China's secondary and higher vocational education has been constantly exploring the connection model. We may wish to investigate the modes and characteristics of the convergence of secondary and higher vocational education in the United States, Britain, Japan and Australia, and provide some experience and enlightenment for our country.
Diversified connection mode of secondary and higher vocational education
Counterpart enrollment model. The representative country of this convergence model is Japan, which essentially realizes the convergence of secondary and higher vocational schools by implementing a five-year consistent system in higher vocational colleges. It is a typical connection mode centered on the academic system. In this connection mode, during the five-year study in higher vocational colleges, students mainly complete the courses of secondary vocational education in the first three years and the courses of higher vocational education in the last two years. The first principle to be followed in curriculum setting is logical system, and at the same time, students' cognitive level is taken into account. In addition to junior high school graduates, there are outstanding graduates from vocational high schools and people with certain vocational skills and practical experience. Usually, they are provided with opportunities to continue their studies by recommending admission, examination and selection.
Unit cohesion model. The representative country of this convergence model is Britain, and its essence is the curriculum convergence of secondary and higher vocational education. The curriculum of secondary vocational education is divided into thousands of teaching units, and two adjacent teaching units are closely connected, which ensures the logical order of the curriculum. The design of these teaching units is based on unified training standards, thus avoiding the phenomenon of repeated courses and broken files, not only realizing the coherence of students' learning, but also improving teaching efficiency.
Direct connection mode of course or outline. The United States has achieved convergence under this model. The main way is to realize the connection with the post-high school technical curriculum through the curriculum reform of secondary vocational education. This model is clearly stipulated in Carl Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Act: "The main task of the federal and state governments' financial allocation for vocational education is to change the vocational courses in high school (2 years) into preparatory courses for technical education after high school, and implement the connection between secondary and higher vocational courses, that is,' 2+2' courses. "In addition, the United States also encourages community colleges to cooperate with high schools to jointly formulate convergence plans and conduct research and development of practical technology courses.
"Training package" mode. Australia has completed the connection through the mode of "training package", which has become synonymous with Australian vocational education. "Training package" is "a set of professional standards and qualifications recognized by the state for identifying and evaluating skills, and it is the sum of the elements of training, identifying and evaluating skills recognized by the state." The "training package" is formulated by the National Industry Advisory Council of Australia, which is divided into different levels, corresponding to the qualification framework, and the content of each level is interrelated with the adjacent levels. The development and use of "training package" has promoted the convergence of secondary and higher vocational education and the standardization of vocational education and training system.