes referred to as the Fourth Industrial Revolution. CPPS bring together information and operation technologies - creating intelligent automated industrial networks (Gilchrist 2016; Kagermann et al. 2015). A key concern for academics and policymakers relates to Industry 4.0's impact on the labour force. The machine-human substitution argument is well versed and not without foundation (Matties 2016). A less conventional position draws strong complementarities between automation and labour that have in past periods of increased automation raised productivity, increased earnings, and augmented demand for labour (Autor 2015; Gregory et al. 2016). From this position, as Industry 4.0 technologies expand across sectors there will be demand for skilled workers to design new manufacturing and service solutions and appropriate business models (Baxter et al. 2012).
Work-based Learning (WBL) is gaining traction across academic and policy circles as a key mechanism for addressing the future skills challenges Industry 4.0 presents (Arntz et al. 2016; Pfeiffer 2016). Many countries leading the way in Industry 4.0 also have effective WBL programmes embedded in their education systems (e.g. Germany and Finland). Such programmes are highly collaborative and involve a range of stakeholders (Jeretin-Kopf et al. 2016; Schuh et al. 2015). Facilitating the level of collaboration needed involves transforming workplaces into innovative environments of enquiry that support open dialogue between employees and experimentation with the technology (Toner and Woolly 2016).
The overarching aim of this research is to explore the pedagogical practices at work in WBL programmes aimed at producing an Industry 4.0 ready workforce. It will consider the role of key stakeholders in developing and delivering WBL curricula, the learning process and student experience. It will assess how effective these WBL models are at mitigating the threat of machine-human substitution. With a particular focus on the Scottish economy, it will consider the wider policy conditions required to make WBL an attractive and realistic proposition.