THE OPERATIONS OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS UNDER THE OFFICE OF TRANG VOCATIONAL EDUCATION

Abstract

            This study aimed to investigate the operations of vocational education institutions as perceived by teachers, to compare the operations of vocational education institutions as perceived by teachers in relevance to their gender, educational level, job position, work experience, institution size, administrators’ gender and work experience, and to identify problems and suggestions related to the operations of vocational education institutions. The sample consisted of 187 teachers under Office of Trang Vocational Education. The sample size was determined using Krejcie and Morgan’s table at a 95% confidence interval. Stratified random sampling was conducted based on the proportion of schools, followed by simple random sampling using a lottery method to select teachers from each school. The data collection instrument was a five-point rating scale questionnaire with a consistency index ranging from .60-1 and the overall coefficient alpha of .96. The data analysis statistics included percentage, mean, standard deviation, independent samples t test, F test, one-way ANOVA, multiple comparisons using the LSD method and content analysis.
            The findings revealed that: 1) the overall operations of vocational education institutions as perceived by teachers were found at very good levels. When considering each department, it was found that the Academic Affairs departments, Student Affairs and Development, and Planning and Cooperation were at very good levels, while the Resource Management department was at a good level; 2) the overall comparison of vocational education institution operations as perceived by teachers in relevance to their gender, educational level, job position, work experience, institution size, administrators’ gender and work experience, showed no significant differences. However, in terms of work experience, it was found that, overall, teachers with less than 10 years of work experience had a higher perception of the vocational education institution operations compared to those with  21 years or more of work experience. Regarding administrators’ gender, it was found that, overall, female administrators had a significantly higher perception than male administrators, at a significance level of .05. 3) Problems and suggestions indicated that, according to some teachers’ perceptions, small-sized colleges were allocated insufficient budgets for managing the institution, lacked modern media, materials, equipment, and teaching tools, which were inadequate for the number of students. In addition, teachers had duties beyond their teaching that were unnecessary, which affected the quality of teaching and learning.