Changes and Characteristics of Vocational Curriculum in Taiwan: 1964-2010

Although vocational education in Taiwan began more than 150 years ago, no solid foundation has been established to ensure its further development. It is because it was simply designed to fulfill the need for production human resources (HR) of businesses in the absence of a curriculum. Also, despite a set of regulations announced in 1902 (the 28

th

year of Emperor Guangsui’s Regime, Qing Dynast), they were simple rules without specifying the contents of any curriculum.

The light of vocational education eventually rose until the restoration of Taiwan along with the participation of the US Advisory Group. With the concerted efforts of the government, schools and industries, the first official curriculum tailored for vocational education was announced in 1964 to put vocational education on the right track and ensure its stable future development.

Whether it is the unit trade training curriculum, cluster-based ladder curriculum and course group curriculum, the efforts in curriculum planning for vocational education are witnessed. This also allows the localization of the vocational curriculum in industrialized countries, such as Europe, the USA, and Japan, in Taiwan and paves way for the healthy development of vocational education in Taiwan.