‘Professor-for-a-Day’: An Initiative to Nurture Communities of Learning and Practice in Hospitality and Tourism

ABSTRACT

Inviting industry professionals as speakers to university classrooms for the benefit of future managers is essential to an applied field of higher learning. This study examines the role of ‘Professor-for-a-Day’ in nurturing communities of learning and practice in hospitality and tourism education at the university level. Data were collected (auto-) ethnographically over five years (2012–2017) in Hong Kong, through in-depth interviews with guest speakers from the industry, subject lecturers who invite industry executives to their classes, and students who are exposed to these industry professionals. Simultaneously, participant observations of, and documentary sources about, industry executives’ guest lectures are also used in the analysis and report. The research results reiterate and reinforce the role of industry professionals as guest speakers in building communities of learning and practice in an applied field of study. The implications of this discussion for applied higher education are then deliberated, the study’s constraints are acknowledged, and directions for future research are explored.

摘要

邀请业界人士作为演讲嘉宾进入大学讲堂，以便使今日之大学生（亦即明日之管理人员）从中获益，在应用型高等教育专业领域，屡见不鲜。本文以业界人士进大学讲堂‘当一天教授’为例，探索其在酒店及旅游高等教育中知行合一社区培育之作用。文章讨论的素材取自香港、历时五年（2012–2017）。作者围绕着‘当一天教授’之项目，以（自叙式）民族志的方式，对自己所在单位之业界演讲嘉宾、学院任课老师以及选(听)课之学生，进行深入访谈。与此同时，他（她）们还结合自己的课堂教学安排，对‘当一天教授’之项目，进行了参与式观察，并收集了相关的文本资料与二手数据。本文的研究结论，强化并强调了业界嘉宾进大学讲堂之作用。其意义主要表现为培育知行合一社区、增强体验式学习两个方面。作者还讨论了该文的研究局限以及未来探索的若干方向。

KEYWORDS:

• Community of learning and practice
• university–industry partnership
• ‘Professor-for-a-Day’
• hospitality and tourism education
• Hong Kong

关键词:

• 知行合一社区、产学联合、‘当一天教授’、酒店及旅游教育、香港

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the guest speakers, the academic lecturers and the students involved in the ‘Professor-for-a-Day’ initiative, for their participation and inputs, which have made this research possible. The study was supported by grants from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (PolyU5494-12H Towards a community of learning and practice: an evaluation and promotion of university-industry partnerships for tourism and hotel management in Hong Kong; PolyU5444-13H Consultants as knowledge brokers: Instances from the hotel and tourism industries in Hong Kong and Mainland China; and PolyU156211/16H ‘Think tank’ as a knowledge-based strategy for public policy and development), and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Central Research Grant (PolyU255006/14B Identifying effective institutional mechanisms enhancing academic-practitioner knowledge networks and mode 2 knowledge production).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Hong Kong Polytechnic University Central Research Grant (PolyU255006/14B); Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (PolyU156211/16H, PolyU5444-13H, PolyU5494-12H).

Notes on contributors

Honggen Xiao

Honggen Xiao is Associate Professor in the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China (E-mail: [email protected]). His research interests are in knowledge development in the interfaces of theory development, theory and practice and social science communication across languages in inter-/multi-disciplinary fields of leisure, recreation, tourism and hospitality. He is co-editor of the Encyclopedia of Tourism.

Wei-Jue Huang is Assistant Professor in the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China (E-mail: [email protected]). Her teaching and research interests are in heritage tourism and community development.

Kam Hung is Associate Professor in the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China (E-mail: [email protected]). Her expertise is in consumer behavior and cruise tourism.

Zhaoping Liu is Assistant Professor in the Hospitality Business Program at Singapore Institute of Technology, Singapore. (E-mail: [email protected]). His research focuses on knowledge network, strategy, innovation and entrepreneurship in hospitality and tourism.

Tony Tse is Professor of Practice and Programme Director (Industry Partnerships) in the School of Hotel and Tourism Management at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China (E-mail: [email protected]). His research interests are in experiential learning and work-integrated education.