Policy acceptance of technical vocational education: A perspective from a new act on field study

Since the introduction of the Technical and Vocational Education Act (hereinafter “TVE Act”) in Taiwan in 2015 under Articles 25 and 26, technical teachers are required to pursue advanced study or research in the industrial field. However, few technical teachers are willing to abide by this policy, which eliminates the difference between learning and practice. This study conducted a survey by collecting data from 244 teachers of technical skills or subjects in technical vocational colleges. The results indicate that pull and push factors were positively related to the perceived value of the TVE Act, whereas the perceived value of the TVE Act was negatively related to their intention of implementation. Feedback from some of the research participants indicates that the mandatory policy of the regulation may be one of the factors leading to the exclusion of the policy. the result, this study suggested that the education policy should not only stipulate teachers’ obligation to do research or only to learn from its profession, but incentives also need to be provided as a push factors to attract technical teacher’s intention to follow the policies, so that professional or technical subjects in technical vocational schools can be improved.