Implementing the fundamental task of cultivating people by virtue and creating a ＂golden course＂ of ideological and political education in colleges and universities in the new era

　　Author: Professor of Marxism College of China Communication University, Li Qiaozhen, a researcher at the research base of China Communication University of Beijing’s supreme leader, New Era Socialism with Chinese characteristics Thought Research Center.

　　Ideological and political theory course in colleges and universities (hereinafter referred to as ideological and political course) is a key course to train socialist builders and successors in colleges and universities, and it is also a key carrier for colleges and universities to realize the fundamental task of "cultivating people by virtue". Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the CPC Central Committee with the Supreme Leader as the core has attached great importance to Party building and ideological and political work in colleges and universities. The General Secretary of the Supreme Leader has delivered a series of important speeches and put forward a series of clear requirements, which have deeply answered the directional and fundamental questions concerning Party building and ideological and political work in colleges and universities, deepened our regular understanding of running Socialism with Chinese characteristics University well, and is the fundamental follow-up for promoting Party building and ideological and political work in colleges and universities.

　　In June 2018, the Ministry of Education held a national conference on undergraduate education in colleges and universities in the new era, and the relevant person in charge put forward the concept of "golden course", demanding a reasonable increase in the difficulty of undergraduate courses and expanding the depth of courses. In August of the same year, the Ministry of Education issued the Notice on Paying Close Attention to the Implementation of the Spirit of the National Conference on Undergraduate Education in Colleges and Universities in the New Era, which clearly stated that colleges and universities should comprehensively sort out the teaching contents of various courses, eliminate "water courses" and create "gold courses". At present, the construction and creation of the "golden course" of ideological and political education is increasingly becoming a hot issue in colleges and universities, and it is also a new requirement for ideological and political education courses in colleges and universities.

　　The understanding of the "golden course" is mainly based on the standard of "one gender", that is, the course is high-order, innovative and challenging. In addition, it is necessary to clarify some points about the "golden lesson" of ideological and political education. Whose golden lesson is the "golden lesson" of ideological and political education? What are the characteristics of the "golden course" of ideological and political education? Will the educational effect of the "golden lesson" of ideological and political education appear immediately? Can the "Golden Course" of Ideological and Political Education Solve All Students’ Ideological Problems?

　　First, the ideological and political gold course is a gold course for students and serving them.

　　At present, in order to enhance the attractiveness of ideological and political courses, colleges and universities have established a system in which party committee secretaries or principals attend lectures or even give lectures on stage. Some schools also invite top leaders or successful people in politics, business and industry to give lectures to students. These measures are very helpful to improve students’ understanding of ideological and political courses and broaden their horizons. However, it should be noted that the ideological and political gold course is not a course for secretaries and presidents of colleges and universities, nor a course for serving successful people, but a gold course for and serving students. Therefore, understanding students’ thinking and psychological characteristics and paying attention to their ideological needs are the first priority of the course of ideological and political science. Especially, with the rapid development of society, economic transformation and shifting gears, social contradictions appear, culture presents a diversified development pattern, various social thoughts collide with each other, and the increasing access to information and other factors, the formation of young students’ correct ideas and values will be more or less impacted.

　　In the face of profound social changes, complicated social thoughts and all kinds of comments, the course of Ideological and Political Science must make an in-depth analysis of major theoretical issues that students are puzzled about, such as whether communism can be realized, whether the Party is big or the law is big, and what is the road for Socialism with Chinese characteristics. Answers to these important questions should not be ambiguous and vague, but should be focused on analysis, repeated interpretation, and actively respond to students’ ideological concerns. Of course, in addition to reasoning with students, there should also be emotional descriptions to move people with feelings, so that Marxist theory can really nourish students’ hearts. Therefore, whether the ideological and political course is a gold course or not, and how much it contains, is not decided by the party secretary or the principal, but by the students. The good reputation of the students is one of the signs of the ideological and political gold course.

　　Second, the ideological and political course is a rich and open system.

　　The ideological and political course in colleges and universities is a course that systematically carries out Marxist theoretical education, Socialism with Chinese characteristics and Chinese dream education, socialist core values education, legal education, labor education, mental health education, and excellent Chinese traditional culture education. The purpose is to let students master the Marxist world outlook and methodology, the historical process and theoretical achievements of Marxism in China, and guide them to make correct value judgments and value choices, and identify and practice socialist core values. Because of this, the content of the ideological and political gold course is very rich. Considering the needs of teaching objectives and teaching organizations, the knowledge system of ideological and political education is divided into different disciplines. Among them, An Introduction to the Theoretical System of Mao Zedong Thought and Socialism with Chinese characteristics focuses on the China of Marxism and its theoretical achievements; The Basic Principles of Marxism focuses on the universal principles of Marxism and Marxist world outlook and methodology. The Outline of China’s Modern History focuses on the track and logic of modern history. Ideological and Moral Cultivation and Legal Basis focuses on socialist core values, morality and legal system. Situation and Policy focuses on the basic theory, line and strategy of the Party. Although ideological and political courses are divided into different disciplines, they are still an organic system and a logical whole, which jointly serve the cultivation of high-quality talents.

　　In addition, the course of ideological and political science is not closed and fixed, but a dynamic and open system. Openness here refers to the openness of content. The content of the course should be adjusted and changed according to the characteristics of the times, the changes of social environment and the reality of China’s social development. For example, Socialism with Chinese characteristics Thought of the Supreme Leader in the New Era is the latest achievement of the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics, which needs to be reflected in the ideological and political course in time. The second refers to the openness of space. With the development of mobile Internet technology and the popularity of smart phones, students’ learning is not limited to classrooms. Therefore, the ideological and political gold class should be taught anytime and anywhere by using the platform of massive open online course and Rain Classroom, so that students can receive education and guidance anytime and anywhere. The third refers to the openness of ideas. The idea that ideological and political courses in colleges and universities are transformed into curriculum ideological and political courses is itself an embodiment of openness. We should run Marxist theory through the whole process of teaching and research in all disciplines, dig deep into the ideological and political theory education resources of all kinds of courses, and urge the education and teaching of all disciplines to be carried out with Marxist standpoint, viewpoint and method, so that ideological and political courses can work together with all kinds of courses in the same direction to achieve the goal of collaborative education.

　　Third, the course of ideological and political science has a variety and comprehensive teaching mode.

　　In recent years, under the advocacy of the Ministry of Education, the nationwide ideological and political education reform is in full swing. Some colleges and universities use internet plus’s concept to create a new teaching model. For example, the "blended teaching" is adopted in the ideological and political course in Tsinghua University. Students can not only learn through massive open online course videos, classroom lectures by teachers and discussions between teachers and students, but also answer questions and discuss on the spot with the help of WeChat interaction. They can also express their views at any time by using the "barrage" function when watching video lessons, answering questions and commenting. There are also colleges and universities that have established the "classroom salon" model. For example, the reform of ideological and political course in Wuhan University is to organize students to have practical debates in class and form an atmosphere of positive discussion. It also uses various forms such as group presentation, keynote speech, and classic study exchange to make the classroom "move". At present, under the impetus of massive open online course Platform School Online and Tsinghua University, "Rain Classroom" presents the trend of single spark can start a prairie fire in colleges and universities.

　　"Rain Classroom" really plays a great role in stimulating students’ interest in learning and improving their participation in learning. But not all ideological and political classes must use "rain class", nor does it mean that ideological and political classes will become ideological and political gold courses after using "rain class". "Rain Classroom" is just a platform and a teaching aid. For the course of Ideological and Political Science, its teaching mode should be diverse and comprehensive. The gold course is a whole category, because the ideological and political gold course is not an effective classroom teaching, nor is it an effective practical teaching. A gold course lasts for one semester or one academic year in time. Teachers can’t interact simply for the sake of interaction, and not every class is suitable for debate and criticism. They must design teaching according to the teaching content and teaching objectives, and specifically analyze which teaching mode to adopt.

　　Fourth, the educational effect of ideological and political gold course is delayed and long-term.

　　It is well known that the ideological and political course plays a leading role in cultivating people, especially in people’s thinking, but this influence is sometimes not immediate, but slow and gradual, and it is a process of quantitative change. Only when the quantitative change is continuously accumulated can the final qualitative change be achieved. Even for the course of ideological and political science, we can’t expect it to have obvious effects on students’ thoughts in a short time. This means that the students’ sense of gain in the course of ideological and political science may not be formed in a short time, and it is very likely that they will suddenly understand the knowledge they have learned in the course of ideological and political science at some point in their future work or in their subsequent life practice. In other words, students’ understanding and epiphany of ideological morality and politics is delayed. Therefore, the evaluation of the ideological and political gold course should focus on its long-term value, rather than just paying attention to the students’ current thinking and behavior.

　　Fifth, the educational function of the ideological and political gold course is limited.

　　Curriculum, as the carrier of knowledge, reflects the specific requirements of personnel training objectives and is the most direct embodiment of personnel training requirements. Therefore, compared with other social practices and campus culture, the curriculum has the most direct and concrete influence on students’ thoughts. However, we also have to admit that even the most complete curriculum and the most ideal gold class system have limited influence on people’s thoughts. First, in the process of learning, the acquisition of knowledge is closely related to students’ own knowledge reserves, ways of thinking and ways of looking at problems. Everyone has different knowledge reserves, educational experiences and ways of thinking, and when accepting knowledge, they will face problems such as whether they can be completely digested and accepted. Therefore, the influence of ideological and political courses on people is limited, which has nothing to do with whether they are gold courses or not. Second, the social environment is becoming more and more complex, and the problems faced by human beings also have their own characteristics of the times. Even if the gold course is forward-looking, it can’t solve all the problems in human development, let alone the problems that may be encountered for specific individuals. Therefore, it is understandable to create and build the ideological and political gold course to enhance students’ sense of gain, but it needs to be clear that the ideological and political gold course cannot solve all the contradictions and problems faced by students, especially the ideological problems.

　　In addition, the course of ideological and political gold is not necessarily the course of the teachers who won the prize in the teaching competition of ideological and political course, and it is not necessarily the course of the old professors with rich teaching experience. It is for students and serves them, and there is no standardized teaching mode. Just like other courses, the course of ideological and political science is not omnipotent because its educational function is limited. At the same time, the ideological and political gold course will not change students’ ideas instantly, and its guidance to students’ ideas and values is the result of students’ subjective initiative, scientific and objective understanding, thinking, analysis and practice of what they have learned. The realization of the educational function of the ideological and political gold course can not only rely on its own efforts, but also requires the joint efforts of professional courses and general courses to support each other; Family education and social education need to be coordinated and coordinated. Only by having an objective understanding of the course of ideological and political science can we put it in a correct position, neither belittle the important position of the course in colleges and universities at will, nor blindly exaggerate its educational effect, so as to better play its role in cultivating talents.