Wang Jindong: Promoting the Effective Integration of Ideological and Political Classrooms with Society-based Classrooms
The Proposals of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development, deliberated and adopted at the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, explicitly proposed the implementation of the New Era project for fostering virtue through education [1] and the promotion of the effective integration of ideological-political classrooms and social classrooms. This strategic deployment accurately responds to practical issues existing in current ideological-political course construction and points out the practical direction for universities to implement the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education from the height of combining theory with practice. Promoting the effective integration of ideological-political classrooms and social classrooms is of great significance for implementing the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education.
Ideological-Political Education Rooted in Practice
The Marxist view of education consistently upholds the basic principle of the dialectical unity between the well-rounded development of the individual and social practice. The foundation of educating people lies in fostering virtue (li de), and the foundation of fostering virtue lies in self-cultivation (xiu shen). Therefore, promoting the effective integration of ideological-political classrooms and social classrooms, and deepening theoretical understanding through social practice, is the fundamental path to achieving educational goals.
"Effective integration" is by no means a simple spatial superposition or a patchwork of forms; rather, it is an inherent logical requirement based on the Marxist theory of practice. It aims, through the deep inter-embedding and collaborative promotion of theoretical teaching and social practice, to break through the practical predicament of the "suspension" [2] of education. It seeks to drive the substantive transformation of teaching objectives from "knowledge memorization" to "value identification," ultimately achieving the organic unity of knowledge and action in the educated subjects and promoting the well-rounded development of the individual.
The Marxist view of practice profoundly reveals the foundational status of practice in epistemology and establishes practice as the sole criterion for testing truth. Ideological-political classrooms, through systematic theoretical instruction, complete the cultivation of students' "Three Outlooks" [3]; meanwhile, social classrooms provide the necessary support for the transformation of theory into action by providing a field of practice. The effective integration of the two constructs a complete educational roadmap from cognition to identification and then to practice, finally achieving the unity of knowledge and action (zhi xing he yi) moving from the internalizing of knowledge to the externalizing of behavior. Currently, the struggle in the ideological domain remains sharp and complex, and social trends of thought are turbulent. In this context, the unidirectional, "indoctrination-style" [4] lecture model of traditional ideological-political classrooms faces the predicament of insufficient practical explanatory power. Abstract theories find it difficult to directly respond to specific problems, and unidirectional indoctrination easily leads to the weakening of value identification. Social classrooms, however, by organizing students to participate in social practice, allow them to strengthen their "Four Confidences" through a process of experiencing the country's developmental achievements firsthand. Through more in-depth and meticulous education and guidance, this builds deep-seated trust in the Party, confidence in socialism with Chinese characteristics, and faith in Marxism, enhancing their ability to discern and resist various erroneous trends of thought.
The fundamental purpose of learning activities lies in the subject's cognitive construction and practical transformation of the objective world. In this process, the cognitive dilemmas and theoretical needs within the field of social practice act upon the teaching system through a reverse-drive mechanism, thereby forming a dynamic circulation system from theoretical supply to practical feedback and then to teaching improvement, ultimately achieving an elevation from knowledge transmission to value leadership. Marx’s assertion in the Theses on Feuerbach that "the essence of man is the ensemble of the social relations" not only reveals the essential attribute of education as a mechanism for the reproduction of social relations but also reveals, at an ontological level, the necessity for educational practice to break through the physical boundaries of the classroom. By constructing social classrooms, ideological-political courses can achieve the reconstruction of the teaching field in the dimensions of time and space, thereby completing the transformation of the "Great Ideological-Political Course" [5] educational pattern from conceptual construction to realistic practice.
Practical Challenges of Two-Way Integration
The integration of ideological-political classrooms and social classrooms faces the problem of superficiality. On the one hand, the mechanisms for effective integration are characterized by fragmentation. Due to a lack of clear understanding regarding the specific forms, functional positioning, and physical boundaries of social classrooms, various relevant departments often tend towards simplification when executing policies, lacking long-term mechanisms for cross-departmental synergy. On the other hand, there is the problem of insufficient resource integration. This is manifested in the fact that resources such as social practice bases and practical instructors have failed to form a systematic connection and organic integration with theoretical classroom teaching. A "physical superposition" phenomenon exists, such as simply understanding social practice as organized visits and inspections, failing to achieve "integration" in a true sense.
There is a deviation between social classroom practice and teaching objectives. Currently, some universities have differing perceptions of the significance and educational value of social classroom practice. Specifically, the fit between social classroom activity design and ideological-political teaching objectives is insufficient. Some practical activities show a tendency toward formalism [6], failing to effectively promote the transformation of theoretical cognition into practical ability. Furthermore, some social practices exhibit "task-oriented" characteristics, where people are satisfied with or even keen on "clocking in" [7] and "leaving traces," [8] calculating only whether the quantity meets the standard without asking whether the quality is excellent. This triggers a passive response from students and objectively weakens the core function of the social classroom in educational practice. Meanwhile, the evaluation system lacks an assessment mechanism for the effects of integration, making it difficult to scientifically quantify the degree of unity between knowledge, belief, and action.
The coverage and depth of social classrooms are insufficient. Influenced by multiple factors such as resource supply, guarantee mechanisms, and teaching staff, the current coverage of social practice is relatively limited, showing significant imbalances between regions, schools, and even classes. Some social practices have a weak correlation with the content of ideological-political courses; students participate without theoretical preparation, and there is a tendency toward the "generalization" of practical activities, making it difficult to achieve the internalization of values from cognition to identification. At the same time, some ideological-political teachers, due to insufficient ability to guide social practice, find it difficult to effectively integrate social resources and transform them into teaching materials, posing challenges to the expanded depth of teacher guidance.
Practical Paths for Deepening Integration
Deepen the understanding of integration and construct a systematic thinking framework. We must fundamentally clarify the internal logical relationship between theoretical teaching and social practice in ideological-political courses, understand the main problems currently hindering effective integration from the perspective of practical dilemmas, and understand the goal orientation of effective integration from the height of nurturing the "new people" of the future. We must clarify the respective functions, statuses, and roles of ideological-political classrooms and social classrooms. From the macro to the meso and then to the micro levels, we must clarify the missions and responsibilities of all parties in the process of constructing the "Great Ideological-Political Course" educational pattern, build a systematic thinking framework, apply precise policies, and promote the formation of a synergy in the construction of ideological-political courses.
Strengthen top-level design and improve collaborative promotion mechanisms. Based on local practices, we should further strengthen top-level design, improve policy synergy, and establish resource-sharing mechanisms to transform social resources into extended spaces for the ideological-political classroom. We must ensure the continuity of practical content across different levels of schooling, improve the system and mechanism for the integrated construction of ideological-political courses in primary schools, secondary schools, and universities, and ensure the integrity, continuity, and effectiveness of educational goals. This will drive students to better understand national conditions and the people's circumstances, and to strengthen their ideals and convictions. Importance should be placed on digital empowerment to enhance the effectiveness of ideological-political teaching. A two-way feedback mechanism should be established; cognitive confusion collected in social practice should reversely drive theoretical and academic research in the ideological-political classroom, forming an educational action roadmap from theory to practice and back to improvement.
Improve the guarantee system and create professional support platforms. We must fully recognize the core function of social practice in the process of implementing the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education. Taking the realization of teaching objectives as the starting point, we should actively construct the "Great Ideological-Political Course" educational pattern, break down industry barriers, construct the practical forms of social classrooms, and improve a goal-oriented integrated guarantee system and evaluation system, highlighting process management. We should build a professional team of instructors for social classroom practice and comprehensively improve their capabilities. We should actively cultivate "cross-border" teaching staff, inviting industry models and memorial hall narrators to participate in social classroom teaching to strengthen practical guidance.
In short, only by profoundly grasping the contemporary value of the integrated education of ideological-political classrooms and social classrooms, accurately recognizing the laws of historical development, and constructing mechanisms for professional operation and collaborative education, can we foster new people of the era who can shoulder the heavy responsibility of national rejuvenation while upholding the fundamentals and breaking new ground, thereby serving the construction of Chinese-path modernization.