A Study Of Vocational Education Implementation In Senior Secondary School In Australia

Nowadays, the rapid development of society is changing the nature of work and the skills required. How to make senior secondary school students in this context smoothly transit from school to work or further education has become a subject in international scale. Since the 1990 s, Australia has been committed to exploring the practice of vocational education in senior secondary school, in order to meet the diverse needs of students and provide students with more choice of pathways. It is expected that students possess not only general knowledge but also professional skills when they graduate, which can make students achieve a smooth transition from school to work or further education. The practice has broken the barriers that existed for a long time between general education and vocational education. It also developed diverse pathways for students and provide them advance opportunity to experience the world of work. When students graduate, they can get a high school diploma and the State recognized vocational qualification certificate, which provide a guarantee for students that they can choose their pathways based on personal interests when they graduate.Base on the background of general education and vocational education integration, this study focused on the research of the implementation of the Australian senior secondary school vocational education. The study is divided into five parts.The first part of this study proposed research background, significance and research methods that have been used, and summarized the research results of Australian senior secondary school vocational education at home and abroad.The second part interpreted Australian senior secondary school vocational education’s background and overview. Through the analysis of the background, I summarized four main implementation backgrounds, they were, industry demands of skilled personnel, the public demands of equitable education, addressing high school dropout problem and the federal government introducing a related reform policy.The third part is the focus of this study. This part studied the major initiatives of Australian senior secondary school vocational education, including the establishment of implementation objectives, setting implementation agents, establishing protection mechanisms, and the implementation of curriculum. The study took Victoria as a case, from the micro level study Australian senior secondary school vocational education curriculum.The fourth part analyzed the outcomes achieved, problems and improvement measures of Australian senior secondary school vocational education.The fifth part analyzed the characteristics of Australian senior secondary school vocational education and summarized its enlightenment to China.