China is experiencing an unprecedented phenomenon: breakneck industrialization on a scale and at a pace not seen before. It is trying to achieve in just a few decades what Western nations took more than a century to do. The arrival in the country’s cities of tens of millions of rural dwellers, at most semi-skilled, has put huge strain on the country’s system of vocational education, known as TVET. How have the Chinese authorities and their education administrators responded? Is China’s TVET system adapting to the rapidly evolving needs of its industry? Using the province of Yunnan as a subject, this detailed case study is a closely argued and sanguine analysis of the operation of TVET in China. The authors deployed a set of internationally comparable criteria to offer a searching assessment of current performance, at the same time documenting areas of strength and weakness. The question the authors’ methodology answers is how well China’s TVET system is performing compared to technical and vocational education structures in other countries. In fact, they discover that in Yunnan, a province representative of the challenges faced nationwide, much has indeed been done, from a wholesale overhaul of programs to make them relevant to industry requirements, to major investment in infrastructure. Teacher training has been reformed, and take-up of professional master’s and doctoral courses has been encouraged. Joint initiatives with bodies such as UNESCO have improved training and vocational education at high school level. While there is a strong international history of such comparative evaluations, which are essential for policy makers to benchmark their administration, few studies have included China despite the enormous amount of value that can be learned from that country’s experience. This work will provide vital material for researchers, governments and development agencies alike.

This book provides comprehensive and up-to-date coverage of research on technical and vocational education in China. It discusses various aspects that range from such conventional topics as teaching at different levels, development history, regulations, policies, curriculum, specialty setup, teaching, faculty and management; to the status quo, transformation and current trends; as well as quantity expansion and quality improvement, all of which highlight the unique characteristics of technical and vocational education in China. This book is intended for researchers and graduate students, and will also help international readers to grasp the general situation regarding technical and vocational education in China. Combining rich content and a broad scope, the book will undoubtedly offer a valuable key to understanding China’s technical and vocational education in the 21st century.

China is currently focusing strongly on developing its vocational education and training system, and Germany is an important partner in this process: many German companies operate major manufacturing sites in China and need highly skilled employees. So do German companies in China continue to meet their training needs through the familiar German model of vocational education and training (or a similar model)? Or does their model for training production staff more closely resemble the Chinese model? To date, there have been few research studies in this area. This article aims to fill the gap with a 'home international' comparison of the training strategies of Chinese and German companies in China. Theory-driven semi-structured interviews were conducted with managers of human resources departments in 11 Chinese companies and 11 subsidiaries of German companies in China. Transcripts of these interviews were then subjected to textual analysis to systematize the findings and extract data. The findings demonstrate both similarities and differences between the Chinese and the German companies, particularly in terms of the links between the national training system, the national labour market and the social setting.

This book explores the holistic development of vocational education in Chinese education system. It investigates the vocational education policy development, student development, allocation of teachers’ resources, financial mechanism and system, students’ financial aid, examination and enrollment, private vocational education system, and school-enterprise cooperation. In addition, this book critically examines and epitomizes the contextualized China’s vocational education reform from multiple dimensions. This book also offers an in-depth explorations and analysis of current Chinese vocational education reform comprehensively. This is a highly informative and carefully presented book, providing academic insight for scholars and researchers who are interested and work in research on China’s vocational education reform in China as well as the administrators and stakeholders in Chinese education system and graduate students who majoring in the field of educational policy.

Many students across the globe seek further education for future employment opportunities. Vocational schools offer direct training to develop the skills needed for employment. New emphasis has been placed on reskilling the workforce as technology has infiltrated all aspects of business. Teachers must be prepared to teach these new skill requirements to allow students to directly enter the workforce with the necessary competences intact. As the labor market and industry are changing, it is essential to stay current with the best teaching practices within vocational education courses to provide the future workforce with the proper tools and knowledge. The Research Anthology on Vocational Education and Preparing Future Workers discusses the development, opportunities, and challenges of vocational education courses and how to best prepare students for future employment. It presents the best practices in curriculum development for vocational education courses and analyzes student outcomes. Covering topics such as industry-academia collaboration, student satisfaction, and competency-based education, this major reference work is an essential resource for academic administration, pre-service teachers, educators of vocational education, libraries, employers, government officials, researchers, and academicians.

This study examines international approaches in technical and vocational education and training (TVET), and determines their suitability for developing countries. TVET systems in Germany and the United Kingdom are presented to illustrate the diverse paths in developing such systems. These are juxtaposed against the Asian experience, as exemplified by the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of Korea. Through these case studies, key lessons pertaining to the role of the state and private sector involvement are extracted for developing TVET policy.