Teacher’s role perception, support and working environment in Chinese higher vocational colleges: Basis for professional development

This study used descriptive research to determine the teacher's role perception, support and working environment in Chinese higher vocational colleges.The study surveyed 400 teachers at three vocational colleges in Guangdong Province, China to assess their role perception, the support they received, and their work environment.The research showed that majority of the respondents were females, between the ages of 31 and 40, with 6 to 10 years of teaching experience; Also, they had sound perception of their role as teachers, which played a positive role in the professional development of teachers.Most of vocational teacher's perceived the support level was consistent in six aspects: research and teaching conditions, soft environment, leadership style, management system, career development and organizational identity, indicating that school support played an important role in teacher professional development;Respondents agreed on the importance of a teacher's working environment in terms of resource adequacy, student support, affiliation, professional interest, participatory decision making, and work stress.The working environment affected the job involvement of higher vocational teachers.A good working environment played an important role in the construction of highquality teachers and promoted the professional development of teachers.When responses on the perception of the teacher's role were compared according to the profile grouping, the responses varied widely by age and years of teaching, especially in terms of interpersonal communication.The study found that respondents aged over 50 who had worked between 11 and 15 years rated themselves more highly than others.Significant differences in participatory decision-making were observed when grouped by sex, and the study found that men rated better than women.There were significant correlations between teacher's role perception and support, between teacher's role perception and working environment, and between support and working environment; Based on the results, a professional development plan for teachers in higher vocational colleges was developed to improve teachers' teaching ability, enhance their career satisfaction and promote the high-quality development of education.Schools may implement a system to support teachers' professional development, improve research and teaching Peng, F.52 Consortia Academia Publishing (A Partner of CollabWritive Publishing House) conditions, encourage teachers to participate in academic activities such as training and seminars, promote exchanges and sharing among teachers, create a positive cultural atmosphere, and improve teachers' organizational identity and professional happiness.