Research On The Connection Between Vocational And Undergraduate Studies In Japanese Higher Vocational School

After the Second World War,Japan entered a period of rapid economic growth and the rapid development of heavy industry,which required a large number of practical and technically skilled personnel to support the development of manufacturing-centred industries.In the post-war Japanese education system,there was a lack of specialised educational institutions for the training of technically skilled personnel.In 1961,the Act establishing the Japanese College of Technology was introduced and the training of technically skilled personnel entered the field of higher education.The aim of the advanced specialized schools was to train practical,middle-level technical and skilled personnel,i.e.those with a higher level of expertise than vocational high schools and who were active on the front line of industry.However,after the 1980 s and 1990 s,with the upgrading and transformation of Japanese industries and the popularisation of higher education,the development of advanced specialized schools hit a bottleneck.The technical skills education provided by advanced specialized schools,as a type of "finishing education",was no longer suitable for the needs of industry,and the specialist level of education could not meet the needs of students seeking higher qualifications.It was against this background that the articulation of specialised schools was put on the agenda.This has led to the development of a system of articulation between advanced specialized schools and technical universities,general universities and specialised departments of advanced specialized schools.However,in order to maintain the practical nature of advanced specialized schools,the Japanese government has focused more on the articulation with universities of technology and specialised departments of advanced specialized schools than on the articulation with general universities.The intention is clear: it is possible to improve academic qualifications,but not to abandon the practical character of human resources training in higher specialised schools,and to gradually build a system of practical technical skills personnel from vocational high schools,higher specialised schools,technical science universities and undergraduate and postgraduate studies.This study traces the genesis,development and bottlenecks of specialised higher education through documentary research.It describes the efforts made by advanced specialized schools to break through the bottleneck.It analyses various models of articulation from the dimensions of entry,training and graduation.Explains the Japanese government’s intention to build a system for cultivating practical technical skills by looking at the articulation methods it is trying to promote.Through case studies,the articulation between Nagaoka College of Technology and Nagaoka University of Technology is analysed in terms of entry,training and graduation,and the characteristics of the articulation are summarised as continuous,institutionalised and collaborative,with emphasis on joint training with related industries,and a grasp of industrial development trends.The articulation mode of Japanese advanced specialized schools has inspirational value for China’s articulation.Firstly,we should build a system for the cultivation of technically skilled personnel,construct a progressive articulation model and emphasize practicality.We should clarify the orientation of talent cultivation at each level,pay attention to the continuity and relevance of the curriculum,and improve the mutual recognition of credits and scholarship system.Secondly,we should open up the entrance and exit of the articulation between college and university and open up the path of articulation training.Implement flexible and diversified examination and enrollment mechanisms to upgrade the academic level.Thirdly,optimise the strength of the school and the faculty,strengthen the quality assurance of the articulation,increase the frequency of faculty exchange and dispatch study,and encourage the participation of different types of universities.The articulation should firmly follow the path of progressive and practical training of technical skills in order to promote the high-quality development of vocational education in China.