CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHERS IN CHINESE VOCATIONAL UNIVERSITIES

Abstract

The rapid development of vocational undergraduate education has created new demands for teacher professional competence, institutional governance, and educational quality. However, existing studies primarily focus on vocational university positioning, curriculum reform, industry–education integration, digital transformation, and high-quality institutional development, while systematic research on continuing professional development management for teachers remains limited. This study aims to develop a Continuing Professional Development management model for teachers in vocational universities. Drawing upon recent research on vocational undergraduate education, teacher development, organized research, digital empowerment, curriculum reconstruction, and collaborative governance, the study identifies key factors influencing teachers' professional growth, including organizational support, industry collaboration, digital competence, competency development, evaluation mechanisms, and continuous improvement. A conceptual CPD management framework is proposed to integrate institutional governance, teacher competency development, industry engagement, digital technologies, and quality assurance into a coherent management system. The proposed model emphasizes systematic planning, multi-stakeholder collaboration, dynamic evaluation, and sustainable professional learning to enhance teachers' teaching, research, innovation, and industry practice capabilities. The study contributes to the theoretical development of teacher professional development in vocational universities and provides practical guidance for improving teacher quality and supporting the high-quality development of vocational undergraduate education. The findings are expected to offer valuable implications for educational policymakers, vocational university administrators, and researchers interested in sustainable teacher development and institutional capacity building.