The Need to Develop the Competency of Retired Industrial Teachers to be Able to Pursue Additional Careers in The Digital Economy Era

Abstract

This research aims to 1) Study the needs for capability development of retired industrial technique instructors for second career in the digital economy era, and 2) Compare the needs for capability development of retired industrial technique instructors for second career in the digital economy era. 3) A study of the relationship between competences, knowledge, skills, and attributes of the need to develop the competency of retired industrial teachers to be able to pursue additional careers in the digital economy era. As a combination between qualitative and quantitative approaches, the research divides the research population into 2 subgroups. Firstly, the qualitative subgroup, consists of 7 experts or executives from Office of the Vocational Education Commission (VEC) that are expertise in administration or operation in vocational schools affiliated with VEC. Secondly, the quantitative subgroup, consists of 38 industrial retired technique instructors from year 2017 to 2021 and 78 industrial retired technique instructors that going to retire in year 2022 to year 2026, or a total of 116 instructors in this subgroup. The qualitative research methods used in this study is In-Depth Semi-Structure Interview, follows by Content Analysis technique for analysing the results. While the quantitative part is carried out via questionnaire and statistically analysed important variables such as percentile, average value, standard deviation, T-test (analysis of difference), and F-test (analysis of variance).

According to the in-depth interview with the experts, the capability development of retired industrial technique instructors for second career in the digital economy era should pay attention on fundamental knowledge in digital marketing tools, e- business system, and e-commerce applications. The experts also suggest that utilizing social media for business such as Facebook Live, YouTube, and online sales, are also important. Meanwhile, the needs for second career capability development in the retired industrial technique instructors show are significantly high in both overall and individual compositions: knowledge, skills, and desirable characteristics. Gender, age, education level, and work experience of the instructors do not significantly affect the needs for second career capability development. Study of the relationship between each composition shows positive results with the statistical significance of 0.01. Therefore, the second career capability development in digital economy era should be supported and encouraged not only for retired industrial technique instructors, but also for retirees in government, private, and public sectors.