On July 4,Fujian Daily(Qiushi Edition) published an article entitled “Focusing on ProfessionalTeacher’s Training and Accelerating the Construction of Modern Vocational Education System” by Professor Lai Hairong, Secretary of the Party Committee of FPNU.
The following is the main content of the article.
In April this year, ahead of the National Conference on Vocational Education, General Secretary Xi Jinping gave important instructions on vocational education, stressing the need to “build a number of high-level vocational colleges and majors, promote the integration of vocational education with the generaleducation,strengthen the adaptability of vocational education,accelerate the construction of a modern vocational education system, cultivate more high-quality technical and skilled personnel”. The spirit of Xi Jinping’s important instructions reflects his earnest expectations and ardent wishes for building a modern vocational education system and achieving high-quality development of vocational education, which has pointed out the way forward and provided fundamental guidelines for the reform and development of vocational education in the new era.
At present, the spirit of the important speech of General Secretary Xi Jinping during his visit to Fujian is being thoroughly learnt and implemented in Fujian Province, and we are now striving to write our own chapter of building a modern socialist country in an all-round way. To implement Xi Jinping’s important mandate and promote high-quality development in all aspects, we must pay more attentionto accelerating the construction of a modern vocational education system with Fujian characteristics, focus on cultivating high-quality professional vocational education teachers,cultivate more “teachers of ingenuity” and “teachers of craftsmanship”, and make efforts to increase the number of technical and skilledprofessionals and at the same time, improve the quality of them.
The key to cultivate high-quality and professional vocational education teachers fundamentally lies in adhering to and strengthening the overall leadership of the Communist Party of China. Adhering to and strengthening the overall leadership of the Party in education is a fundamental guarantee for sticking to the socialist direction of running schools and firmly pursuing the path of vocational education development with Chinese characteristics. It is necessary to strengthen the construction of the Party. We will implement the general requirements of the Party’s construction in the new era, always put political construction in the first place, and take the main responsibilities of managing the Party and governing the Party in a strict manner. It is also of great importance for us to continuously improve the quality of party building in schools, effectively transform the advantages of party building into advantages of reform and development,build the university into a solid position to adhere to the leadership of the Party, and take a firm stand on the training of socialist builders and successors. We will study and follow the instructions of Xi Jinping on vocational education, fully carry out the Party’s education policy, conscientiously implement the spirit of the National Conference on Vocational Education, and raise our political consciousness. We will consider the cultivation of vocational education teachers in the new era as an important element in building a high-quality education system, address inadequacies, adjust the structure, improve the quality of vocational education, and work hard to make our own achievement in the building of vocational education in Fujian based on Xi Jinping’s instructions. It is necessary to keep a firm grip on the direction of development. The Party Committee plays a leading and central role in taking the right direction and managing the overall situation. Based on this condition, we will take the 14th Five-Year Plan as an opportunity to improve strategic plans and top-level design, scientificallymake plans for teachers’ training in vocationalschools, adapt the development of vocational education majors to national strategies and regional development, and increase the quantity and quality of vocational education majors.
The key to cultivate high-quality professional teachers ofvocational education lies in deepening the integration of industry andeducation and the cooperation between schools and enterprises.The integration of industry and education is the essential feature of vocational education. The vocational education majors focus on professional education and teacher education. During the training programs, it is important for schools to guarantee that vocationalprofessionals can adapt to technological development and fit job srequirementsin the front line, so that we can gradually form vocational requirements and job standards for technical skills and teaching skills and improve the qualityand adaptabilityof vocational professionals. It is necessary to optimize the training programs for vocationalprofessionals. We will promote the organic integration of talent training programs with industrial upgrading needs and technical standards of production positions in enterprises, achieve the synchronous development of professionals training and industrial progress,majorsbuilding and economic and social development, reach up to the requirements of technological progress, technological innovation and market changes on the professionalism and skills of vocational talents, optimize the knowledge structure of students and improve the development of vocational education and also the quality of teaching. It is important to insist that schools and enterprises should work together to educate vocational teachers. We will improve the school governance structure based on school-enterprise cooperation, consider enterprises as an important part of education,encourage enterprises to take part in the editing of teaching materials, teaching design, curriculum development, practice guidance, course delivery and assessment and evaluation, so that we can further cultivateprofessionals. It is necessary to strengthen practice teaching. We will focus on improving the practical ability of students, coordinate various types of practical teaching resources, give full play to the advantages of enterprise resources, and strengthen resources sharing. We will promote the construction of comprehensive experimental training practice platform and base with industry-education integration andschool-enterprise cooperation, establish a practical training quality assurance mechanism, so that students can really learn and practice vocational skills.
The key to cultivating high-quality professional teachers for vocational education lies in strengthening curriculum construction. Curriculum construction is the foundation and core of all teaching work. The quality of the course determines the effectiveness of professional development and is the support for the long-term vitality of the profession. It is necessary to optimize the curriculum system. We will enhance the systemic and scientific nature of the curriculum, adapt to the cross-disciplinary characteristics of multi-disciplinary integration of professional teachers, promote the development of the integration of vocational and academic teacher training, optimize the generaleducation, strengthen professional foundation, and improve professional technology and practical training. We will strengthen the construction of curriculum groups and shared courses, and add standards of professional qualification into the building of curriculum system. It is important to improve the content of the course. In accordance with the “double-professionally-titled teachers” training goal, we will improve the quality of vocational teachers, including their professionalism and application ability, and focus on cultivating vocational teachers with modern teaching paradigm and professional ability. We will actively satisfy the needs of social and economic development and industrial technological progress, improve students' technical skills and innovation capabilities, take enterprise technological innovation projects as an important resource for education and teaching, and incorporate enterprise production cases, new technologies, new techniques, and new norms into the course content. We will strengthen the construction of education courses. It is our task to educate students that they need to bear the concept of vocational education in mind, master the theory of vocational education, consolidate teaching skills, and improve teaching skills. What’ more, teaching methods also must be reformed. We will actively adapt to the development trend of "Internet + education", accelerate the deep integration of modern information technology and education and teaching, reshape curriculum methods and education and teaching forms, implement heuristic, inquiry, participatory, and cooperative teaching methods, and carry out modular teaching.
The key to cultivating high-quality professional vocational teachers lies in the implementation of the fundamental task of establishing moral integrity. Morality education is the foundation of colleges and universities. We must always stand at the height of the overall situation of the course ofthe Party and the country, correctly understand and grasp the fundamental issue of "who to train, how to train, and for whom", take strengthening ideological and political education as a lifeline throughout the entire process of talent training, and focus on training newcomer of the era who is responsible for national rejuvenation. We must do a good job in casting souls to nurture people. We will persist in using Xi Jinping Thought onSocialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era to cast souls and educate people, strengthen the education of socialist core values and the “four histories” education, deepen the comprehensive reform of “three all-round education”, and actively explore to establish an ideological and political education system which is in accordance with the modern vocational education law and loved by students to strengthen morality education. It is necessary to cultivate the noble morality of teachers. We will deepen the value concept of “ Great learning makes a teacher, moral integrity makes a model” in talent training, strengthen value guidance, focus on the development of teacher ethics, shape the temperament and personality of future teachers, stimulate students’ professional emotions, enhance their professional recognition, and firmly engagethemin vocational education, willing to establish a belief and pursuit of long-term teaching and life-long teaching and aspire to be a good teacher with faith, virtues, knowledge and kindness in the new era. We will adhere to practice both morality and technical skills, strengthen the ideological and political education centered on the cultivation of the spirit of model workers, the spirit of work, and the spirit of craftsmanship, vigorously promote the thinking that the glorious thing is labor, the precious thing is skill and the great thing is creation. We will create a great social atmosphere, focus on integrating moral education into classroom teaching, practical training and other links, integrate students’ professional qualities cultivation and promote the organic connection between ideological and political courses and curriculum ideological and political to promote the development of students’ craftsmanship and the habit of pursuing excellence.
The original aspiration calls for responsibility, and the mission inspires us to move forward! As the only university in Fujian Province that is positioned to train vocational teachers, Fujian Polytechnic Normal University will thoroughly study and implement General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important exposition on education, earnestly implement the spirit of the National Vocational Education Conference, adhere to our positioning and scientific development, strive to cultivate high-quality professional vocational teachers, commit to playing a unique role and make special contributions in the construction of a modern vocational education system with Fujian characteristics.
(The writer is secretary of the Party Committee, Professor and Doctoral supervisor of Fujian Polytechnic Normal University.)
(Translated by Peng Qinyu 1-5 and Zhang Yuting 6-8, Interns & MTI Postgraduates)
