eng Science and Education Publishing American Journal of Educational Research 2327-6150 2020-04-05 8 4 200 207 10.12691/education-8-4-2 EDUCATION2020842 article Dao Thi Oanh 1 Nguyen Thi Kim Dung 1 Ha Thi Lan Huong huonghtl@hnue.edu.vn 1 Truong Thi Bich 1 Nguyen Thi Hue 2 Insitution for Educational Research, Hanoi National University of Education, Hanoi, Vietnam Department of Psychology and Education, Hanoi National University of Education, Hanoi, Vietnam Differentiated teaching is a current trend that emphasizes the ideology of democratizing schools, contributing to the diversion of students. Differentiated teaching develops capacity, creates learners¡¯ interests, and turns passions into learning motivation. Thereby, career orientation for students was formed. This study aims to understand some aspects related to vocational education for high school students in Vietnam and suggesting some directions for developing differentiated teaching based on the new national curriculum. Participants were 146 teachers, 33 managers, and 366 students at high schools in Vietnam. Findings revealed that vocational education at high schools had some limitations and was unable to support students in choosing career according to their interest, capacity, and personality. Difficulties shared by teachers and managers in vocational education were both due to subjective and objective reasons, including challenges of the educational system and related social problems. Based on our findings and the references from other countries, we suggest three different orientations in developing differentiated teaching based on particular subjects or credits. http://pubs.sciepub.com/education/8/4/2/education-8-4-2.pdf differentiated teaching high school students national curriculum vocational education