Journal: Journal of Higher Education Research DOI: 10.32629/jher.v7i4.5411
Abstract
The reform of vocational education evaluation stands at a critical stage of abandoning the "five-only" evaluation criteria and establishing new standards. Adopting Kuhn's paradigm theory as an analytical framework, this study examines the internal evolutionary logic of vocational education evaluation and identifies an ongoing paradigm shift from instrumental rationality to value rationality. The old paradigm of vocational education evaluation, typically characterized by standardized tests and result-oriented assessment, tends to fall into the predicament of alienation induced by instrumental rationality. To construct the new paradigm, this study upholds value rationality centered on students' lifelong well-being and advance systematic reform of all evaluation elements. Paradigm reconstruction and value shift are in fact two sides of the same process: the former focuses on institutional reform of the evaluation system, whereas the latter emphasizes the reshaping of the value foundation of evaluation practices. Only by accomplishing this dual transformation through a dynamic balance of breaking down the old and building up the new can vocational education evaluation give full play to its inherent value in advancing the development of an education powerhouse.
Keywords
vocational education evaluation; paradigm reconstruction; value shift; instrumental rationality; type-specific education
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[3] Li Zuojun, Zhang Ran. The Value Orientation, Realistic Perspective, and Promotion Path of Innovating the Classified Evaluation System for Higher Education Institutions [J]. Journal of China Executive Leadership Academy Pudong, 2025, 19(4): 129-136.
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[5] Liu Lijun. Research on the Optimization Strategy of Talent Training Specifications for Application-Oriented Undergraduates in the New Era [J]. Journal of Changzhou Institute of Technology (Social Science), 2024, 42(3): 83-86.
[6] Liu Xiao, Qian Jiannan. Professional Construction and Industrial Development in Vocational Education: Matching Logic and Theoretical Framework [J]. Research in Higher Education of Engineering, 2020, (2): 142-147.
[7] Zhou Zuoyu. The Problem of Meta-Evaluation: The Evaluation Cycle and the Value Origin [J]. Universities and Disciplines, 2020, 1(1): 47-57.
[8] Liu Junya. Research on the Evaluation of General Education Teaching in Universities Based on Learning Outcomes [D]. Hunan University, 2021. DOI:10.27135/d.cnki.ghudu.2021.004247.
[9] Liu Bangqi, Yuan Tingting, Ji Yuchao, et al. Empowering Educational Evaluation with Intelligent Technology: Connotation, Overall Framework, and Practical Pathways [J]. China Educational Technology, 2021, (8): 16-24.
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