Challenges in Fostering Creativity in Labor Education Curriculum Programs in Guangdong Higher Vocational Colleges

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-904-9_12How to use a DOI?

Keywords

labor; education; course; vocational; colleges; China

Abstract

Labor education courses in vocational colleges in China are essential to equipping students with the necessary skills and knowledge concerning work ethics, occupational safety, and social responsibilities. The Chinese government has directed focus to improving vocational education colleges through increasing partnerships with companies to increase the transition of students into industry. However, diverse challenges hinder the success of labor education courses in preparing students to face the problems in the industry. The current research investigated the challenges faced in fostering creativity in labor education curriculum programs in Guangdong Higher Vocational Colleges and strategies that could be adopted to overcome them. Data was collected using the qualitative methodology where 3 instructors from vocational colleges in Guangdong with more than 10 years of experience were interviewed. Thematic analysis of the findings revealed that challenges to fostering creativity arose from the curriculum which emphasized practical skills over divergent thinking and the teacher-directed form of learning which discouraged the participation of students in solving problems. As such, reforming the curriculum was recommended to integrate essential skills to foster creativity among the students.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Deming Kong
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/12/01
TI  - Challenges in Fostering Creativity in Labor Education Curriculum Programs in Guangdong Higher Vocational Colleges
BT  - Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Educational Reform (ICER 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 92
EP  - 98
SN  - 2667-128X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-904-9_12
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-904-9_12
ID  - Kong2025
ER  -