Dialogue with the parties of "Abandoning Peking University to Read Technical School":
How to "break the game" in vocational education?
On May 1, the newly revised Vocational Education Law came into effect.
On May 8, the 2022 Vocational Education Activities Week with the theme of "Skills: Making Life Better" was launched.
11 years ago, Zhou Hao dropped out of Peking University and transferred to a technical school, which caused a sensation and became a landmark event in the history of vocational education.
11 years later, under the background of the era when the discussion of vocational education is still hot, what kind of "vocational education concept" did the "crab eaters" have?
The reporter recently had a direct conversation with Zhou Hao and asked him about his thoughts on the road to vocational education.
Has the phenomenon of "good employment but poor status" of vocational school students changed?
In 2011, Zhou Hao dropped out of Peking University and chose to study at Beijing Institute of Industrial Technicians.
After media reports, the choice sparked controversy.
In Zhou Hao's view, this is just a choice that is more loyal to his heart.
He believes that everyone has different potentials, and an ideal education should teach students according to their aptitude and help children discover and cultivate their own potential earlier.
According to 2021 data from the Ministry of Education, the employment rate of vocational school graduates has remained at a high level in the past five years.
However, many people believe that although the employment rate of vocational school students is high, it is not easy to find "decent" jobs; compared with general school students, future development will also face more bottlenecks and higher thresholds.
Zhou Hao, who switched from general education to vocational education system, also has personal experience of this.
In 2014, after graduating from the Technician College, Zhou Hao stayed at the school to teach.
He found that in the traditional education system and social concept, technical school students are often discriminated against and tend to feel inferior.
What teachers need to do is to help them rebuild their self-confidence first.
He gave an example: many students may not care whether an ordinary machine can be repaired, but when they learn that the machine tool they repair is going to be used in the aerospace industry, their attitude is different.
"Let them know that their work has value."
But at the same time, invisible thresholds and "ceilings" still exist.
Zhou Hao noticed that for a long time, some employers have paid more attention to external academic qualifications rather than the matching of positions and abilities.
In order to have a better-looking degree, many secondary vocational students choose to continue to study higher vocational and master's degrees.
"Employers need to further change their concepts and improve their professional evaluation capabilities."
Vocational school students also face a gap in salary after graduation.
Some students would ask him: "CNC machine maintenance is so difficult and hard, we finally learned it, why can we still only earn a few thousand dollars a month?"...
Even he himself will encounter the "ceiling" of the workplace - as the school develops and grows, there are more and more masters and doctors in the teachers. Whether it is evaluation of professional titles or promotion, Zhou Hao's education has no advantage.
How far is the road to equality?
How does vocational education "break the game"?
Zhou Hao agrees with Tong Huaqiang, the former dean of Beijing Industrial Technician College, that the most urgent task is to make efforts in the "connotation" of the construction of the integrated curriculum system of engineering and the training of teachers.
The Beijing Institute of Industrial Technicians is willing to "spend the capital" in teacher training: the school will invest more than 100,000 yuan to send teachers to first-class enterprises for off-the-job training for a few months; design a "four-level gradient" development system, from ordinary teachers to integrated teachers , The course leader to the professional leader, teachers have a clear upward path.
In 2017, Tong Huaqiang left the Technician College and founded an education consulting company, hoping to help more vocational schools come up with reform strategies.
In 2019, Zhou Hao also joined the company and transformed from a vocational school teacher to a "vocational school teacher's teacher".
By studying domestic and foreign majors, going to enterprises to conduct research and interviews, and organizing expert interviews, they help vocational school teachers sort out the key points of work tasks and skill improvement points step by step, and build an integrated curriculum system.
After the education consulting project was launched, "some teachers have grown rapidly, and schools have also developed rapidly. As you can see, some vocational schools have begun to 'emerge' in recent years." Zhou Hao was pleased with this.
In addition to improving the quality of teaching, it will take time to change social concepts.
Zhou Hao believes that the high-quality development of vocational education is inseparable from the concept update of the whole society.
Only by changing the selection and employment mechanism at the social level, improving the content and method at the educational level, and changing cognitive expectations at the individual level, "the craftsman spirit that respects practice, encourages a culture of diverse development, and changes in overall social cognition can vocational education be more effective." Attract and cultivate more well-rounded talents.”
How to make more people feel at ease to achieve "vocational education freedom"?
Some experts believe that cultivating too many academic talents will be out of touch with social needs. More universities in China should carry out vocational education to cultivate vocational and technical talents and applied talents.
While working in Shenzhen, Zhou Hao met a girl who sold software together.
Others felt the exact same color, and she could see the difference at a glance.
But it is a pity that she neither knew she had extraordinary artistic perception nor had the opportunity to receive a good education.
"The ideal education should cultivate talents more according to the child's nature and potential, rather than simply divide them according to grades." Zhou Hao said that it is necessary for students to have the possibility to switch freely between different educational tracks, so as to make general education and vocational education easier Really accommodating.
Zhou Hao noticed that vocational school students may have more skill advantages in the early stage of career development, but the more they move up, the more potential students with strong comprehensive learning ability will be.
Therefore, in the course design, he repeatedly emphasized that vocational schools should pay attention to cultivating students' professional development ability.
"Vocational school students should also learn comprehensive knowledge. It is necessary to train technical talents for a future full of variables, not just according to current needs."
Once, in order to add a "start-up class" for the cloisonne major of a vocational school, Zhou Hao communicated with the teacher for half a year, and even quarreled many times.
At first, the teacher thought that the intermediate workers had no design foundation and could not create.
After the "start-up class" was opened, some students' designs were eye-catching.
"Creativity needs to be stimulated, and the sooner the better, this will enable students to have a greater sense of identity and achievement in their careers." Zhou Hao was very excited when showing these design drawings.
This is his most rewarding moment.
Zhou Hao felt that everyone has a path that suits them best.
He is also on a "road less traveled", gradually finding his own meaning in life and his place in the times.