What is a good vocational education like? How to choose a good vocational college?

When it comes to vocational education, many people think of graduating from vocational secondary schools or higher vocational colleges, entering factories far away from urban areas and doing a simple and repetitive job on the assembly line. Life is boring, income is meager, skills are not improved, not to mention career growth, and youth is wasted.

Zheng Lei's career is not like this. He works for Black & Decker (Suzhou) Precision Manufacturing Co., Ltd., a foreign-funded enterprise with a history of 100 years. Zheng Lei said: "We don't punch in at work, and we don't assign you any tasks. Instead, we let employees take the initiative to find ways to make some achievements. The company will also give us a lot of support. For example, if I want to explore and try something, I have the right to use a lot of money to buy the corresponding equipment. " Once the project proposed by Zheng Lei is approved by the company, he can apply for resources, purchase corresponding materials and equipment, and designate which colleagues from the company to join his team to jointly implement the project.

Zheng Lei is not a man who is content with the status quo. For him, work is not a job to support the family, but to grow up. The company gave him the opportunity to take part in the skill competition. Zheng Lei participated in the National Intelligent Manufacturing Skills Competition and won the second prize. His work is also quite successful. Since joining the company, he has led the development of more than ten sets of automation equipment control systems, which can save the company more than 7 million R&D costs every year. 202 1 model workers in Jiangsu province. He has bought a house in Suzhou and given birth to a second child. No matter the living condition, income, professionalism or personal growth space, he has surpassed the average white-collar worker. Zheng Lei graduated from Suzhou Industrial Park Vocational and Technical College, and his achievements are related to the training results of vocational education. When he applied for Black & decker, he had been recruiting for this position for more than a year, but there was no suitable candidate. Zheng Lei said, "They had an interview and a written test. I answered all the papers that year alone. Because this position is applied, but it also needs some theoretical things. Many candidates have work experience, but they have basically forgotten the theory. Some of them are from ordinary colleges and universities, and their hands-on ability is relatively poor. I started studying this major in high school. I have studied for a long time, and my theoretical foundation is solid. I also have experience in higher vocational education and operation after work. I have been exposed to many of their questions before, even at school. "

The position Zheng Lei applied for initially required academic qualifications and fluent English. Neither of them met the requirements, but the core appeal of the company was to find a capable person, so we decided to hire him on the spot. There are not a few stories about vocational education students getting ahead, because the manufacturing industry really needs middle and senior technical talents. Zheng Lei said: "Some theoretical studies conducted in research institutes or universities must be conducted by engineering experts if they are to be realized or mass-produced. For example, the research on deep learning in artificial intelligence was originally done in universities. Our industry also wants to use this research result, but it is impossible to use it directly. The project I am working on is to use deep learning technology in some tests of our company. "

In addition to manufacturing, there are jobs similar to white-collar jobs and services. Beijing Fengtai Vocational Education Center School is a national model school for the reform and development of secondary vocational education. Its major related to imaging technology is in an independent campus. In the atrium on the first floor, there are students' internships, work photos with famous directors or stars, and work cards for participating in projects. These students, who are equivalent to Grade One to Grade Three, have already worked as interns in the film crew directed by Zhang Yimou. Qu Siyi, a film colorist and Fengtai Vocational Education Center School, built the "Master Qu Siyi Studio". Qu Siyi entered the film color matching industry from 65438 to 0987, and his representative works include flowers of war, Shadow and other films. The studio he built with the school is in this building, and students majoring in imaging and film technology have the opportunity to participate in the real film industry production. Lv Pin, a teacher majoring in image and film technology, said: "Color matching in movies is not a career of eating youth. The longer you work in this industry, the deeper you accumulate. Qu Siyi, for example, joined the trade in the 1980s and is still working today. The children trained by vocational education are not designers, but the film industry has jobs that need specific operations. If they are interested in this aspect, of course, they may become masters in this area through self-study and accumulated experience. "

In fact, with the development of social economy, the transformation and upgrading of manufacturing industry and the gradual prosperity of high-end service industry, vocational education is not just some jobs with poor working environment and low income, which may be eliminated by the times at any time, as traditionally thought. If they are interested in a certain major and are willing to study hard, vocational education students are not necessarily defeated in academic competition as traditionally thought, and have been at the bottom of their lives ever since. They may go against the wind and at least learn a skill to settle down and become happy ordinary people. It's time to have an objective understanding of vocational education.

Vocational education is not the basis of general education.

Vocational education is embedded in a certain social and economic structure, which is closely related to the growth model and industrial structure in different periods. In the past forty years, migrant workers have gradually become the main source of factory workers, but now, the situation has changed. Xu Hui, a doctoral student at the University of Jena, Germany, has been paying attention to and studying industrial workers and vocational education for a long time. 10 years ago, in order to do research, he worked as a worker in Foxconn's factory and witnessed the arrival of the turning point of industrial workers. "Since 2004, there has been a labor shortage in coastal areas. When I went to Foxconn on 20 10, I saw that the demographic dividend was about to disappear, which was manifested in the increase in the wages of migrant workers and the large-scale transfer of manufacturing industries in coastal areas to the central and western regions, such as Zhengzhou, Chongqing and Chengdu. "

Xu Hui entered the Foxconn factory at such a time node and found that all the new workers were vocational school students. The choice between migrant workers and vocational school students actually marks the arrival of a new stage. Around 2004 and 2005, when the shortage of migrant workers began, it was also a relatively low stage of vocational education. The enrollment of secondary vocational schools is declining, and the development of higher vocational schools is not satisfactory. In recent years, the "job-to-general ratio", which has become the source of parents' anxiety about further education, was originally put forward by/kloc-0 in the 1980s, and it was also emphasized that it should be strictly implemented around 2005. Professor He Zhen, Dean of the National Vocational Education Research Institute of Beijing Normal University, said: "In the 1980s and 1990s, there was no problem at all to reach the vocational-general ratio, because it was good to go to secondary schools and technical schools at that time. Later, the enrollment of secondary vocational schools decreased year by year. Around 2005, the state attached great importance to secondary vocational education and its implementation was relatively firm, so the ratio of vocational education to general education was concerned. " Vocational education is labeled as low quality, which is largely not caused by internal factors of vocational education. Forty Years of Education Reform and Opening-up in China: A Volume of Vocational Education written by He Zhen is actually related to China's new education policy. The preferential treatment policy of vocational education has been abolished, the enrollment of higher vocational colleges has gradually tilted towards ordinary high school graduates, and colleges have expanded their enrollment. Due to the social preference for academic qualifications and the lack of humanistic quality of vocational education graduates, the social recognition of vocational education graduates has declined rapidly. The mainstream discourse seems to close the door of vocational education, and the college entrance examination affects the heartstrings of thousands of families. The gap of migrant workers is getting bigger and bigger, which makes enterprises that did not pay attention to vocational education and skilled personnel training turn their attention to vocational education. The manufacturing industry is just a window, and the city's service industry is in urgent need of new forces trained by vocational education. Centennial vocational school is a free public welfare vocational school. Wenbo, president of Beijing Centennial Vocational School, said: "Around 2005, a large number of new buildings were built in Beijing, which needed property management personnel. Our founder, Ms. Yao Li, was born in a company. She found that this industry is on the rise, but there are not so many technicians and service personnel on the front line. Beijing has a large number of children of migrant workers. After graduating from junior high school, they have no opportunities for further study and no skills to make a living. Based on the situation at that time, she founded a century-old vocational school, which not only provided children with learning opportunities, but also delivered talents to emerging industries. "

From the perspective of the composition of the labor force to ensure the normal operation of society, vocational education is not a question of how to draw a proportion between the two screening methods of senior high school entrance examination and college entrance examination. He Zhen said: "Now that the society has progressed, we will feel that children will work after finishing secondary vocational schools, and their academic qualifications will be lower. However, from the average level of the member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the proportion of vocational education and general education in high school is roughly the same. We don't look at individual countries, because different national conditions have little meaning. For example, some countries focus on manufacturing, with a higher proportion of vocational education, while others focus on other aspects, with a lower proportion of vocational education. However, it is still meaningful compared with the comprehensive level of these member States, because our country has a large population and a relatively sound industrial system. "

Vocational education is not the foundation of general education, but another talent training track parallel to general education. Kuang Ying, a professor and doctoral supervisor at the Institute of Vocational and Adult Education of East China Normal University, said: "In 20 10, the Central Committee and the State Council formulated the Outline of the National Medium-and Long-Term Talent Development Plan (20 10-2020)". At that time, education also had a medium-and long-term plan, which shows that technical skills were also classified as talents. This used to be called a worker, but now it is a kind of talent. When the society's concept of talents changes, it is inevitable to need an education to match it. "

High-quality vocational education should be a combination of work and study.

Zheng Lei's achievements are also related to the quality of his vocational education. Vocational education is different from general education. High-intensity general education can increase the number of students entering higher education, and high-quality vocational education must match the real needs of enterprises.

From the global experience, "school-enterprise cooperation" is an important channel for students to gain learning experience related to future work. The Institute of Technology of Suzhou Industrial Park, where Zheng Lei studied, undertakes the role of transporting technical talents for Suzhou Industrial Park. Professor Wang Shoubin, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Suzhou Industrial Park Vocational and Technical College, said: "The school has established the dean responsibility system under the leadership of the board of directors. There are government personnel in the board of directors, personnel from well-known universities at home and abroad, and enterprises. Enterprises that can enter the school board are selective, must be in the same field as the development direction of the school, and must be leading enterprises. Most of them are Fortune 500 companies. This team was unique in the country at that time. "

The board of directors should participate in the planning and design of the school and discuss the development of the school. These leading enterprises can bring the most advanced industry information and resources to teachers and students. Vocational education is not an ivory tower. Wang Shoubin said: "In order to close the distance between students and work, we introduce the real production environment in the factory into the school. For example, Samsung donated a 30 million assembly line to us, which was directly removed from the factory and installed on our side. It is in this environment that our teacher teaches students. Engineers in enterprises often come to the school to give classes to students. " Vocational education should also conform to the local economic development direction and industrial structure. The specialty setting of Suzhou Industrial Park Vocational and Technical College is highly related to the needs of enterprises in Suzhou Industrial Park, and the direction and specialty of Fengtai Vocational Education Center School are set according to the situation in Beijing. Zhao Aiqin, the principal, said: "Beijing Education Commission has made a special topic of fit, and our school is one of the core members. Study how vocational schools and regional economic development form a virtuous circle. Our school-running situation can be clearly illustrated by three pictures, one is the regional economic development map, the other is the dynamic talent demand map of the industry, and the other is the professional talent training map of our school. "

The major setting and course content of Fengtai Vocational Education Center School are constantly adjusted. Zhao Aiqin said: "For example, the accounting major was closed for several years, and now we have resumed the accounting major according to the plan to turn Lize business district into the second financial street in Beijing. Accurately speaking, this time it is not called accounting major. According to the requirements of the Ministry of Education for the digital transformation and upgrading of this major, we are positioned as an intelligent finance major. This actually corresponds to the content of the digital finance industry in Lize Financial Business District. " At the age of 32, Zhao Aiqin became the youngest senior teacher in the area. Now she is a member of Fengtai District Political Consultative Conference. She was awarded the Beijing March 8th Red Flag Medal and the Capital Labor Medal. She has a deep understanding of policies and is in Beijing, so there are many resources that can be docked for running schools.

Because vocational education is related to local economy and industrial structure, the imbalance of social and economic development in China is also reflected in the quality of vocational education. Suzhou Industrial Park Vocational and Technical College is known as a school surrounded by the world's top 500, benefiting from the industrial and economic strength of Suzhou Industrial Park. Students from Fengtai Vocational Education Center School have the opportunity to practice in Zhang Yimou's drama troupe in their teens, because Beijing is the cultural center of the country. By analogy, in economically developed areas such as Shanghai, Shenzhen, Hangzhou and Foshan, there are actually representative high-quality vocational education schools. Traditionally, it is believed that vocational education schools can't learn anything, students have bad interaction, and the atmosphere of inferiority permeates schools, which is more likely to appear in economically underdeveloped provinces. Xu Hui said: "A large number of vocational school student workers used in the factory assembly line are mainly from the central and western provinces."

Vocational education is of great significance to poverty alleviation and development in underdeveloped areas. He Zhen once went to a higher vocational college in Haixi Mongolian and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture and felt a lot. He said: "That school is the only institution of higher learning in the west of Qinghai Lake. Students may come from very remote rural areas and may be the first batch of generations. For them, studying in this school is not only for receiving vocational education, but also for being influenced by modern civilization. Because these children have read higher vocational schools, it is great for them to go to the mainland for internships and broaden their horizons. "

The solution is always more difficult than the reality. Wang Shoubin was sent to help the development of a vocational college in Zhejiang. The local area is dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises, with low-end industries and little demand for technical talents. Wang Shoubin said: "School-enterprise cooperation can't always ask for money from enterprises. Teachers in our school give classes to enterprises, give technical training to workers, and take students to help enterprises tackle some technical problems. After a long time, many companies have technicians at the bottom. They can come and teach students, which is still helpful to students. "

Run through the track of vocational education.

Since it is another talent training track parallel to general education, vocational education should also allow students to continue their studies like general education. In the past, this was a "dead end", and the highest education only went to junior college. Kuang Ying said: "This is related to our examination system. The previous understanding of vocational education was for students who failed in general education. After each diversion, it is undertaken by vocational education, and this field does not need particularly high-end people. If you want to go to school, you can have the track of elite education. " In fact, reading more vocational education books is also very beneficial to future development.

In fact, we have been exploring the "dead end road" for many years. Dr. Lin, director of the Institute of Vocational and Adult Education of Southwest University, said: "From about 20 10, Shandong, Shanghai and other provinces and cities began to explore the mode of connecting secondary and higher vocational schools and universities. These explorations not only broke through the academic bottleneck of vocational education, but also explored the applied undergraduate education. " In addition, for laymen, an easily overlooked factor is that vocational education is not simple, and some need long-term school education. Lin said: "Some skills that are in great demand in society and in relatively stable demand actually require long-term training and practice, which requires high proficiency. Such a major is suitable for training. " Shanghai's integration into China has always been regarded by parents as "Puwa's best choice", but this cannot be understood as a shortcut to award Puwa a bachelor's degree. Kuang Ying participated in the top-level design of Shanghai Bentong. She said: "When choosing a major that is proficient in this course, you must have very complete materials. After the trial, you must reply. If the plan is not satisfactory, you must revise it. It is very strict. Because Shanghai's requirements for human resources have increased, not only technical skills, but also psychological maturity. The whole industrial structure of Shanghai needs talents who are psychologically mature, emotionally stable and able to cope with the uncertainty and complexity of the workplace. Secondary vocational school students are only 18 years old when they graduate, which is not quite consistent. They need to continue to grow into a high-level workforce with more exquisite technical skills and more mature psychology. " Once the "dead end" is broken, it can attract good students for vocational education. Kuang Ying said: "If students have to be divided into golden dolls, silver dolls and bronze dolls, the through mode hopes to attract silver dolls. Those children who get the key points in the district or even the key points in the city can have a career orientation earlier. We hope 3+4 > 7. Their practice and theory are combined, and their academic system is relatively long. After graduation, their ability to engage in this industry can exceed the model of three years of ordinary high school plus four years of undergraduate major. So this model of curriculum is not a simple addition of two schools. Secondary vocational schools and undergraduate courses sit together, rearrange professional courses and cultural courses, integrate teachers, and integrate production and education on both sides. " However, the integration of China and is an exploration of the integration mode of vocational education in various provinces and cities, and the policies may change in the future. Lin said: "In the next three to five years, the state may gradually cancel the integration of secondary schools and expand the integration of secondary and higher vocational schools. For example, Chongqing has been reducing the scale of this connection for several years. At present, most majors in most schools can basically achieve middle and higher vocational education. " The breakthrough mode of vocational education is still being explored. Kuang Ying said: "In the future, a channel for further study may be established within vocational education. Now the academic circles are studying the vocational college entrance examination, which is different from the college entrance examination for general education. In other words, in what way can we select advanced technical and technical talents? Now this form of college entrance examination for cultural courses is definitely not acceptable. From the perspective of Shanghai, the future connection mode should be diversified, and the possibility of connection expansion in this country is not particularly great. Shanghai is preparing for a vocational undergraduate course. There is one now, and there will be two or three later. "

"Everyone can shine."

Through the "dead end" of further education, many parents still have doubts about vocational education, and the gathered students are "defeated" in the competition between the senior high school entrance examination and the college entrance examination. Will it have a bad influence on each other? Zhu Weibiao is an outstanding young postal expert in Suzhou and has founded five companies. When he first went to Suzhou Industrial Park Vocational and Technical College, he felt that the scale of this school was not as good as that of his high school alma mater, and his depression was more serious. But after so many years of study and entrepreneurship, looking back, he said: "We can't define a child's life by exam results. Some children may be really weak in exam ability, but they have their advantages. In addition, the teaching method of vocational education is different from that of general education. For example, in the new energy automobile industry that I am engaged in now, general education may be that the teacher talks about theory in front of the blackboard. We drive karts, provide raw materials, and let students convert them into new energy vehicles. After refitting, go to the playground and take it apart. What problems will you encounter in this process? You can check your own books and papers, and your book knowledge is more solid. "

Zhu Weibiao understands the psychology of weak learning initiative. Invest 6,543,800,000 yuan to build a secondary college with Suzhou Industrial Park Vocational and Technical College to train new energy vehicle talents. He said: "children have no motivation to learn, except inferiority, because they don't know what they can do in the future." Once people are confused, their thoughts can't keep up. My idea is to cooperate with my alma mater. The teaching materials are the most advanced technical materials in our industry, and the teachers in class are the backbone of our company. Students know exactly what they are studying and what they will do in the future. This advantage also lies in the seamless connection from school to post. "