From Grading to Classification
The Reform and Development Path of Vocational Education
Summary
Excerpt
Table Of Contents
- Cover
- Title
- Copyright
- About the author
- About the book
- This eBook can be cited
- Table of Contents
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- General Preface
- Foreword
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- Chapter One: Adjusting the Structure of Secondary Education
- Part 1 The Fermentation of the Idea of Structural Reform in Secondary Education
- Part 2 New Student Enrollments of Vocational and Technical Schools Should Be Equivalent to That of Regular Senior High Schools
- 1. Designating “Half the Sky” Position to Vocational Education in China’s Educational Structure
- 2. Take the Transformation of the Underlying Attitudes as the Logical Starting Point of the Development of Vocational Education in China
- Part 3 Development of Secondary Vocational Education under the Educational Structure Adjustment Policies
- 1. The Structural Imbalance of Secondary Education Has Been Fundamentally Reversed
- 2. The Extremely Unbalanced Development within Secondary Vocational Education
- 3. The Development of Secondary Vocational Education Benefits from Strong Government Promotion
- Chapter Two: Building a Scientific Concept of Talent
- Part 2 Concern for the Weak Position of Skilled Talents in Employment
- 1. Manifestations of Skilled Talents’ Disadvantaged Status in Employment
- 2. Reasons for the Weak Position of Skilled Workers in Employment
- Part 3 Senior Skilled Workers and Technicians Are Also Professionals
- 1. Policy Support for the Confirmation of Skilled Talents’ Values
- 2. Media Support for the Confirmation of Skilled Workers’ Values
- 3. The Contribution of Shanghai Vocational and Technical Education Forum to the Confirmation of Killed Workers’ Value
- Chapter Three: Establishing the Strategic Position of Developing Vocational Education
- Part 1 Industrial Upgrading and Shortage of Highly Skilled Experts
- 1. Focus on Improving the Industrial and Technical Levels
- 2. Highly Skilled Professionals Account for Only about 5% of Skilled Workers
- Part 2 Policy Path to the Formation of the Strategic Position of Vocational Education
- Part 3 Theoretical Explanation of the Functions of Vocational Education
- 1. Interpretation of the Functions of Vocational Education by German Scholars
- 2. Interpretation of the Functions of Vocational Education by U.S. Scholars
- 3. How to Make Vocational Education Better Accepted by Learners
- Chapter Four: Constructing a Modern Vocational Education System with Chinese Characteristics
- Part 1 Actively Developing Higher Vocational Education through Multiple Approaches
- 1. Exploration of Higher Vocational Education
- 2. The Formal Birth of Higher Vocational Education
- 3. Curriculum and Associated Development of Higher Vocational Education
- Part 2 Directing Some Local Undergraduate Institutions to Transform into Technical Institutions
- 1. The Policy Path to the Development of Technical Undergraduate Education
- 2. Local Practice of Developing Applied-Technology Undergraduate Education
- 3. Several Problems in Transforming Local Undergraduate Institutions into Applied-Technology Institutions
- Part 3 Facilitating the Coordinated Development and Interconnection of Secondary and Higher Vocational Schools
- 1. Policy Path to the Construction of a Modern Vocational Education System
- 2. Local Practice in Constructing a Modern Vocational Education System
- 3. A Design to Achieve the Construction of a Modern Vocational Education System in China
- Chapter Five: Developing Vocational Education Based on the Needs of Industry and Enterprises
- Part 1 The Policy Path to Promoting School-Enterprise Cooperation
- 1. School-Enterprise Cooperation at the Subconscious Stage
- 2. School-Enterprise Cooperation at the Conscious Stage
- 3. School-Enterprise Cooperation at the Systematic Design Stage
- Part 2 Overview of the Practice of School-Enterprise Cooperation
- 1. Analysis of the Overall Progress of School-Enterprise Cooperation
- 2. Case Study of School-Enterprise Cooperation
- Part 3 How to Facilitate School-Enterprise Cooperation under Market Economy Conditions
- 1. Paths to the Construction of School-Enterprise Cooperation Systems under Market Economy Conditions
- 2. Basic Strategies for the Construction of School-Enterprise Cooperation System under Market Economy Conditions
- Chapter Six: Vocational Education Should Actively Serve Economic Development
- Part 1 Promoting the Optimization and Upgrading of the Industrial Structure
- 1. Policy Paths to Upgrading Industrial Structure
- 2. The Current Situation of Upgrading Industrial Structure
- Part 2 Promoting Specialty Structures That Connect to Industrial Demand
- 1. Policy Paths to Specialty Structural Adjustment of Secondary Vocational Education
- 2. Policy Paths to the Structural Adjustment of Higher Vocational Education Specialties
- Part 3 Practice of Adapting Specialty Restructuring to Industrial Restructuring
- 1. Local Practice: Make Education and Training Structures More Compatible with Labour Demand
- 2. How to Rationally Understand the Degree of Coincidence in Training Structures with Demand Structure
- Chapter Seven: Establishing a Competency-Based Curriculum and Teaching Model
- Part 1 Vocational Curriculum Construction at the Conceptual Stage
- Part 2 Vocational Curriculum Construction in the Scientific Stage
- 1. Progress in Vocational Curriculum Research
- 2. Diversified Implementation of Vocational Curriculum Construction
- 3. Features and Problems of Curriculum Construction at the Scientific Stage
- Part 3 Specialized Teaching Standards Construction Is the Foundation of Modern Vocational Education
- 1. The Significance of Developing National Specialized Teaching Standards
- 2. The Overall Situation of the Construction of Specialized Teaching Standards in Developed Countries
- 3. Key Technical Issues in Developing National Specialized Teaching Standards
- Chapter Eight: Building a Training System That Meets the Requirements for Teacher Specialization
- Part 1 The Serious Shortage of Teachers Was a Conspicuous Impediment in Developing Vocational Education at the Initial Stage after Reform and Opening-Up
- Part 2 Developing Multiple Approaches to Cultivate Vocational Teachers
- 1. Investigations of Models of Vocational and Technical Teacher Education
- 2. Investigation of Teacher Training Models of Vocational and Technical Education
- 3. Investigation of the Academic Education of Vocational Teachers
- Part 3 Cultivating a Model Selection and System Construction for Vocational Teachers
- 1. Major Problems Confronted by Vocational Teachers
- 2. Key Strategies for the Establishment of a Vocational Teacher Training System
- Chapter Nine: Developing a Modern Apprenticeship System to Cultivate Great Craftsmen
- Part 1 The Background for Developing Modern Apprenticeships in China
- 1. Two Purposes for Developing Modern Apprenticeship in Western Countries
- 2. The Transforming Process of China’s Training Model of Vocational Talent
- 3. The Purpose of Developing a Modern Apprenticeship System in China
- Part 2 Key Issues in Implementing Modern Apprenticeship in China
- 1. How to Understand the Essence of Modern Apprenticeship Systems
- 2. What Kind of Modern Apprenticeships Should China Develop?
- 3. What Kind of System Barriers Does China Face in Developing a Modern Apprenticeship System?
- Chapter Ten: Constructing a Social System That Transforms Vocational Education from Grading to Classification
- Part 1 Guarantee the Economic Status and Social Benefits of Skilled Workers through System Change
- Part 2 Putting Reasonable Limits on the Freedom of Corporate Labor Recruitment under Market Economy Conditions
- References
List of Tables
Table 2.3 Ningbo professional technical grade wage levels
Table 2.4 Career development channels for different types of posts
Table 4.1 Development status of national higher vocational schools in the period 1978–2015
Table 6.1 The output value structure of China’s three industrial sectors between 1978 and 2015
Table 6.2 The numbers of employees in China’s three industrial sectors between 1978 and 2015
Table 6.3 Distribution of the main specialties of 30 higher vocational schools in Shanghai
Table 7.1 Significant events in introducing and promoting CBE in China
Table 7.2 Construction projects of various types of vocational curriculum
Table 7.3 Teaching arrangements for moral education compulsory courses
Table 8.2 The number of higher vocational teachers during the period 2004–2016
Table 8.3 Independent vocational and technical normal colleges in China during 1979–1988
Table 8.4 Comparison of the vocational teacher training modes between Germany and the U.S.
General Preface to China’s Path to Education Modernization
Comprehensively Deepen Reform and Accelerate the Realization of Education Modernization
In December 1978, the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee determined the ideological line of emancipating the mind and seeking truth from facts, and made major decisions on reform and opening-up. Since reform and opening-up, China’s economy has maintained sustained growth for 40 years; the GDP per capita has leapt from the 171st to the 70th1 position in the world; the GDP has jumped from the 9th to the 2nd postion2; the rate of contribution to the world economy has increased from 3.05% in 1978 to 31.53%3 in 2016. This is a miracle not only in Chinese history but also in world history.
China’s education is an important part of this miracle and also a significant impetus for its creation. The gross enrollment rate for preschool education in China has increased from 12.62% in 1981 to 77.4% in 2016, exceeding the average level of medium- and high-income countries by 5 percentage points; the consolidation rate for nine-year compulsory education reached 93.4% in 2016, surpassing the average level of high-income countries; the gross enrollment rate for secondary education increased from 39.56% in 1981 to 87.5% in 2016, 5 percentage points higher than the average level of medium- and high-income countries; the gross enrollment rate of higher education has increased from 1.6% in 1981 to 42.7% in 2016, above the average of medium- and high-income countries by 6 percentage points. At the same time, China’s PISA performance and university development have done quite well, revealing a considerable improvement in the quality of China’s education.
The development of education has brought about significant changes in China’s human resource structure. The average years of schooling for the population aged 16–59 has risen from less than 5 years in 1981 to 10.35 in 2016; the proportion of the population with college degrees or above has increased from 0.58% in 1982 to 12.44%4 in 2015. The number of China’s expected years of education in 1990 was 8.8, ranking 119th in the world; it increased to 13.5 years in 2015, and the world ranking rose to 83rd.5 China has transformed from a country with a large population into one with huge human resources, and is striding towards a country powerful in human resources day by day.
The academic world has taken an increasingly keen interest in revealing the successful experiences and reasons for China’s reform and opening-up, and Chinese scholars also feel obligated to do so. John King Fairbank (1907–1991), a famous American research scholar on China studies, published The United States and China 70 years ago. This was the first monograph in which a comparison between China and the United States had been conducted by a Western scholar. In this book, Fairbank said that China was undergoing a modernization movement, and its most fundamental feature was the determination to abandon all the traditions and institutions of China, and think of all Western civilizations and institutions, including language, as a counterpart. As a result, China’s modernization can be considered as a process of the West’s constant impact on China and China’s constant responses to the West. The “Impact-Response Model” had been the consensus among Western scholars on China’s upcoming modernization road for a long time.6 However, in 1991, he said in China: A New History, which was published two days before his death that: “After 50 years of experience and observation, I found that China’s modernization is probably not a result of impact-response, but a result of an inherent revolution and development impulse.”7
Ronald H. Coase (1910–2013), a Nobel Prize winner in economics, published How China Became Capitalist, a book co-authored with his assistant Wang Ning at the age of 102. In this book, he said: “China is highly successful and her development will carry on. However, the development of China’s economy can not be explained by traditional Western economics. The success of China’s reform is an unexpected consequence of human behavior.”8
The world is pluralistic. There is not only one path to modernization, nor a standard road. The successful practices of China and its education modernization have proved that there are many paths to and forms of modernization, as thoroughly demonstrated by China’s successful modernization to the world.
Education Modernization Is the Consistent Theme of Chinese Educational Reform and Opening-Up
Practice shows that the history of Chinese educational reform and development since reform and opening-up is about exploring and striving for educational modernization, and progressing in the modernization of socialist education with Chinese characteristics.
In 1983, Deng Xiaoping wrote an inscription for Beijing Jingshan School, “Gear education to the needs of modernization, the world and the future.” This reflected the Chinese people’s aspirations and determinations to develop education, and established the ideological foundation and strategic direction for the reform and development of Chinese education.
The Decision of the CPC Central Committee on the Reform of the Education System in 1985 clarified the monumental mission of socialist education modernization: “Not only must we let go of our efforts to improve existing talent, but also greatly enhance the whole Party’s understanding of education. Gear education to the needs of modernization, the world and the future, in order to massively prepare new qualified talented people of all kinds at all levels who can adhere to the socialist direction for the economic and social development of our country in the 1990s and the beginning of the next century.”
In 1993, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council issued Outline of China’s Education Reform and Development, which further clarified the target of Chinese education reform and development: “After decades of endeavor, we will establish a more mature and perfect socialist education system and realize education modernization.”
In July 2010, Outline of the National Medium- and Long-Term Education Reform and Development Plan (2010–2020) clearly stated: “By 2020, we will basically realize education modernization, form a learning society, and become one of the countries powerful in human resources.” The Outline requires us to prepare human resources ahead of time for the basic realization of education modernization in China.
In 2017, the 19th CPC National Congress emphasized once again: “Building a country powerful in education is the foundation project for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. We must give priority to education, expedite education modernization and develop education that people are satisfied with.” The 19th CPC National Congress report further underlined how urgent it was to achieve education modernization.
Details
- Pages
- XXX, 322
- Year
- 2023
- ISBN (PDF)
- 9781433195969
- ISBN (ePUB)
- 9781433195976
- ISBN (Hardcover)
- 9781433169304
- DOI
- 10.3726/b19539
- Language
- English
- Publication date
- 2023 (July)
- Keywords
- Vocational education China secondary education
- Published
- New York, Bern, Berlin, Bruxelles, Oxford, Wien, 2023. XXX, 322 pp., 26 b/w ill., 22 tables.
