International Experience and Implications for the Cultivation of Childcare Professionals from the Perspective of Industry-Education Integration

High-quality childcare services are of paramount importance for individual development, social equity, and the construction of a national public service system, with the cultivation of high-caliber professionals in the childcare field at its core. Coincidentally, as a catalyst for achieving synchronous development between vocational education and societal progress, the industry-education integration can drive institutional innovation in the training of childcare professionals, serving as the key pathway to address the talent shortage and quality bottlenecks in this industry. Therefore, from the perspective of industry-education integration, there is an urgent need for a systematic exposition and theoretical clarification of the connotative value in the training of childcare professionals. Furthermore, by conducting an in-depth analysis of childcare professional training systems built on industry-education integration mechanisms in the United States (cooperative education), Japan (industry-education-government integration), and Germany (dual system), this study systematically dissects their successful measures, including institutional logic, core elements, and operational paradigms. Based on this analysis, it offers insights such as government-led construction of a collaborative system, universities empowering and deepening talent cultivation, and enterprises laying the foundation to connect educational pathways. These insights provide international examples for the cultivation of high-quality childcare talent and the high-quality development of childcare services.