An event themed "Practical Innovation of Vocational Education Teachers' Professional Development" was held in Tianjin on Nov. 21, as one of the parallel sessions of the 2024 World Vocational and Technical Education Development Conference.

Sponsored by the Ministry of Education of China, the National Commission of China for the UNESCO, and the Tianjin Municipal People's Government, and organized by Tianjin University of Technology and Education, the event attracted over 200 representatives of relevant international organizations, educational departments, enterprises, and colleges and universities from nearly 30 countries to explore new paths for vocational education development, with a particular focus on the key role of industry-education integration in promoting high-quality development of vocational education.

Yang Jin, former Chinese Ambassador to UNESCO, Jarso Maley Jallah, Education Minister of the Republic of Liberia, Zidhna Waheed, Associate Minister of Higher Education, Labor and Skills Development of Maldives, Simelisizwe Sibanda, Associate Minister of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation, Science and Technology Development of Zimbabwe, and Zeng Tianshan, Deputy Director of the Institute of Curriculum and Textbook Research, Ministry of Education of China, attended the event and delivered speeches.

Zheng Qingchun, President of Tianjin University of Technology and Education, chaired the event.

The occasion also witnessed the launch of the International Vocational Education Teacher Professional Development Digital Course Resource Platform and the Sino-German International Vocational Education Teacher Training Center.

During the parallel session, participants shared their insights into the trends, policies and practices of vocational education teachers' professional development.

In the discussion on the trends of vocational education teachers' professional development, professor Zhang Jingang, Secretary of CPC Tianjin University of Technology and Education Committee, gave an in-depth discussion about the Chinese pattern of training vocational education teachers, citing the theoretical innovation and practical exploration of his university.

Professor Ewe Hong Tat, Director of ASEAN Academy of Engineering and Technology and President of Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia, focused on the skills needed in the future. He thoroughly analyzed the development trends of vocational and technical education personnel in the artificial intelligence era.

Biruk Kedir, Director General of Ethiopian FDRE Technical and Vocational Training Institute, shared a plan for modernizing vocational skills training based on the innovative practices in Ethiopia, providing useful reference for others attending the event.

Yang Jin, former Chinese Ambassador to UNESCO, analyzed the challenges that future vocational education teachers will face in the digital transformation of the profession, highlighting the role of teachers in the transformation from the perspective of Industry 4.0 and skills requirements.

Professor Zeng Tianshan, Deputy Director of the Institute of Curriculum and Textbook Research, Ministry of Education of China, analyzed the status quo of teachers in Chinese vocational colleges. He explained the characteristics of "craftsmen teachers" and proposed paths for cultivating such teachers in the future, guided by the spirit of great educators.

Dr. Eberhard Trowe, former head of China Projects of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit-Academy for International Cooperation (GIZ-AIZ), detailed the path to promoting the specialization of vocational teacher training through specific didactic internship stages.

Professor Krasae Chanawongse, former Minister of Education of Thailand and President of Krirk University, Thailand, analyzed the path for practical innovation of vocational education teachers' professional development.

In the discussion on the policies of vocational education teachers' professional development, Dr. Li Jun, tenured professor of University of Western Ontario, former President of Comparative and International Education Society, and founding President of the Chinese Society of Education, discussed the role of teachers and proposed pathways for building a supportive community to promote their development.

Frank Winzerling, President of WMU GmbH, Germany, focused on the action-oriented education concept, analyzing its application in German dual-system teacher training and proposing future directions for development.

Professor He Zhen, Director of the National Institute of Vocational Education, Beijing Normal University, provided an in-depth analysis of the concept of "double-certificated" teachers. He discussed the training paths for high-level "double-certificated" teachers and outlined the basic pattern for building a contingent of such teachers.

Professor Philipp Pohlenz, Associate Dean of the School of Humanities, Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg, Germany, presented the basic characteristics of the dual education scheme, and analyzed the features, challenges and three stages of vocational and technical education teacher training based on German cases.

Professor Kuang Ying, Deputy Director of the Faculty of Education, East China Normal University, addressed the issues and challenges in the training and development of vocational education teachers in China and provided reflections on improving the quality of this training in the future.

Professor Adam Usher, Director of the School of Education, Deakin University, Australia, discussed the complexity of TVET (Technical and Vocational Education and Training) and illustrated the relevant elements of its practice. He positioned the role of teachers as innovators in practice and clarified the unique characteristics of TVET teachers.

Professor Katlin Azul, Manager of Porsche Program, WMU GmbH, Germany, tackled the real issue of global labor shortages, analyzing the reasons behind these shortages and the current situation in industries. Based on the German dual education mode and the practical cases of the Porsche program, she discussed how to ensure the future supply of skilled professionals.

Professor Mi Jing, Dean of the School of Vocational Education, Tianjin University of Technology and Education, used the China-based, internationally-visioned Engineering Practice Innovation Project (EPIP) as the core concept to analyze the integrated development path of the professionalization of Chinese vocational teacher education from bachelor's to doctoral levels.

Professor Zhao Wenping, Dean of the Teacher Institute of Vocational Education, Tianjin University of Technology and Education, provided a detailed analysis of the characteristics of "double-certified" vocational education teachers and gave an accurate description of their roles.

In the discussion on the practices of vocational education teachers' professional development, Bounseng Khammounty, Director General of the Vocational Education Development Institute, Laos, analyzed the training of vocational education teachers in Laos. He discussed the current state, issues, importance, and goals of TVET, using mixed research methods to qualitatively and quantitatively analyze teachers' industry experiences, and offered relevant suggestions.

Professor Stevo Borojevic, Associate Dean of the School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, highlighted the cooperation with China and the vocational training landscape in the Republika Srpska, with a detailed analysis of vocational training needs, supported by vivid case studies.

Gulmira Bekmanova, Vice Rector of Eurasian National University, elaborated on the innovative exploration of teachers' professional development in the context of digital transformation based on the experience of his university.

Professor Liu Yan, Secretary of CPC Guiyang Vocational and Technical College Committee, focused on the practice of cultivating high-speed railway talents to serve the Belt and Road Initiative. With real-life case studies, he illustrated effective ways for cultivating vocational education personnel.

Duskaeva Lilia, Director of the Department of Media Linguistics, School of Journalism and Mass Communication, St. Petersburg State University, conducted an analysis of the modern production field and elaborated on the development of teaching staff for professional communication skills.

Liu Jinyi, Secretary of CPC Binzhou Polytechnic Committee, shared his experiences on high-quality development of vocational education, with a focus on the practical exploration of faculty’s professional development, and offered a model for growth.

Luo Shengfang, President of Guangxi Economic and Trade Vocational Institute, explained the achievements and main practices of building an innovative team of teachers based on the college's cooperation with ASEAN and shared his reflections.

Li Bin, Secretary of CPC Changsha Social Work College Committee, analyzed the dimensions of vocational teachers' professional growth, emphasizing the importance of enhancing teachers' competencies through specialized platform training, cultivating double-competency teachers through deep industry-education integration, and invigorating teachers' vitality with an innovative evaluation mechanism.

Li Da, Secretary of CPC Qingdao Vocational and Technical College of Hotel Management Committee, shared his experiences in the training of vocational education teachers guided by the spirit of great educators. He also proposed methods and paths for training "craftsmen teachers.”

This event strengthened mutual learning, inclusiveness, and connectivity of vocational education among countries worldwide, and helped to expand international exchanges and cooperation in the field of vocational education.

Experts at the meeting shared their experiences in the professional development of vocational education teachers, and delved into the resources and paths for the innovative development of global vocational education teachers and the trends in the digital empowerment of capability innovation and development.

They also reached consensus on building international standards for vocational education teachers' capabilities and setting up international industry-education integration vocational education teacher training bases.

The insights shared by Chinese experts, such as the approach to training vocational education teachers, cultivating high-quality "craftsman teachers" with the spirit of great educators, the pathways and models for establishing high-standard dual-certified teaching teams, and the specialized paths for developing vocational education teachers integrated with bachelor's, master's, and doctorate programs, have garnered widespread attention from their international counterparts.

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