In a recent article in one of Canada’s national newspapers, The Globe and Mail, technology reporter Shane Dingman looks at the positive forces reshaping the Kitchener-Waterloo region in Canada in the wake of tech giant Blackberry’s decline, interviewing several entrepreneurs who are leading what he calls “Waterloo’s next wave.” When asked why the Kitchener-Waterloo region is one of the best places in the world to build a technology company, Ted Livingston, CEO of chat app Kik, Canada’s largest homegrown social media company, headquartered in Waterloo, says: “that one thing, and the one thing only, is the co-op program at the University of Waterloo”.

    What is co-operative education, and how does it help businesses to succeed?

    Many Canadian universities offer co-operative education programs as a way for students to combine hands-on work related to their degree programs with classroom learning. Students combine theory with practice, resulting in deeper learning of concepts. Students usually do between 3-6 four-month, full-time, paid work terms as part of their degree requirements, sometimes working with one company for all work terms, sometimes trying different jobs.

    A typical co-op student will do one year of university study, and then go on a 4 or 8-month full-time, paid co-op term, then return to studies, and then repeat the cycle again. Co-op students usually take 5 years to complete their undergraduate degrees, rather than the typical 4, but they graduate with substantial experience on their resumes, a network of professional contacts which often will lead to a job offer at or soon after graduation, and lower debt loads, sometimes even money in the bank.

    And at larger co-op schools, like mine at the University of British Columbia, about 10% of our 4600+ placements each year are outside of Canada, so students can also gain international work experience as part of their co-op program, broadening their perspectives and career options.

    A good example of the power of co-operative education is UBC Engineering Co-op student Jenn Bhatla who, on an Engineering Co-op term in India, feels she found her calling as an engineer.

    After an initial work term with the oil and gas sector at Devon Energy, in Alberta, where she explored how the fundamentals of her Engineering courses could apply in the real world, Bhatla decide to push herself by working with Child Haven International, a program based on Gandhian principles that operates India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Tibet, and assists children and women in developing countries who are in need of support.

    Her work with Child Haven triggered an interest in medicine, and once again Bhatla is using Co-op as a tool to help her finesse her career decision-making process. Her winter-session position, at the McCaig Institute for Bone and Joint Health at the University of Calgary, will be her first time working in research and another step in her path to discovering the right fit for her talents and passions — which will ultimately lead her to fulfill Confucius’ belief: “Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life”.

    在加拿大全国性报纸《环球邮报》近期刊登的一篇文章中，科技资讯记者谢恩·丁曼审视了科技巨头黑莓公司衰退后，推动加拿大基奇纳–滑铁卢地区重现活力的积极因素，并采访了多位引领“滑铁卢下一波浪潮”的企业家。当被问到为什么该地区是世界上最适宜创办科技公司的地区之一时，聊天应用Kik公司CEO特德·利文斯顿表示，“唯一的原因是滑铁卢大学的产学合作教育课程。”该公司的总部位于滑铁卢，是加拿大最大的本土社交媒体公司。

    何为产学合作教育？它如何帮助企业实现成功？

    许多加拿大大学开设产学合作教育课程，以帮助学生们实现相关工作和课堂学习的结合。理论联系实际，有助于学生对理念产生更深的了解。为了满足学历要求，他们通常经历3到6个为期4个月的全职带薪工作学期，有时在同一家公司修完所有工作学期，有时会尝试不同的工作。

    一位产学合作教育学生通常先进行为期一年的大学学习，再度过为期4个月或8个月的全职带薪实习学期，接着再回到大学，如此循环反复。与典型的4年制学制不同，产学合作教育的学生通常用5年时间完成学士学位。但等到毕业时，他们已经拥有丰富的经验和 职场关系网络。所以，在毕业时或毕业后不久，他们能迅速获得工作机会，而且债务负担小，甚至还有一定数额的银行存款。

    笔者所在的英属哥伦比亚大学是一所规模较大的产学合作教育学校。在每年安排的4600多次实习中，约10%是海外实习。所以，产学合作教育课程还能帮助学生获得国际工作经验，进一步拓展他们的视野和职业选择。

    关于产学合作教育的效果，英属哥伦比亚大学工程系产学合作教育课程的学生詹妮•巴特拉是一个很好的例子。当她在印度完成工程系带薪实习时，她发现自己渴望成为一名工程师。

    在亚伯达戴文能源公司的油气部门度过最初的工作学期时，巴特拉学会了如何把所学的工程学课程基础知识应用在实际工作中。之后，巴特拉决定在国际儿童天堂组织工作，以便提升自己。国际儿童天堂组织遵循甘地主义原则，在印度、尼泊尔、孟加拉和中国西藏运营，旨在为发展中国家和地区需要支持的妇女和儿童提供协助。

    在国际儿童天堂组织的工作激发了她对医学的兴趣。巴特拉再次借助产学合作教育这一工具巧妙地设计她的职业决策。在卡尔加里大学麦凯恩骨关节健康学院的冬季学期职位，将成为她的首个研究工作，标志着她在发现适合自己的才能和爱好的道路上又迈出了一步。产学合作教育最终将让她践行孔子的教义：“知之者不如好之者，好之者不如乐之者。”

    Or take the story of Katie Fedosenko, who graduated in 2011 with her Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from UBC. Katie came into the co-op program wanting to explore career options for an English Literature graduate. She started co-op organizing major fundraising events for a large, local non-profit, the BC Lung Association, taking initiative to learn new computer design programs. With this experience, she secured another co-op job as a web communicator in the Communications Office at the University of BC’s largest faculty, Arts. With experience writing online articles, profiles, and social media outreach, Katie secured a job shortly after graduation as Communications Coordinator in the Corporate Affairs department of Tech Resources, Canada’s largest mining company.Katie’s co-op work terms were pivotal in helping her distinguish herself from other English Literature graduates, and make connections that led to work after graduation.

    The University of Waterloo’s co-op program, with over 19,000 placements last year, is the largest and oldest in Canada, but many other universities and colleges offer co-op programs too. Canada’s strong ecosystem of co-op programs stems in part from the fact that we are the only country in the world with a national accreditation system for co-op programs, run by the Canadian Association for Co-operative Education. This has helped Canada grow consistently high quality programs in virtually every region of the country.

    Co-op programs help businesses succeed by giving them a way to hire highly motivated, smart co-op students to support business innovation, and then feed their talent pipelines for permanent hires. David McKay, President and CEO of one the Royal Bank of Canada, one of Canada’s largest financial institutions, says that “co-op education has become a proven way to prepare students for a world in which change is accelerating and challenges are growing ever more complex. They’re essential to our creative and disruptive economy”. And McKay makes the important point that co-op programs can also act as a “social leveler” by giving students from diverse backgrounds who may not have “the cultural and family ties that sometimes lead ot the first job” a chance to “get their foot through the employment door”.

    As Canadian universities continue to innovate and seek ways to work in partnership with local, national, and international organizations, co-operative education has the potential to play an even greater role in bridging the classroom and the work world, preparing the next generation of university graduates to take on the complex challenges of the 21st century. Perhaps other countries can learn from the educational and business benefits of co-operative education here in Canada and look to develop similar programs themselves.

    凯蒂•费多森科是另一个例子。凯蒂于2011年毕业，获得了英属哥伦比亚大学的英语文学学士学位。凯蒂参加产学合作教育课程，是为了探索英语文学毕业生的职业选择机会。她首先为当地非营利性组织英属哥伦比亚肺脏协会组织大型募资活动，主动学习新的计算机设计课程。在此经验基础上，她获得了另一份产学合作工作，担任英属哥伦比亚大学最大的学院艺术学院联络处的网络联络员。她具备了撰写在线文章、简介和社交媒体宣传文章的经验，毕业后迅速获得了工作机会——在加拿大最大的矿业公司Tech Resources企业事务部担任公关协调员。凯蒂的工作学期发挥了至关重要的作用，使她比其他英语文学专业毕业生更加优秀，也为她毕业后找到工作建立了人脉关系。

    滑铁卢大学的产学合作教育课程去年提供了1.9万多个实习岗位，是加拿大规模最大、也是历史最悠久的产学合作教育课程，但是还有许多大学也开设产学合作教育课程。加拿大强大的产学合作教育生态系统可部分归功于一个事实，即加拿大是世界上唯一一个拥有国家产学合作教育课程认可体系的国家。该体系由加拿大产学合作教育协会负责管理。这使得加拿大能在全国各地持续开发优质课程。

    通过帮助企业聘用上进心强且聪明的产学合作教育学生来支持企业创新，产学合作教育课程不仅能够助推企业走向成功，也能够为其人才梯队提供永久性员工。加拿大最大的金融机构之一加拿大皇家银行总裁兼CEO大卫•麦凯伊表示，“产学合作教育已经成为一种久经考验的方法，它能够培养学生适应迅速变化和充满复杂挑战的社会。这是创新经济的关键因素。”麦凯伊重点强调，通过为来自不同背景、不具备“有时获得第一份工作需要的文化和家庭关系”的学生提供“通往就业大门”的机会，产学合作教育课程还充当着“社会平衡者”的角色。

    随着加拿大大学继续创新和探索与当地、国家和国际组织合作的方式，产学合作教育有可能在联系课堂和实际工作、培养迎接21世纪复杂挑战的下一代大学毕业生方面发挥更大的作用。或许，其他国家可以从加拿大产学合作教育的教学和商业效益中吸取经验，尝试开发类似的课程。（财富中文网）