Value Implications and Practical Paths of Internationalization at Home in Vocational Education
Department of Humanities, Zhejiang Institute of Communications, Hangzhou 311112, China
| Abstract: | In response to the dynamic evolutions and unprecedented challenges in the global educational landscape, the significance of vocational education in fostering new-type skilled talents equipped with international perspectives and proficient cross-cultural competence has become increasingly pronounced and irreplaceable. Against this backdrop, internationalization at home (IaH) has emerged as a strategic and indispensable pathway to propel the innovation and high-quality development of vocational education, breaking the limitations of traditional overseas-oriented internationalization. This paper first elaborates on the core connotation of IaH in vocational education, emphasizing its fundamental goal of nurturing talents who possess both solid professional skills and a broad international outlook. It achieves this by systematically integrating a wide array of international educational resources—including international students from diverse cultural backgrounds, visiting scholars and experts from renowned overseas institutions, high-quality international curriculum modules, and collaborative projects with foreign vocational education providers—thereby reshaping the core school-running philosophy, organizational structure, and talent cultivation paradigms of vocational colleges to meet the demands of globalized labor markets. Furthermore, the paper conducts an in-depth and systematic analysis of the basic characteristics of IaH from four critical dimensions. Rooted in vocational orientation, it prioritizes aligning internationalized talent training with the actual needs of local industries and global professional standards. It emphasizes local adaptation by integrating international elements with local economic, social, and cultural characteristics to avoid mechanical copying of foreign models. It facilitates cultural integration through various cross-cultural exchange activities, fostering mutual understanding and respect among domestic and international students. It also adheres to continuous optimization, requiring vocational colleges to dynamically adjust strategies based on teaching feedback, industry demands, and international educational trends. Finally, the paper proposes a comprehensive and operable implementation path for IaH in vocational education, which includes strengthening policy guidance and implementation support via targeted policies and funding investment, constructing an internationalized curriculum system by introducing advanced courses and localizing teaching materials, deepening the integration and utilization of international resources through long-term international cooperation, innovating talent training models such as joint training and mixed teaching, improving the convergent management system for international students, and establishing a full-process quality assurance mechanism to ensure the effectiveness and sustainability of IaH. |
| Keywords: | Vocational Education; Internationalization at Home; Value Implications; Practical Paths |
| DOI: | 10.57237/j.edu.2025.06.001 |
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Received: 19 October 2025
Accepted: 11 December 2025
Published Online: 24 December 2025
Funding
| 1. | 浙江交通职业技术学院2025年度职业教育国际化专项课题“在地国际化”视角下高职留学生教育的现实困境和突破路径研究 (课题编号: 2025GJB08) |
| 2. | 浙江省教育科学规划2025年一般规划课题“共建‘一带一路’背景下的中国特色职业教育国际传播研究 (课题编号: 2025SCG282) |
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