Policies and Practices of Professional Development for Middle leaders in Chinese Higher Vocational Colleges

Conference: The Asian Conference on Education (ACE2022)
Title: Policies and Practices of Professional Development for Middle leaders in Chinese Higher Vocational Colleges
Stream: Educational Policy, Leadership, Management & Administration
Presentation Type: Live-Stream Presentation
Authors:
Ni Zhang, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom

Abstract:

The Chinese Ministry of Education issued a series of policies that put forward higher requirements on the quality and ability of teachers in Chinese higher vocational colleges (CHVCs). Among them, the principles of stratification and classification were explicitly proposed. Benefiting from the localized development of distributed leadership theory and adult learning theory in China, the professional development for middle leaders has gradually entered the scholar's field of vision. This study reports a qualitative phenomenological study of four CHVCs in Shandong Province and aims to explore the specific support measures for middle leaders' professional development and individual experiences. Through the collection and analysis of official documents on professional development at the national, regional and institutional levels, the relevant policy requirements regarding the professional development for middle leaders have become clear. Based on the snowball sampling method, this study conducted two rounds of in-depth interviews with 15 middle leaders from four CHVCs. After coding and analyzing the obtained data, the researcher found that the professional development for middle leaders in CHVCs includes classroom teaching, team leadership, and external cooperation. The specific support measures involve five categories. This study highlights the role of collective learning and school-enterprise cooperation as the core measures. Moreover, in the context of the pandemic, the combination of online and offline is widely used in the concrete practice of professional development. It enhances the understanding of professional development for middle leaders in CHVCs and proves the critical role of professional development in the Chinese vocational education reform process.

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