2025: This Is How We Define the Future of Vocational Education

Academic scores are never the sole criterion for evaluating students.

Every youthful life harbors unique potential, waiting to be awakened by the right nurturing environment; every stage of growth deserves to be recognized beyond paper-based assessments.

As the world’s definition of talent grows increasingly diverse, the global industrial landscape accelerates its transformation, and the demand for internationalized technical talents becomes more urgent, Cogdel Education Group aspires to light up the boundless possibilities of young lives through the carefully paved path of vocational education internationalization.

Guided by this belief, Cogdel Education Group recently convened the 2025 Annual Meeting of its Vocational Education Division. Far from a routine internal meeting, it was an in-depth reflection and exploration on teaching practices, responding to the needs of the times while upholding the original aspiration of education.

Strategic Blueprint: Defining the Future of Vocational Education from the Height of "Educational Ecosystem"

Mr. Shi Min, Director and Acting President of the Group, kicked off the meeting from a macro perspective at the group level. He clearly stated that vocational education is one of the three core pillars alongside basic education and higher education in the internationalized education ecosystem built by Cogdel Education Group, and shoulders a unique mission of the times in current social development.

Vocational Education Boasts Immense Potential

"Today’s vocational education is no longer a fallback for underachievers, nor is vocational education internationalization merely about studying abroad. Guided by China’s strategy for high-quality vocational education development, it serves as a pivotal driver for a manufacturing powerhouse to thrive globally and a key pathway to empower lifelong individual development. Cogdel Education Group’s goal is to cultivate a new generation of skilled talents who meet the demands of cutting-edge global industrial development, equipped with solid craftsmanship and international vision, through multi-path and multi-model exploration of three-dimensional internationalized vocational education. We aim to truly make vocational education a premium choice for students to embrace the world."

Core Focus: From "Imparting Knowledge" to "Nurturing Whole Persons"

Mr. Liu Hua, General Manager of the Vocational Education Division, systematically elaborated on Cogdel Education Group’s distinctive international vocational education curriculum system. He noted that students in vocational schools have unique traits different from those in regular middle schools. To a certain extent, their mental health and holistic development matter more than excellent paper-based grades. The school-running model built by Cogdel Education is not a simple combination of foreign language proficiency and technical skills, but rooted in attention to each individual and expectations for children’s healthy growth.

Drawing on the assessment framework rooted in the whole-person education philosophy of the IBDP system, and the in-depth learning and research training system from A-Level courses, we fully leverage Cogdel Education Group’s all-dimensional international education resources to create an internationalized whole-person development program in the vocational education field.

This is more than just curriculum system construction; it is an initiative to define international standards for vocational education. Cogdel Education Group does not aim to set up one international class after another, but to build a replicable, promotable and industry-influential benchmark for internationalized vocational education curricula. We strive to make high-quality, warm and personalized internationalized vocational education an accessible option for more students.

Frontline Cultivation: Fulfilling Educational Commitments with Full Support

The vitality of strategies and systems ultimately lies in the daily classrooms practiced by frontline teaching teams. The core session of the seminar focused on empirical student learning analysis and teaching reflections from various teaching teams.

1. Targeted Student Learning Profiles & Dynamic Teaching Adjustments

Each teaching team presented detailed student learning analysis reports, covering far more than academic data—it delved into learning habits, thinking training, interpersonal communication, cross-cultural adaptation and personalized vocational interests.

In response to the typical characteristics of vocational education students, teaching teams adopted multi-dimensional strategies spanning theoretical learning and personalized development.

2. Teaching Content: Differentiated Calibration Based on Universal Principles

The internationalization of vocational education starts with an in-depth understanding and seamless alignment with international vocational standards. Facing the distinctive training pathways, qualification frameworks and evolving policy details of countries like Germany, France, Canada and Australia, the teaching seminar explored specific regional differences, industry cultures and local policies in depth. The team systematically analyzed how these factors impact curriculum structure, teaching priorities and assessment methods, and integrated them into the actual learning status and growth needs of Cogdel students. This process breaks the relatively rigid model of traditional vocational education. On the premise of respecting students’ individual differences and family aspirations, we explore universal principles for cultivating high-quality international skilled talents and dynamically optimize each teaching module.

3. Process Assessment: Building Multi-Dimensional "Whole-Person Education"

Cultivating high-quality skilled talents can never rely solely on the result-oriented screening model of traditional education. Cogdel’s vocational education team has long been committed to building a personalized assessment system centered on process-oriented and developmental principles.

Establish a continuously updated multi-dimensional competency growth portfolio for each student；Provide after-class tutoring to help students fill knowledge gaps in a timely manner；Build an educational community through home-school communication；Continuously optimize teaching methodologies via regular thematic teaching research；Focus on psychological resilience training to shape students’ lifelong ability to face challenges and solve problems.

We believe that high-quality education is reflected in students’ ability evolution trajectory in complex scenarios. Tracking and valuing students’ multi-dimensional competencies provides the most convincing support for their future further study and employment, winning recognition from prestigious overseas enterprises and institutions.

Systematic Support: A Practice Field with Multi-Pathways and Full-Age Coverage

Solid systems and frontline wisdom are tested and integrated in Cogdel Education Group’s rich business matrix, providing a wealth of practice fields for teaching research. Experience sharing across various sectors at the meeting formed a synergy for quality improvement.

1. International Departments of Vocational High Schools: Consolidating Diversified Starting Lines

Teams from the International Department of Chengdu Zhonghe Vocational High School and the International Department of Zigong Vocational and Technical School shared how to integrate the internationalized whole-person education philosophy with general education in traditional vocational colleges into daily teaching. For students who need to cultivate adaptability to different cultural environments in various language tracks, we not only focus on theoretical learning, but also systematically foster critical thinking, communication and collaboration skills, and open-minded vision through teamwork and thematic activities, preparing students for overseas education and employment.

Chengdu Zhonghe Vocational High School is a national key secondary vocational school and a national demonstration school for the reform and development of secondary vocational education. In 2023, the school launched English, German and French classes, connecting with world-leading vocational education systems to provide students with a cost-effective and high-return internationalized pathway to success.

2. Adult Vocational Education: Empowering Critical Career Transitions

For learners aged 18 and above, teaching strategies emphasize precision and efficiency. The meeting focused on differentiated teaching and learners’ diverse career development needs. We not only help learners with social experience efficiently achieve career transitions and build systematic knowledge and skill frameworks meeting enterprise requirements, but also attach great importance to psychological and cultural adaptation preparation for overseas employment, ensuring a solid and steady transition. We aim to make internationalized vocational education the most valuable investment in their career journey.

3. Future Strategy: Multi-Pathways for Customized Futures

Responding actively to the national "Going Global and Bringing In" strategy, Cogdel Education Group gives full play to its advantages in resource integration and platform connection, partnering with overseas institutions and industry-leading enterprises to build a two-way new ecosystem of international industry-education integration:

On one hand, localize high-quality international vocational education resources by co-building international secondary colleges, launching junior-college-undergraduate bridging programs and developing customized enterprise courses.

On the other hand, actively promote the export of Chinese vocational education standards, curriculum models and study-in-China programs to overseas markets.

Ultimately, we aim to form an open, win-win and two-way circular pattern for international education cooperation.

Looking ahead, Cogdel Education Group will continue to prioritize the development of vocational education internationalization, transforming the upheld whole-person education philosophy into tangible, accessible and applicable growth ladders for students every day. The high quality required by internationalized education is no longer exclusive to a small number of elites, but a practical and feasible global career pathway paved for the majority of ordinary students. Cogdel Education Group will continue to introduce world-leading vocational education models and standards, promote the innovation of new industry-education integration models, and cultivate high-end internationalized applied technical talents for the new era!

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