Editor's note
In 2024, in the first issue of the year, we invited four experts and scholars to talk about what kind of higher vocational education development they expect from the perspectives of vocational education going overseas, digital transformation, and artificial intelligence response. Among them, there are rational suggestions, bold ideas, and even well-intentioned criticism. However, what we expect is that in the new journey of building a modern socialist country in an all-round way and vigorously promoting the development of Chinese-style modernization, vocational education will enter a stage of high-quality development and shoulder its due mission and responsibility.
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Higher vocational education should return to the law of education and pursue the value-added of teachers and students
Hou Changlin
In the past 10 years, the state has attached great importance to the development of higher vocational education and increased the investment of funds.
Generally speaking, a small amount or a major amount of funding investment is carried out in the form of a project, which will promote the formation of a sense of competition and mechanism among the higher vocational colleges, and stimulate their inherent vitality in running a school.
In the development of higher vocational education in China, the national demonstration (backbone) higher vocational colleges and high-level vocational schools and professional construction plans with Chinese characteristics have achieved great results in promoting the reform of higher vocational education in the form of projects and have been widely recognized by the society. However, since then, most of the relevant departments' investment in higher vocational education has been issued in the form of projects, and they have been imitated layer by layer.
For example, in order to promote the integration of industry and education, school-enterprise cooperation, the national level has introduced the policy guidance of building a city-wide industry-education consortium and an industry-education integration community, and at least hundreds of industry-education associations and industry-education communities have been established in a short period of time. Because these contents will become the wind direction indicators for judging the promotion of the integration of industry and education in higher vocational colleges, and it is even likely to become an important indicator for the next round of "double high plan" selection. You have established, and I will also establish it, and many higher vocational colleges and universities imitate and compete with each other.
In addition, in order to complete the project assessment indicators, many higher vocational colleges have set up a variety of project working groups, and some higher vocational colleges have also set up project offices and other institutions in the development planning department, specializing in the declaration, construction, acceptance and other work of the project, so that most of the school leaders, functional departments and heads of secondary colleges, professional leaders and teachers have project tasks, busy around the project, and involuted because of the project.
Education needs projects, but not projects for the sake of projects, "when some people are well versed in the stakes of the project, and compete to go to the project, it will inevitably bring the impetuous atmosphere and utilitarian behavior to the field of education and teaching."
How can we solve the problem, at least alleviate it? In short, it is necessary to return to education.
First of all, we should return to the essence of education and adhere to the purpose of promoting the growth of students and the value-added of teachers. As we all know, institutions of higher learning should focus on cultivating talents, carry out teaching, scientific research, and social services, and ensure that the quality of education and teaching meets the standards set by the state. In other words, institutions of higher learning, including vocational colleges, should persist in centering on cultivating talents. This is the main responsibility and mission of higher vocational education. And to fulfill this primary responsibility and mission, teachers are the key. Therefore, the teaching, scientific research, and social service projects pursued by higher vocational education should adhere to the purpose of promoting the growth of students and the value-added of teachers, so as to return higher vocational education to its true nature.
Second, we should return to the laws of education and respect the autonomy of higher vocational colleges in running schools. The involution of higher vocational education has, to a certain extent, "kidnapped" various higher vocational colleges, making it difficult for them to plan and run schools according to their own realities and their own wishes. If the reform of higher vocational education is promoted through projects, it is necessary to at least insist on the design and implementation of projects for the purpose of promoting the growth of students and the value-added of teachers.
Third, return to the value of education and improve the evaluation mechanism of schools, faculties and teachers. At present, schools, faculties and teachers are mostly evaluated based on how many projects they have completed and how much project funding they have received. This kind of evaluation is obviously oriented towards short-term visible political achievements and money.
The author believes that simply issuing work performance and rewards based on projects is unscientific and a wrong value orientation. It is hoped that the future reform direction of higher vocational education will eventually return to the pursuit of educational values that promote the growth of students and the appreciation of teachers.
(The author is the former president of Tongren University)
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Vocational education goes to sea and goes steadily and practically
Wang Zhigang
The internationalization of vocational education is an important way to cultivate high-quality talents to meet the needs of internationalization, improve the national education level and international competitiveness, and achieve the goal of becoming a strong country in education.
In recent years, vocational education has implemented the requirements of "serving international production capacity cooperation and Chinese enterprises going global" in the "Opinions on Deepening the Construction and Reform of the Modern Vocational Education System" issued by the Central Committee and the State Council, and has organized and promoted vocational colleges and "going out" enterprises to "go to sea" in a group, and cultivated and trained localized technical and skilled talents for overseas Chinese-funded enterprises.
In the process of overseas running of vocational colleges, a number of foreign vocational education institutions with distinctive characteristics have emerged, such as "Luban Workshop", "Ban Mo College", "Silk Road College", "Zhenghe College", "Bisheng Workshop", "Chinese Workshop", "Dayu College", "Furong Workshop" and "Guigang Center", which have continuously strengthened their own construction and demonstrated to the world the international brand of China's vocational education.
Shandong is the first national vocational education innovation and development highland jointly built by the ministry and the province, the first pilot province of the new model of the provincial modern vocational education system jointly built by the ministry and the province, and the hometown of Luban, the "craftsman saint" and the "Chinese science saint" Mozi. In recent years, Shandong has been named after two sages with vocational education ideas, and has built an overseas "Ban Mo College" for vocational education, teaching with output, production and education, creating an international school-enterprise community with a shared future, spreading skills and delivering peace to the world.
Of course, vocational colleges are also facing some specific difficulties and problems in running schools abroad, which to a certain extent affect the pace of "going out." On the one hand, there is a lack of linkage between international production capacity cooperation and the opening up of education, and the cross-border exchange mechanism is not smooth enough. On the other hand, there is a lack of special support at the national level, and the cost of running a school is basically borne by the school and cooperative enterprises, which affects the scale and sustainable development of the school.
However, China has built the world's largest vocational education system, forming a unique modern vocational education development paradigm, and it is necessary and conditional to build vocational education into a public good serving the world. At the same time, it is necessary to actively participate in global education governance, vigorously promote the brand building of "Study in China", tell Chinese stories well, disseminate Chinese experience, and voice Chinese voices, so as to enhance the international influence and discourse power of China's education. To this end, in the process of vocational education going overseas, the author puts forward the following suggestions:
The first is to seek practical results and consolidate the "circle of friends" with skills as a link. Vocational education has the natural advantage of opening up to the outside world, and it is the type of education that has the most potential to "go global". Because skills are neutral, they can bring people a direct and visible experience of people's livelihood and well-being, are more likely to be accepted by different cultures, are easier to reach the general public, and are easier to take root overseas. In the process of vocational education going overseas, it is necessary to be pragmatic and pragmatic, closely follow the needs of overseas Chinese-funded enterprises and host countries, and drive local employment and poverty alleviation in relevant countries through training and training localized technical and skilled talents, and strive to cultivate like-minded "Belt and Road" builders, expand the group of Zhihua and Friendship and Love China, and consolidate the "circle of friends" of grassroots people.
The second is to plan a "road map" based on overseas enterprises. China is an important contributor to international production capacity cooperation, with the number of overseas Chinese-funded enterprises reaching 4,6 and the stock of foreign direct investment reaching 2.8 trillion US dollars. At the same time, overseas enterprises are also facing the practical dilemma of low technical skills of local workers, and vocational education provides an effective carrier for the localization of talents and the construction of good public relations for Chinese-funded enterprises, which complement each other and can become a reliable partner for overseas education. Vocational education breaks through the previous school-school cooperation model, and plans the "going out" layout of education based on international production capacity cooperation, where the industry develops, education will be supported, and where the enterprise will run, the school will be built, so as to find the right position and become bigger and stronger in the international production capacity cooperation.
The third is to strengthen overall planning and create public goods that are welcomed by the world. Vocational education running schools abroad is an integral part of China's opening up to the outside world, and relevant departments should further strengthen overall planning, strengthen linkage, make overall plans and make good use of resources through various channels, and give guidance and support in areas such as the layout of colleges and universities, school running standards, asset allocation, teacher treatment, and capital investment. Vocational education will be upgraded to a strategic resource to promote international cooperation in production capacity, enhance the international influence of education, and serve the overall situation of national diplomacy and the new development pattern, and strive to contribute more open, global, and shared public goods that transcend geographical restrictions, break through cultural differences, and meet the needs of integrated development.
Facing the future, we hope that the internationalization of vocational education will be more stable and practical, and explore a new path for vocational education to open up to the outside world that is suitable for national conditions, adapts to the times, and is welcomed by the host country.
(The author is the chief inspector of the Shandong Provincial Department of Education)
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How to respond to the challenge of artificial intelligence
Li Hongqu
"Artificial intelligence" is one of the buzzwords of the year in 2023. With the promotion and application of artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT, Wenxin Yiyan, WPS Intelligent Writing, and SenseTime SenseNova, the impact of artificial intelligence on education has become a consensus.
In fact, artificial intelligence is profoundly changing the social lifestyle and various industrial formats, changing the nature, content, working methods, vocational skills and quality requirements of many social occupations, etc., will give birth to a number of new jobs, and at the same time will reduce or even disappear some jobs, and the most obvious change is the technical skill positions, repetitive, mechanical and even preset action of technical skill positions are gradually replaced by "machines", factory workshops are no longer what they used to be, and there are more and more unmanned workshops.
Obviously, higher vocational education, as a training of technical and skilled talents, has been hit and challenged the most. How to deal with higher vocational colleges is an urgent and important issue.
As early as 2017, the "New Generation of Artificial Intelligence Development Plan" issued by the State Council proposed to "establish a multi-level education system for artificial intelligence" and "encourage vocational colleges and universities to open artificial intelligence-related majors or courses", and build a first-mover advantage in the development of artificial intelligence in China. Higher vocational educators should be keenly aware of the development and progress of technology, fully understand the changes in social production methods and lifestyles, and welcome, accept, and apply new technologies with a positive attitude.
On the one hand, higher vocational colleges should adapt to the new needs of the labor structure brought about by social and professional changes in talent training, and at the same time, they also need to introduce and apply new technologies in a timely manner in the process of talent training, so as to improve the pertinence and effectiveness of talent training and technology research and development. As the responsible unit of higher vocational colleges, the construction of majors is facing the urgent task of adjustment, transformation and upgrading.
What majors to set up, how many students to enroll in each major, the formulation of professional talent training programs, the setting of curriculum and teaching content, and the construction and implementation of internship and training conditions are the basic issues of talent training in higher vocational colleges. In the face of the development of artificial intelligence technology, the first thing that higher vocational colleges should consider is to adjust the professional settings according to the changes in industries, occupations, and positions, and stop the majors that require fewer personnel for the job groups. At the same time, the training goals of professional talents set by demonstration and retention will be re-examined and adjusted according to the needs of the future industry.
In order to meet the needs of students in various majors for their future work, life and development, schools should guide students to internalize AI technology into general skills. In daily teaching, publicize the development trend and trend of artificial intelligence technology, relevant national laws and norms, and ethical guidelines for the application of artificial intelligence technology, and guide students to correctly understand and apply artificial intelligence technology to serve personal development and progress, and avoid its negative impact. It is also necessary to incorporate artificial intelligence general education courses into the curriculum system, organize students to learn the basic concepts of artificial intelligence, application cases, cutting-edge technologies, ethical risks and social responsibilities, generative artificial intelligence tools and technology applications, etc., systematically cultivate students' higher-order thinking ability, integrate artificial intelligence thinking into different professional problem solving, and let students of different majors understand artificial intelligence theoretical research from their own perspectives. Application development, etc., guide students to actively face the technical challenges and ethical dilemmas brought about by artificial intelligence, inspire students to actively embrace artificial intelligence, cultivate professional general abilities, and improve their ability to face future workplace challenges.
To a large extent, artificial intelligence will give birth to a new paradigm of modernization of vocational college governance, stimulate the innovation power of vocational college governance modernization, and reshape the governance system of vocational colleges, thereby driving the high-quality development of vocational education.
AI can also help vocational schools better serve the construction of a skill-based society. It is the general requirement for the construction of a national skill-based society that the state attaches importance to skills, the society advocates skills, everyone learns skills, and everyone has skills. Due to resource constraints, everyone can learn skills, skills can be learned everywhere, and skills can be learned at any time have been constrained, and vocational schools have not become technical learning centers that everyone in a region or industry can go to and learn everywhere.
Artificial intelligence technology can provide massive learning resources and virtual training scenarios to all kinds of learners in various places through the platform, and can record the learning process trajectory of different learning groups through dynamic tracking, monitoring, and processing, collect, analyze and process relevant data to generate exclusive personalized "digital portraits", so as to provide the most suitable high-quality vocational education for students with different learning needs. Artificial intelligence technology empowers vocational schools to become technical learning centers with unlimited openness, more diversified service objects and functions, and is the future situation of vocational schools.
(The author is the president of Hubei Vocational Education Research Institute)
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Digital Transformation Vocational Colleges should avoid misunderstandings
Zong Cheng
As part of the "Digital China", promoting the digital transformation of education is an important first move to implement the strategy of rejuvenating the country through science and education, strengthening the country with talents, and innovation-driven development. For all vocational schools, digital transformation is a new thing, and they are "crossing the river by feeling the stones", coupled with the fact that digital transformation itself is an extremely complex system engineering, most vocational schools will inevitably encounter various problems in the process of digital transformation, and even make some mistakes, and the cost of some mistakes will be relatively large. Therefore, vocational schools should avoid some misunderstandings as much as possible during the transformation.
Myth 1: "Technologicalism": Believe that digital transformation is only driven by technology
Some vocational schools believe that digital transformation is only driven by technology, which is not the case. Although technology plays an important role in the digital transformation of education, this does not mean that digital transformation can be achieved only by the correct use of technology in the process of education and teaching.
Whether it is the industrial age, the information age, or the digital age, change and development are driven by the needs of society, and these needs represent the interests of users. Therefore, if education wants to truly achieve digital transformation, it needs to understand that users are learners, and it needs to start from the perspective of learners, gain insights into learners based on data, and provide personalized services for learners.
It really needs to apply data to the training of technical talents, to all aspects of the process of vocational education and teaching activities such as "teaching, learning, management, and evaluation", and to rely on data for intelligent decision-making, which is also the essence of digital transformation. In addition, when learners experience more personalized services, they will also have higher expectations for education. As a result, digital transformation is user-driven.
In the face of the personalized needs of learners, higher vocational schools should adhere to the principle of "demand traction and application is king", stratify, group and classify learners, and provide whole-process, intelligent and personalized services for different learners and at different times. This is very important for vocational schools, although it is not possible to provide one-to-one service for every learner, but through data analysis to profile learners, we can accurately understand the needs of learners and quickly provide matching services for learners. This is the necessity for vocational schools to provide learner-centered education and teaching services, and it is also the key to driving the digital transformation of vocational education.
Myth 2: "Self-appreciation": I think that the level of informatization is high, and there is no need for digital transformation
Some vocational schools believe that they have a good foundation for informatization, an unbreakable position, and promising future development prospects, so they do not need to spend time and effort on digital transformation for the time being. As everyone knows, digital transformation is a long-term change trend, as a technological change force, it is constantly penetrating into various industries, and those industries that change slowly will gradually be at a disadvantage in the fierce competition. In this case, even schools with a "high level" of informatization should have a sense of worry, realize that digital transformation is a long-term and vast project, and should lay out and plan ahead as soon as possible, actively think about the ideas and methods of digital transformation, improve the digital resource development mechanism based on schools and market participation according to the ability improvement needs of vocational and technical talents at different stages of development, develop professional courses that are more suitable for student learning and school teaching, and promote the organic connection of education chain, talent chain, industrial chain and innovation chain.
Myth 3: "Stay out of the way": think that digital transformation is a matter for so-called high-level vocational schools
The core of the digital transformation of education is to realize the perfect combination of digital technology and education, apply digital technology to education, innovate education models, and promote the development of intelligent education. Digital technology can provide more convenient and personalized services for education, thereby improving the uneven distribution of educational resources. Intelligence is to establish digital business processes, improve learners' experience, and improve the efficiency of education services, while personalization is to use business restructuring and create new data-driven models to provide learners with better services and experiences.
From a user service perspective, digital transformation is not directly related to the size and "level" of the school. It can be seen from the current policy on the development of vocational education that the state has placed vocational education in a more prominent position in educational reform and innovation and economic and social development. Any vocational school that wants to survive in a changing environment, achieve a new historical leap, and enhance its attractiveness, influence and competitiveness needs to transform its traditional education concept and education model, and clearly understand that digital transformation is the only way to go.
For higher vocational schools, it should be fully recognized that digital construction has a positive pulling effect on the overtaking of education development, and digital transformation is a necessary medicine for the high-quality development of higher vocational schools in the current era.
(The author is an associate researcher at the Institute of Vocational and Continuing Education, Chinese Academy of Education Sciences)
Source: China Youth Daily