Developing the teaching staff at universities of technical education in a competency based approach

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING THE VIETNAM INSTITUTE OF EDUCATIONAL SCIENCES NGUYEN THE DAN DEVELOPING THE TEACHING STAFF AT UNIVERSITIES OF TECHNICAL EDUCATION IN A COMPETENCY-BASED APPROACH Major: Educational Management Code: 62 14 01 14 DOCTORAL DISSERTATION IN EDUCATIONAL SCIENCE SUPERVISORS: - Assoc Prof.Dr Nguyen Cong Giap - Prof.Dr Nguyen Thi Hoang Yen HANOI, 2016 The work is completed at: The Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences Supervisors: - Assoc Prof.Dr Nguyen Cong Giap - Prof.Dr Nguyen Thi Hoang Yen The first judge: Assoc.Prof.Dr Nguyen Xuan Thuc The second judge:Assoc.Prof.Dr Thai Van Thanh The third judge: Prof.DSc.Nguyen Minh Duong The dissertation will be demonstrated at institute-level dissertation marking council at The Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences at No 101 Tran Hung Dao Street, Hanoi At ………… The dissertation available at: - National Library of Vietnam - The library of the Vietnam Institute of Educational Sciences LIST OF THE PUBLIC SCIENTIFIC WORKS Tran Trung - Nguyen The Dan (2012), “Pratical competence – The top priority issue in completely innovating the educational system”, Journal of Education, Ministry of Education and Training, issue 294, page 4-5,27 Nguyen The Dan (2012), “The effectiveness of cooperation between universities of technical education and enterprises”, Scientific Journal Education Management, National Institute of Education Management, Ministry of Education and Training, issue 43, page 27-30 Nguyen The Dan (2014), “Planning the management staff at universities of technical education at the current situation”, Scientific Journal Education Management , National Institute of Education Management, Ministry of Education and Training, issue no 58, page 27-29,64 Nguyen The Dan (2015), “Making a breakthrough in recruiting lecturers at universities of technical education”, Vietnam Teachers’ magazine, issue no 96, page 56-58 Nguyen The Dan (2016), “Recommendations for professional competence frame for lecturers at universities of technical education”, Educational Equipment Magazine, issue no 127, page 15-18 Nguyen The Dan (2016), “Theories relating professional competence for lecturers at pedagogical technical universities”, Vietnam Teachers’ Magazing, issue no 107, page 33-35 Ho Ngoc Vinh, Nguyen The Dan, Nguyen Thi Lieu (2016), “Developing teaching skills for students whose major is pedagogy and engineering”, Vocational Science Journals, issue no 30, page 1218 Nguyen The Dan (2016), “Some features of the teaching staff at universities of technical education”, Journal of Educational Science, issue no 127, page 35-36 INTRODUCTION Rationale The decision no 29-NQ/TW on the fourth of November 2013 sets the specific goals for university education which is to focus on training high quality human resources and developing good characteristics and the ability to self study The decision emphasizes the professional competence of the teaching staff; Hung Yen University of Technology and Education has the important mission in training majors at different levels, following the trend of professionaloriented higher education (POHE) Teachers are considered to play the important role in providing vocational teachers for the professional and educational system to develop the labour force serving in industrialization and modernization process The teaching staff of universities of technical education has difference in quantity, quality and structure There are a lot of factors affecting their development With the above problems, I personally chose the theme ”Developing the teaching staff of universities of technical educationin a competency-based approach” for my doctor dissertation in educational management Purposes of the research Based on the theoretical and practical research, the dissertation recommends the solutions to develop the teaching staff of Hung Yen University in a competency-based approach in order to improve the professional competence for them, aiming at “standardizing and modernizing” the teaching staff at universities of technical education to meet the requirement of basic and comprehensive renovation of those universities Objects and subjects of the research 3.1 Objects of the research Developing the teaching staff at universities of technical education 3.2 Subjects of the research Developing the teaching staff at universities of technical educationin a competency-based approach Scientific theory Developing the teaching staff at universities of technical education has achieved certain results; however, there have been many problems in planning, recruiting, using, training, giving further training, evaluating and implementing the incentive policies for teachers If the recommendations for applying the solutions to develop the teaching staff in a competency-based approach in simultaneously and systematically, from building the competence framework for teachers at universities of technical education, recruiting and using human resources effectively, etc., the problems are solved and the quality of teachers is improved The duties of the research 5.1 Doing the research on theoretical reasoning at developing the teaching staff at universities in approaching competence 5.2 Observing and evaluating the current situation of the teaching staff and the development of the teaching staff at universities of technical education 5.3.Suggesting recommendations to develop the teaching staff at universities of technical education inthe competency based approach At the same time the experiments are done to confirm the necessity and feasibility of the recommended solutions Methods of the research The author used the following research methods: reasoning, specific research, and supplementary methods 7.Scope of the research 7.1 Limit of the research The managers, teachers and students at universities of technical education; 7.2 Limit of the research area Vietnam has universities of technical education and all the five universities are investigated Persuasive arguments 8.1 The teaching staff at universities of technical education plays the key role in ensuring the quality of training human resources in technology field to meet the requirement of professional education currently 8.2 The teaching staff at universities of technical education has the limitations in professional competence; therefore, they not meet the requirements of the renovation in the current situation 8.3 Approaching competence is the mixture and inheritance of the scientific achievements in human resource management Developing the teaching staff at universities of technical educationin a competency-based approach will help improve the quality of the teaching staff, making them complete their duties 8.4 Developing the teaching staff at universities of technical education will be effective when the managers balance the relationship between functions and constitutes of the development In order to balance the relationship, the top priority is to have “a standardized professional competence” for teachers at universities of technical education and this should be transferred into the contents in developing the teaching staff and should be the basic to suggest the requirement and standards in all activities, from planning, recruiting, using, evaluating, training, giving further training to building an environment for the teaching staff New contributions of the dissertation 9.1 Building the theoretical framework of developing the teaching staff at universities of technical education, aiming at “standardizing” to meet the requirement of the education renovation 9.2 Evaluating the current situation of the teachers and the development of teachers at universities of technical education, pointing out the limitations of the teaching staff in the current situation The dissertation points out the factors affecting the development of the teaching staff such as the awareness of institutional leaders about developing the teaching staff or the financial condition and limited infrastructure, the difference in development among teachers, policies for teachers, the advancement of technology and environment, and so on 9.3 Giving out the solutions to develop the teaching staff at universities of technical educationin a competency-based approach in order to meet the requirement of training high quality human resource at universities of technical education in which the solution of “building competence framework for the teaching staff at universities of technical education” has special meaning Based on this framework, solutions for planning, recruiting, using, evaluating, training and giving further training for teachers in order to make them better are recommended 10 Parts of the dissertation Apart from the opening, conclusion and recommendation, the dissertation has chapters: Chapter 1: Theoretical reasoning of developing the teaching staff at universities in a competency-based approach Chapter 2: The current situation of teachers at universities of technical education Chapter 3: Solutions for developing the teaching staff at universities of technical educationin a competency-based approach CHAPTER THEORETICAL FOUNDATION OF DEVELOPING THE TEACHING STAFF IN A COMPETENCY- BASED APPROACH 1.1 Overview 1.1.1 Research relating to the teaching staff and developing the teaching staff -International research: Since the end of 21st century, research relating to developing the teaching staff in approaching the professional standard has been carried out in many countries in the world Many of them have built the standards for their educational system - Domestic research: The above research has emphasized the key role of the teaching staff in training The research of international and domestic authors has pointed out the approach in managing, developing the teaching staff, and recommending the solutions for the teaching staff to improve the quality of teaching at universities 1.1.2 Developing the teaching staff in a competency-based approach The international and domestic research on the teaching staff has emphasized the key role of the teaching staff in training and given recommendations for solutions to enhancing the pedagogical and technological skills for the teaching staff 1.2 Some basic concepts 1.2.1 Lecturers In term 70, Educational Law 2005 stated that “Teachers who teach at universities or vocational colleges are called lecturers” Lecturers at universities of technical education are those teaching at faculties, departments and centers of universities of technical education, being able to teach, educate, research and popularize science, organize pedagogical activities and self-study to train pedagogical students at all majors 1.2.2 The teaching staff According to Virgil K.Rowland, the teaching staff is the experts in educational field They master the knowledge and know how to teach and educate At the same time, they are willing to devote all their talents and effort for education The teaching staff at universities of technical education is the teachers, managers and scientists who take part in teaching, doing research and transferring the technology for faculties at universities of technical education 1.2.3 Developing the teaching staff According the Vietnamese dictionary, “Development is the change a little or a lot, narrowly or broadly, from low level to high level, from simple level to complicated level” Developing the teaching staff at universities of technical education is the process of building, completing or changing the current situation of the teaching staff at universities of technical education, helping them becomes better, more efficient and professional to meet the requirements of teaching and doing research 1.2.4 Competence There are a lot of concepts and definitions of competence, such as the fact that competence is the ability to apply the knowledge, experience, skills, attitude and interest to act appropriately and effectively in lively examples in real life Competence is a mixture of knowledge, skills and attitude that allows an activity or a group of activities to be done as a task 1.3 The teaching staff at universities of technical education 1.3.1 Features of the teaching staff at universities of technical education The system of universities of technical education began as vocational schools which then developed and became pedagogical and technological colleges and universities, being in charge of training vocational teachers at different levels Teachers at universities of technical education are recruited from different sources The teachers graduating from pedagogical colleges are in charge of teaching general subjects The ones graduating from technological universities are responsible for teaching major subjects The ones who teach practising skills are excellent students graduating from universities of technical education Universities of technical education developing in approaching applied career are assigned to train technical teachers at university level by the government; therefore, the training products of universities of technical education are graduate students who have good knowledge and pedagogical skills and standardizedgraduate requirements Carrying out the teaching duty in pedagogical and technological field is taken place in lecture halls, school workshop, and production sites The teachers have to master the major knowledge, skills and critical scientific thinking The teaching staff at universities of technical education is teachers, educators who have the ability to organize and manage the teaching or educating activities The distinguishing feature of teachers at universities of technical education are the fact that they have to work mentally and physically The teachers at universities of technical education have the duty to train students to have pedagogical competence, as long as knowledge, and professional skills at a certain level to adapt to work after graduating 1.3.2 Duties of teachers at universities of technical education Teaching, doing research, studying, self improving and carrying out the social duties 1.3.3.Professional framework of teachers at universities of technical education Professional framework of teachers at universities of technical education Profession al competen ce Professiona l knowledge - Practice skills -Managing and organizing skills Teaching competen ce Research competen ce - Preparing competence Implementi ng competence + Mastering the teaching methods + Know how to use teaching aids and materials -Verbal communica tion -Evaluating competence -Finding out the problems -Building research proposals Implementi ng the research -Processing data Publicizing and applying -Guiding students to research -Evaluating the results of students’ research Developin g the training curriculu m - Mastering the process and methods of developing training curriculum Identifying the training requirement s - Building and adjusting the training curriculum Evaluating the training curriculum Implementi ng the training curriculum Building good relationsh ips with enterprise s - Having good knowledge of enterprises - Finding and building good relationship s with enterprises Remaining the cooperative relationship s Organizing or taking part in cooperative activities between universities and enterprises Profession al developm ent - Self evaluating and planning the professiona l developme nt - Self training -Using foreign languages and information technology proficiently -Giving advice for colleagues to make progress together Chart 1.1 Theoretical framework of professional competence of teachers at universities of technical education 1.4 Some theories relating to developing human resources to apply in developing the teaching staff at universities of technical educationin a competency-based approach 1.4.1 Leonard Nadler’s model The theory of developing human resources was developed by the American author named Leonard Nadler Applying chart 1.2: Managing human resources based on competence by Leonard Nadler to develop the teaching staff at universities of technical educationin a competency-based approach 1.4.2 R.WayneMondy and RoberM.Noe’s model Chart 1.3.Description of analyzing work According to this chart, whether the developing the teaching staff is successful or not is dependent on two factors: () analyzing work; (-) standardizing competence Applying this model in developing the teaching staff at universities of technical education has to be carried out simultaneously chronologically at all levels 1.4.3 Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)’s model Chart 1.4 The process of managing human resources based on competence The general view of the authors is to bring competence system to human resource management 1.5 Developing the teaching staff at universities of technical educationin a competency-based approach Developing the teaching staff at universities of technical educationin a competency-based approach PLANNING THE DEVELOP MENT OF THE TEACHING STAFF IN APPROAC HING COMPETE NCE (Clarifying the standard of professional competence to the teaching staff) RECRUITI NG THE TEACHING STAFF BASED ON COMPETE NCE (Based on the description of the professional framework) EVALUATI NG BASED ON COMPETE NCE (- Based on the professional framework - Evaluating based on proof) TRAINING THE TEACHING STAFF BASED ON COMPETE NCE (Fulfilling the missing competence and focus on the duties now and in the future) BUILDING THE ENVIRON MENT FOR DEVELOPI NG THE TEACHING STAFF (Based on three factors: expectation, benefit and value; motivation change, organism of cooperating and classifying managers) Chart 1.5 Developing the teaching staff in a competency-based approach 10 2.2.5 The survey procedure - Instructing the managing staff, teaching staff, and students to fill in the statistical forms, survey forms; afterwards, they will complete the forms themselves - Deeply interviewing the managing staff and teaching staff of these universities in order to assist the survey questionnaire method 2.3 The real situation of the teaching staff at Universities of technical education 2.3.1 Number, gender and age of the teaching staff The teaching staff at universities of technical education have a relatively reasonable structure with 61.26 % of the lecturers aged from 31-50 (in which 49.51% aged from 31-40, 11.75% aged from 41-50) The gender structure is 63.1% male compared to 36.9% female which is unreasonable 2.3.2 The qualifications of the teaching staff The qualification structure of the teaching staff at Technological and Education Universities is relatively reasonable; the majority of the teaching staff have the master degree (69,20%), the number of teaching staff who have the Ph.D upwards accounts for 13,99% (in which 0,46% are professors; 3,28% are associate professors and 10,25% are Ph.D) 2.3.3 The pedagogical, foreign language and information technology ability of the teaching staff 19.29% of the teaching staff are trained at Pedagogical Universities, 2,71% are educated at Pedagogical Colleges, and most of them have the pedagogical certificates (making up 78%) Among the teaching staff at Pedagogical Universities, 34.89% have vocationally pedagogical certificates There arefew teaching staff who has foreign language ability at university level, postgraduate level and who have international certificates The staff who only have information technology certificates make up 75.99% and the number of 11 staffwho are trained information technology from college level upwards is extremely limited 2.4 The real situation of the teaching staff competence at Universities of technical education 2.4.1 The professional competence of the teaching staff The teaching staff at Universities of technical education self-assess their competence from good upwards (from 3,62 marks to 4,37 marks), in which the criterion “Meet and fully conform to moral standards of a teacher” is the most highly appreciated (4,37 marks), following are the criteria “Professional knowledge” (4,23 marks) and “Proficiency in the skills of the professional field” (4,15 marks)…However, the criteria related to practical knowledge and the application of practical knowledge and professional knowledge into the scientific research and teaching activities of the lecturers have not been highly appreciated with the average mark from 3,62 to 3,68 The weakest point in the professional competence of the lecturers is the ability to perform their jobs in practice and the application of professional knowledge into tackling practical problems 2.4.2 The teaching competence of the teaching staff The teaching ability of the teaching staff at Universities of technical education is assessed at good level with the average mark for each criterion from 3,88 to 4,07; generally, the teaching ability of the staff of these universities meets the requirements The criteria namely choosing, using teaching instruments and applying information technology in teaching are most highly appreciated by the students 2.4.3 The scientific research competence The scientific research ability of the teaching staff at Universities of technical education is assessed at good level with the average mark for each criterion from 3, 29 to 3,61 Some criteria of the teaching staff are still evaluated to be bad 2.4.4 The competence of developing the curriculum of the teaching staff This ability of the teaching staff is assessed to be good with the average mark for each criterion from 3,59 to 3,9, in which the criterion “Implementing and instructing the deployment of the curriculum in accordance with regulations and orientations of applied jobs” is the most highly appreciated with the average mark is 3,9 The criterion which receives the lowest assessment is “Design and fluently use curriculum assessment instruments” This is also the common problems of current lecturers, requiring Universities of technical education to concentrate on providing the lecturers with further training for this skill 2.4.5 The ability to establish relationship with businesses of the lecturers The ability to establish the relationship with businesses of the lecturers at Universities of technical education is assessed as good, with the average mark for each criterion form 3,46 to 3,58; therefore, it is necessary to continue developing the ability in order to improve the training quality, the organizations’ and individual prestige of Technological and Education Universities 2.4.6 Professional development competence of the teaching staff 12 The aspects showing the professional development competence of the teaching staff are evaluated to be good with the average mark for each criterion from 3,16 to 3,97; in which the lowest assessed criterion is “Using foreign language to serve the purpose of professional development activities” (3,16 mark) 2.5 The real situation of developing the teaching staff at Universities of technical education 2.5.1 Planning the teaching staff The teaching staff realize the necessity of the implementation of lecturer planning The managing staff and lecturers state that” The analysis of the current situation of the teaching staff” is more important However, the managing staff and teaching staff have not paid much attention to the popularization of the plan to all of the staff of the university and to the predictation of the demand for resources 2.5.2 Recruitment the teaching staff We have conducted a survey with the following contents: (1) Using an open competitive examination method; (2) Assigning the recruitment to departments, subjects and centers; (3) Building a standard for recruiting lecturers (focusing on competence standards); (4) Building the recruitment procedures; (5) Organizing the recruitment according to the plan; (6) The number of people who are recruited with the demand for the lecturer positions 2.5.3 Arrangement and use of the teaching staff The arrangement and use of the lecturers of Universities of technical education is relatively well-implemented The training and scientific councils of these universities have guided the training and scientific councils of divisions to manage and use the teaching staff so as to meet the proposed requirements 2.5.4 Training and providing refresher courses to develop the teaching staff We have assessed the perspective on necessary level and the implementation of training missions, provision of refresher courses for the lecturers at Universities of technical education with the following contents: (1) Training to enhance the competence for lecturers; (2) Building plans and the content of refresher courses so as to develop teachers’ competence; (3) Managing and accessing the adjustment of the plan, content, the curriculum, and further training programs; (4) Self-study to improve competence; (5) Carrying out the training regulations and policies 2.5.5 Evaluating the implementation of teachers’ duties The results of the observation show that managers and teachers at universities of technical education are fully aware of the necessity of the evaluation of the implementation of teachers’ duties The average mark of the criteria is from 4.08 to 4.36 “Building and implementing the evaluating criteria based on teachers’ competency at universities” is considered the most important (level 1), which will help avoid subjectiveness The next step is “building and implementing the evaluating process” (level 2) Based on the evaluating process, the exact, objective and equal measuring tool for the teaching staff 2.5.6 The policies on the teaching staff 13 We have conducted a survey with the content: Evaluating the perspective of the teaching and managing staff on the necessity of the implementation of treatment policies for the lecturers and the treatment policy implementation level for the lecturers at Universities of technical education in the present stage 2.5.7 Factors affecting the development of the teaching staff at Universities of technical education The care of the Communist Party and the State towards the training and improving the competence of staff, civil servants and office holders; the awareness of higher authorities with the role and position of Universities of technical education; the awareness and the care of the leaders towards the task of developing the teaching staff; the development and management missions Other factors affect the teaching staff 2.6 General evaluation on the real situation of developing the teaching staff at Universities of technical education 2.6.1 The strengths - At present, the teaching staff at Universities of technical education have a relatively reasonable age structure, in which 61,26% lecturers aged from 31-50; 49,51% aged from 31-40; and 11,75% aged from 41-50 - Achieve good moral background, strong ideological stance, loyal to the socialist orientation Education and competency by teaching staff are evaluated fairly, basically meet the needs of teaching, scientific research - Technical pedagogical universities have been developing and integrating, annually enhancing teaching facilities and modern equipment - Technical pedagogical universities issued some policies to attract more teaching staff - Build plans for training and retraining, sent many lecturers for intensive short courses in order to standardize and improve the quality of teaching staff 2.6.2 Limitations - The percentage of lecturers with academic titles is relatively low; poor foreign language skills, keyboard skill is also limited; the number of distinguished guest lecturers is low - The number of teaching staff with full-time university degree is fairly limited, almost new lecturers completed short courses on teaching skills - Results of scientific research of the teaching staff is not high, compared to the requirements, just several scientific projects have large-scale value - The capacity of the teaching staff is assessed fairly; however, it has not met the requirements of innovation of present periods - Almost technical pedagogical universitieshave issued regulations on the responsibilities and duties of lecturers However, they have not built up the frame capacity for their teaching staff - Awareness by the management of universities on human development based on the capacity approach is inadequate, this is not appropriate to the task of training 14 - Planning of the teaching staff has not worked uniformly - The layout, use some teaching staff inappropriately - Ineffective assessment of lecturers, it has not evaluated teachers based on their ability 2.6.3 Reasons 2.6.3.1 The causes from strengths - Technical pedagogical universities have implemented of Direction No 40CT / TW; Resolution No 29-NQ / TW dated 04/11/2013 of fundamental innovation, comprehensive education and training and meet the requirements of industrialization and modernization - Technical pedagogical universities arevery interested in developing teaching staff - Increase investment of teaching facilities, equipment, was facilitated expansion of premises, the scale of training to ensure the quality of training, development of key university training career oriented applications true - The Party committees, local authorities are in coordination with delivering guideline for teaching staff - Teaching staff and management are significantly enhanced in both quantity and quality; lecturers have had changes in perception, in line with the trend of development and innovation of higher education in Vietnam - Managers are facilitated; encouraged lecturers improve their learning to promote all possibilities of professional activities 2.6.3.2 Causes of these problems, limitations - Technical pedagogical colleges before being upgraded to a university, they have not paid due attention to training teaching staff - University lecturers have not developed plans to develop scientifically teaching staff, close to reality; less developed and issued professional capacity frame for university lecturers - Evaluation over lecturers is not based on competency standards of teaching, scientific research, 2.7 The experience from several nations in the world for developing university teaching staff at universities of technical education based competency approach The Philippines; Singapore; The Netherlands; USA, Germany; Australia; Korea The experience of countries in the world for teaching staff development have confirmed the important role of capacity development of the teaching staff, this identifies the quality for a higher education institution Above-listed nations focused on building capacity standards of the teaching staff Sub-summary for chapter Teaching staff situation at universities of technical education also shows limitations and weaknesses This is necessary to have many solutions to be done The number of lecturers with academic titles is low; poor foreign language skills, 15 keyboard skill is limited.Many lecturers have not approached o advanced teaching skills, poor practical knowledge, the working capacity has not met the requirements Number of qualified teachers from full-time technical pedagogical university is limited; the majority of new lecturers took part in intensive courses on teaching skills Current situations of developingat universities of technical educationstill many shortcomings such as no specific framework lecturers’ capacity; The arrangements, used in lecturers are not really fit with standards of technical higher education institution, over-sized structure of teaching staff, lack of teaching periods or rate per student; lecturers assessment activities are conducted ineffectively, the results not evaluate teachers based adjustments to teacher myself, as a basis for reward, discipline, refinement and implementation of policies to develop teaching staff Impact on teaching staff development, there are many factors The determination of factors influencingon the development has showed important implications, this will enable managers to set out the appropriate measures to take advantage of positive impacts while minimizing the effects adverse better service for the development of teaching staff CHAPTER SOLUTIONS FOR TEACHING STAFF DEVELOPMENT AT UNIVERSITIES OF TECHNICAL EDUCATIONIN A COMPETENCYBASED APPROACH 3.1 Principles are proposed to develop teaching staff at universities of technical education based competency approach 3.1.1 Principles ensure the uniformity 3.1.2 Principles ensure inheritance rules 3.1.3 Principlesensure practicality 3.1.4 Principles ensure the feasibility and effectiveness 3.1.5 Principles ensure legal rules 3.2 Solutions are proposed to develop teaching staff at universities of technical education based competency approach 3.2.1 Proposals for professional competency frameworkfor teaching staffat universities of technical education in the present period a) Aims and meaning Capacity Framework is a scientific basis to determine the standards, duties and requirements of the job position, as the basis for the recruitment, employment, management, training, and assessment, human development including officials and the teaching staff at universities of technical education b) The contents and solutions Building the competencyfor teaching staff at universities of technical education including standard competencies and 14 criteria: Professional 16 competency (3 criteria); teaching competency (5 criteria); scientific research competency (2 criteria); competency to develop and implement curriculum (2 criteria); correlative competency with enterprises and professional development (2 criteria) c) Conditions of implementation Competency framework of technical lecturers should meet the standards and duties of lecturers are defined as in the Education Law, the Charter of the University (2014) and "Rules of teacher standards, trainers of vocational institutions " Professional competency framework for university lecturers at universities of technical education is consistent with the characteristics of training activities at the technical education 3.2.2 Building, planning and development of teaching staff universities of technical education based on competency approach a) Aims and meaning Building, planning and development of teaching staff are to ensure sustainable development, meet the requirements of higher education innovation towards standardization, modernization and international integration Planning the development of the teaching staff in universities of technical education for effective POHE- oriented training of multi-disciplines and multilevels b) The implementation procedure Planning the scale and targets to improve teaching staff’s qualification and fulfilling both short-term and long-term duties to ensure the quantity, the quality and gender and age structure of teaching staff at the present and in the future The planning should have appropriate scale with equal qualification, competency, equal distribution of age and gender It is required to set up the targets for each planning period such as the proportion of lecturers with MA, PhD., Prof, and Associate Prof The planning should base on teaching staff’s competency framework to decide the quantity, the quality and the structure The planning of teaching staffdevelopment is considered as fundamental solution and condition to develop teaching staff with adequate quantity, improved qualifications and suitable structure to meet the requirements of strategic development of each university To set up the competency-based planning scale and targets for teaching staff, universities of technical education should follow the diagram below: 17 Issue standard competency system for teaching staff Assess competence of teaching staff Identify teaching staff’s limitations and future requirements on the quantity and capacity Predict the employment of teaching staff in each development period Specify the quantity of teaching staff in each unit Figure 3.1 The planning procedure of teaching staff’s development c) The implementation conditions Planning the development of the manager, and teaching staff should be carried out regularly and continuously from selecting resources, training, improving to utilizing them to ensure the continuity Simultaneously, it is required to assess the implementation of the planning to have timely directions and adjustments and offer the most appropriate and effective solution 3.2.3 The recruitment and employment of teaching staff according to their ability and duties a) Aims The recruitment and employment of teaching staff is a must to meet the demand for teaching staff in a given period to ensure the resources for the development of each university Universities should select effective competency-based recruitment and employment criteria b) The implementation procedure Exploit the recruitment rights to issue policies, standards and recruitment procedures to select competent candidates and full exploitation of them c) Implementation conditions The recruitment of teaching staff should follow the governmental guidelines for the implementation of Law on cadres and civil servants The rector must ensure the objectivity, fairness during the recruitment process, and be responsible for recruiting qualified lecturers It is required that each department makes plans of the 18 timetable, and contents; allocates teaching work; and other duties for teaching staff Establish competency-based recruitment criteria Draw the attention of candidates Shortlist the candidates Recruit and assign duties for teaching staff according to their qualifications Figure 3.2 Recruitmentprocess, employment of teaching staff in competency-based approach 3.2.4 Assess and classify teaching staff according to their competency a) Aims First, to develop the resources and exploit each lecturer’s potential Second, to encourage teaching staff with rewards when they obtain achievements meeting the requirements of their university b) The implementation procedure Set up the assessment process and select precise criteria satisfying both the social and institutional requirements The criteria should cover the quality and quantity of the work, the amount of time, etc The following issues should be carried out: (1) Assign responsibilities to teaching staff: This process should be done in accordance with the regulations of Ministry of Education and Training Some major issues should be paid attention to as follow: (-) Regulations on specific responsibilities of teaching staff Duties of teaching staff are assigned based on three aspects: (-) The regulations specifying the requirements on teaching staff’s competency standard according to the competency framework of teaching staff in universities of technical education; (-) The regulations on establishing detailed curriculums and staff’s teaching schedule; (-) and establishing criteria for teaching staff title (2) Develop teaching staff assessment according to 360 assessment: Universities should apply 360 assessment to ensure the systematic and objective assessment 19 (3) Collect different information sources for assessment: Giving feedbacks on how a staff works is essential to ensure the effective staff use, training, employing, nominating and sorting c) Implementation conditions The Ministry of Education and Training should issues regulations timely on the work hours of teaching staff Based on this, universities should consider their functions and duties to assign the responsibilities for teaching staff, to complete teaching staff assessment criteria for students and departments in charge 3.2.5 Opening training courses to developteaching staff’s competence a) Aims To meet the requirements for developing universities of technical education with responsibilities assigned by the Ministry of Education and Training in general, to satisfy the standard criteria of lecturer title specified in Law on Education and increasingly high demands in education and training b) Implementation procedure It is necessary to base on the objectives of training- improving qualification and ability in teaching, doing scientific research and other activities- and to meet the requirements on qualification and lecturer’s title Train teaching staff to standardize them, including: improving their qualification, their competence in teaching; curriculum development and implementation; public relation with businesses; and career development c) Implementation conditions The training should be realistic and useful for teaching duties or other responsibilities to improve their capacity The training should be organized regularly and flexible with various measures such as mental and financial encouragement, combined with lecturer’s responsibilities to the university, departments and their own position 3.2.6 Complete incentive policies a) Aims To ensure all incentive policies under the governmental regulations, improve their material and physical living standard and to create a healthy teaching environment to help them concentrate on their work b) Implementation procedure Teaching staff are responsible for the training quality There have been some limitations in State incentive policies to teaching staff; therefore, it is necessary for each university to create institutional incentive policies within their rights and responsibilities Issue standard working hours for teaching staff, convert other work including correcting, marking, doing extra work, supervising, compiling textbooks, writing articles, and doing research into standard working hours c) Implementation condition Promote and make use of funds from projects, financial and mental supports from provincial leaders, the Ministry of Education and Training and related sectors 20 Strictly implement financial autonomy under the Decree No 43/2006/NĐCP dated on April 25th 2006 in exploiting funds to invest in facilities and public welfare Develop institutional expenditure regulations ensuring to take advantages of all resources, all members and functional units Comply with the directions of the institutional Party committee and Board of managers for perspectives and guidelines on creating supportive environment for lecturers 3.3 Investigate the necessity and practicality of the recommended solutions 3.3.1 General issues of investigation a) The aims of investigation To collect opinions of the managing and teaching staff in universities of technical education on the necessity and practicality of the proposed solutions b) Investigated Subjects Using questionnaire survey for groups of participants: University leaders, department leaders, and department division leaders: 50; lecturers: 100 Total: 150 c) Content of the investigation Six competency-based solutions for developing teaching staff in universities of technical education are suggested (See the survey questionnaire in Appendix 5) d) Methodology Participants give responses by completing information in the survey questionnaires e) Assessing the findings Rate the finding by marking system The necessity is calculated according to the 1-3 scale: 3- Very necessary, 2necessary, and 1- unnecessary The practicality is calculated according to 1-3 scale: 3- Very practical, 2practical and 1- impractical Apply the formula to calculate Spearman’s rank order correlation coefficient: in which r is the correlation coefficient D is rank order between the two ranked variables N is the number of proposed solutions Convention: If r > it is proportional correlation If r < is inversely proportional correlation If r is closer to the correlation is stronger If r is farther from the correlation is less strong 3.3.2 Results 21 3.3.2.1 Results of the investigation of the necessity of the proposed solutions All of the suggested solutions are rated as necessary with average coefficient from 2.32 to 2.9 The first solution has the highest coefficient, 2.9 while the sixth has the lowest, 2.32 This means it is necessary to innovate managing activities to improve teaching staff according to competency-based approaches and university’s functions, responsibilities and development trends 3.3.2.2 Results of the investigation of the practicality of the proposed solutions The results show that all the subjects appreciated the practicality of all the proposed solutions with average coefficient from 2.16 to 2.88 3.4 Experimenting some solutions 3.4.1 Objectives Experimenting the efficiency and impacts of solution “Completing the policies to encourage the staff development” 3.4.2 Limitations a) Content: The dissertation is conducted to experiment the contents of the training and improving of staff capacity This also design and organized the training course of “technical pedagogical competence” b) Subject of the experiment: 40 lecturers from different departments of UTEHY c) Timing: The experiments was carried out for months (from Aril 2015 to June 2015) d) Location: Due to the limitation of time and distance, the researcher only carried out the experiment at UTEHY 3.4.3 Criteria Basing on the structure of the pedagogical competence, the criteria to assess the capacity of teaching staff are designed The proportion of each pedagogical skill depends on its importance in forming the competence The proportion was discussed and approved by experts According to the results, the pedagogical competence of the teachers is classified as follow: - Less than points: below average - - < points: average - - < points: good - – 10 points: excellent 3.4.4 Experiment methods and procedure - Researching the pedagogical competence of teaching staff before experimenting: 40 lecturers from UTEHY participated in a survey which was designed to assess their pedagogical competence with the preset criteria - Selecting teaching staff for training, designing the program and training documents - Preparing the experiment: location, documents, budget and facility for the training course 22 - After finishing the training course, the outcome competence of teaching staff was measured The criteria to assess the input and output pedagogical competence are to classify the teachers into levels: excellent, good, average and below average All the experts were trained with the assessing criteria and methods and had a trial test with two teachers to get experience - The experts assessed the pedagogical competence of each teaching staff in the experiment Each teacher was to teach one theoretical period and one practical period Each teacher was assessed by three experts The result is the average of the assessment from the three experts - The input and output results were collected and analyzed 3.4.5 Experiment findings 3.4.5.1 The pedagogical competence of teaching staff before the experiment 3.4.5.2 The pedagogical competence of teaching staff during and after the experiment Figure 3.6 Comparing the pedagogical competence of teaching staff before and after the experiment Before After Classification Number Rate % Number Rate % Below average 0 0 Average 24 60 12 30 Good 16 40 25 62,5 Excellent 0 7,5 3.4.5.3 Opinions of teaching staff about the pedagogical training program 100% of the participants stated that the training course is necessary and meet their demand 100% of those teaching staff agreed with the procedures and content of the course 80% of the participants were highly interested and the other 20% also expressed their interest in the course 100% of the staff attending the course stated that the objectives of the course were achieved The findings of the experiment prove the feasibility and efficiency of the solution of training and improving the capacity of the staff Conclusion of chapter Basing on the observation and analysis of the real situation of the staff development and contrasting to the suggested competence-oriented management model, the dissertation provides principles to implement the suggested solutions and solutions of competence-oriented staff development as follow: (1) Proposing the professional competence framework for teachers in universities of technical education for the current situation; (2) Constructing plans for competency-based staff development approach in universities of technical education; (3) Implementing the recruitment plan and organizing new staff suitable for their capacity and responsibility; (4) Improving staff capacity; (5) Training and 23 improving the capacity of the staff; (6) Completing the policies to encourage the staff development The suggested solutions are highly comprehensive and systematic They are also related and supportive of each other The survey and experiment with the collected findings confirm the rationale, feasibility and efficiency of the suggested solutions A group of quality solutions at the system level and the attempt of the organizations will make it feasible to improve the efficiency of the staff management and development CONCLUSION, RECOMMENDATION Conclusion 1.1 In theory - The dissertation have analyzed and clarified the viewpoint that competence approach is the combination and follow-up of the achievement in human resource management study, human potentiality exploitation and optimism of team productivity - The capacity of the lecturers at universities of technical education is the combination of professional, pedagogical competence and other skills such as researching, developing and implementing the curriculum This combination is called competence of lecturers at universities of technical education - Capacity-approaching development of the teaching staff at universities of technical education is the process of completing the teaching staff to meet the professional criteria There needs to be a set of professional criteria for lecturers at universities of technical education These criteria must be part of the management activities in order to standardize the planning, recruiting, using, assessing, training and encouraging the staff development - In staff development, the factors should be considered to minimize the disadvantages and optimize the advantages This will help to make sure the fulfillment of staff development 1.2 The results of the survey of the real situation of staff development at universities of technical education prove the following points: - The real situation of teaching staff at universities of technical education: The advantages are personal virtue, firm standpoints and loyalty to the socialism Their capacity is at good level and meets the demand of teaching and researching work However, there are stills shortcomings that should be improved - There are some problems with the staff development such as: lack of regulations on capacity frameworks for lecturers at universities of technical education; unreasonable employment at some universities such as the redundancy of teachers in some departments; lack of lecturers with high qualification and inefficient assessment of teachers - There are a variety of factors that affect the staff development The identification of these factors is vital in staff development and helps administrators find out suitable solutions to minimize the disadvantages and optimize the advantages 1.3 Analyzing the real situation of staff development 24 Currently, considering the suggested competence-oriented management model, the dissertation has analyzed the advantages and disadvantages of the teaching staff at universities of technical education It has also proposed capacity-approaching solutions These solutions are comprehensive, highly systematic, related and supportive to each other 1.4 Findings of the experiment The findings of the experiment has proved the rationale and feasibility of the suggested solutions and confirmed the results of the study Recommendations 2.1 Recommendations for the Ministry of Education and Training - Promulgate state management regulations on teacher labor rate in teaching and researching Instruct the institutions on regulating the position, responsibility and duty of the teachers as well as the internal budget policy - Research, design and issue the capacity standards for teacher staff at universities of technical education - Empower university rectors to decide the number of regular members of the personnel and to make payment to the lecturers in accordance with their capacity and contribution - Create a legal framework and encourage international cooperation in different aspects; pay more attention and make more investment in training teachers at universities of technical education 2.2 Recommendations for universities of technical education - Issue capacity-approaching regulations on the standards, position and responsibility of teachers; basing on the regulations of the State, instruct the internal departments on regulating the position, responsibility and duty of the teachers - The professional criteria for lecturers at universities of technical education should be part of the management activities in order to standardize the planning, recruiting, using, assessing, training and encouraging the staff development - Decide on suitable plans, orientations and regulations for teaching and researching basing on the real situation in each university Make positive contribution in completing the standards and responsibility of the teachers in different departments - Train, improve and develop the capacity of the lecturers in accordance to the demand of the current innovating period - Improve the beneficial policy to improve teachers’ living standard and working environment 2.3 Recommendations for lecturers Each lecturer should always attempt to improve themselves in terms of personal virtue, professional competence and be aware of his own role, position and responsibility in teaching, researching and serving the society, which is useful for their academic self-improvement