Clarifying the Basic Issues of Curriculum-Based Political and Virtuous Education

At the present stage, curriculum-based political and virtuous education has drawn high attention from the whole of society and become a hot topic in the field of higher education. It is widely believed that curriculum-based political and virtuous education means “transmitting the Way” in the course of “imparting knowledge and resolving doubts.” However, scholars have diverged considerably on how to understand imparting knowledge, resolving doubts, and transmitting the Way and their interrelations, as well as on how to strengthen the construction of curriculum-based political and virtuous education. For universities to truly implement curriculum-based political and virtuous education in the minds and actions of both teachers and students, it is necessary to return to the original essence of education in cultivating people and to comprehensively rethink the epochal significance of curriculum-based political and virtuous education from the perspective of curriculum-based moral cultivation.

现阶段课程思政引起了全社会的高度关注，成为高等教育领域的热词。人们普遍认为课程思政就是在“授业解惑”中“传道”。但对于如何认识授业、解惑、传道及其关系，对于如何加强课程思政建设，各学者们却产生了较大分歧。高校要将课程思政真正落实到教师与学生的头脑与行动中，需要回归教育育人的本原，从课程育德的角度重新全面思考课程思政的时代意义。

I. Curriculum-Based Political and Virtuous Education Is a Logical Return to the Original Essence of Education in Cultivating People

一、课程思政是对教育育人本原的逻辑回归

As soon as curriculum-based political and virtuous education was introduced, scholars began incessantly to justify it and seek theoretical support for it, some even regarding it as a new breakthrough in educational theory and showing a tendency to establish it as a new discipline. In fact, this is a misinterpretation of curriculum-based political and virtuous education.

课程思政一经推出，学者们就不停地为其论证、寻找理论支撑，甚至认为这是教育理论的新突破，大有将其建成一门新学科之势。实际上，这是对课程思政的错误解读。

“A teacher is one who transmits the Way, imparts knowledge, and resolves doubts.” [1]1 This is a classical allusion to Han Yu’s (768–824) essay “On the Teacher” (《师说》): “师者，所以传道授业解惑也.” Transmitting the Way, imparting knowledge, and resolving doubts are the original meaning of education and the duty of teachers. The “Way” is inherent in “knowledge”; it is the refinement and sublimation of “knowledge,” not something added from outside. Transmitting the Way is the highest realm of the teaching profession. Apart from the novelty of its name, the content and value contained in curriculum-based political and virtuous education are all the original meaning of education—that is, education is about cultivating people, and cultivating people involves not only the growth of knowledge but also the construction of the spiritual world. For any education, any discipline, cultivating people is its core task; deviating from this, the value and significance of education would be completely lost. The proposal of the concept of curriculum-based political and virtuous education is an affirmation and support for the return of education to its value of cultivating people. Although there are debates about the concept of education, there is consensus that education cannot be separated from society or from people’s free and comprehensive development. On the one hand, education cannot be separated from society, meaning that society entrusts education with many expectations and missions. The renowned educational psychologist Vygotsky once pointed out: “It must be noted that education at any time and in any place has a class character, whether the apologists or believers are aware of it or not. The point is that in human society education always has a completely specific social function; it is always oriented by the interests of the political class. The so-called freedom of the artificially narrow educational environment and the so-called independence from the broad social environment are, in essence, extremely relative freedom and independence within a certain narrow scope.” [1]1 This is a classical allusion to Han Yu’s (768–824) essay “On the Teacher” (《师说》): “师者，所以传道授业解惑也.” (P113) [2]2 The citation is from Vygotsky’s *Educational Psychology* (1926), a work that applies Marxist principles to pedagogy. Therefore, it is not difficult to see that education naturally has a political character and a clear task—namely, to cultivate specific people. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Throughout history, both at home and abroad, there have been many schools of thought and diverse theoretical views on education and school-running, but there is consensus on the point that education must cultivate the people needed for social development. To cultivate the people needed for social development, to put it concretely, is to cultivate the people required for social development, knowledge accumulation, cultural inheritance, national survival, and institutional operation.” [2]2 The citation is from Vygotsky’s *Educational Psychology* (1926), a work that applies Marxist principles to pedagogy. [3]3 The citation is from Xi Jinping’s speech at the National Conference on Ideological and Political Work in Colleges and Universities, December 7–8, 2016. All the content, all the carriers, and all the courses of education should naturally bear this heavy responsibility. While ideological and political theory courses bear the heavy responsibility of Marxist theoretical education, other courses besides ideological and political theory courses, while cultivating knowledge, professional skills, and disciplinary competence, should also bear the mission of moral cultivation and people cultivation. On the other hand, education cannot be separated from people’s free and comprehensive development, meaning that the focus of education is people, aiming to promote people’s free and comprehensive development. Education is not external to people but is a natural component of people’s free and comprehensive development and a part of people’s production and life. People’s free and comprehensive development, apart from the acquisition of knowledge and skills, requires the support of social rules, cultural values, and moral concepts, which must be accomplished through education—this is the difference between humans and animals. From this, it can be seen that education itself contains the component and function of moral cultivation; enhancing people’s ideological and moral quality is an inevitable requirement of knowledge education and its curriculum system. In this sense, curriculum-based political and virtuous education is common sense in education and an inherent part of the professional curriculum system. “Curriculum-based political and virtuous education is an intrinsic development of its inherent moral education resources under the premise of following the curriculum’s own logical system; it is a process of returning the curriculum to its value of cultivating people.” [3]3 The citation is from Xi Jinping’s speech at the National Conference on Ideological and Political Work in Colleges and Universities, December 7–8, 2016. On the basis of traditional professional course education, it excavates the ideological and political elements within, achieving the dual harvest of knowledge transmission and moral cultivation.

“师者，所以传道授业解惑也。”传道、授业、解惑是教育的本来之义，是教师的本职。“道”是“业”本有之义，是对“业”的提炼升华，非外来添加，传道是教师职业的最高境界。课程思政除了名称新之外，其包含的内容与价值均是教育的本原之义，即教育就是育人，育人不仅是知识的增长，更有精神世界的建构。任何教育，任何一门学科，育人是其核心任务，背离了这一点，教育的价值与意义就会荡然无存。课程思政概念的提出是对教育育人价值回归的肯定与支持。虽然人们对于教育的概念争论不一，但对于教育离不开社会、离不开人的自由全面发展却是共识。一方面，教育离不开社会意味着社会赋予了教育许多的期待与使命。著名的教育心理学家维果茨基曾指出：“必须注意，教育在任何时候、任何地方都有阶级的性质，不管辩护人或信徒是否意识到这一点。问题在于在人类社会中教育都具有完全特定的社会功能，它始终受政治阶级利益的导向。所谓小范围的人为教育环境的自由与离开大的社会环境的所谓独立，实质上都是在一定狭小范围内的极其相对的自由与独立。”[1]（P113）因此，不难发现教育自然具有政治特性，具有明确的任务，即培养特定的人。习近平总书记指出：“古今中外，关于教育和办学，思想流派繁多，理论观点各异，但在教育必须培养社会发展所需要的人这一点上是有共识的。培养社会发展所需要的人，说具体了，就是培养社会发展、知识积累、文化传承、国家存续、制度运行所要求的人。”[2]教育的所有内容、所有载体、所有课程也自然应该承担此重任。思政课承担着马克思主义理论教育的重任，思政课之外的其他课程在知识、专业、学科素质培养的同时，也应承担着育德、育人的使命。另一方面，教育离不开人的自由全面发展意味着教育的着眼点是人，旨在促进人的自由全面发展。教育不是外在于人，而是人的自由全面发展的自然组成，是人的生产生活的一部分。人的自由全面发展除却知识、技能的获取外，更需要有社会规则、文化价值、道德观念的支撑，这就需要通过教育来完成，这是人与动物的区别之处。由此可知，教育本身就含有育德的成分与功能，提升人的思想道德素养是知识教育及其课程体系的必然要求。从这个意义上讲，课程思政是教育的常识，是专业课程体系的应有之义，“课程思政是在遵循课程自身逻辑体系的前提下对其固有德育资源进行的内涵式开发，是课程育人价值回归的过程”[3]。在传统专业课程教育基础上，挖掘其中的思政元素，实现知识传授与道德育人的双重收获。

II. Curriculum-Based Political and Virtuous Education and Ideological and Political Theory Courses Are in a Relationship of Moving in the Same Direction and Effective Coordination

二、课程思政与思政课是同向同行、有效协同的关系

There are many commonalities between ideological and political theory courses and curriculum-based political and virtuous education, especially in that both focus on implementing the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education and both emphasize the important value and significance of ideological and political education. However, their systems differ, and the intensity of their requirements for ideological and political education differs. For ideological and political theory courses, the requirements for ideological education are higher, and explicit education is more pronounced. Ideological and political theory courses are “courses about ideological and political education”; ideological and political education is the core, and the curriculum is the carrier and support. At any time and under any circumstances, the role of ideological and political education cannot be weakened or neglected for any reason. For curriculum-based political and virtuous education, although it is also a combination of the words “political and virtuous” and “curriculum,” it is not a simple splicing of the two, nor is it a fusion of the two to form an ideological and political theory course; rather, it is a new discourse formed based on the understanding of the tasks and missions of relevant courses. Although curriculum-based political and virtuous education has the educational function and characteristics of ideology, it mainly adopts implicit education, more reflected in the educational content and the demeanor of teachers. Therefore, teachers must fully recognize the differences between ideological and political theory courses and curriculum-based political and virtuous education. First, curriculum-based political and virtuous education is not a transplantation of ideological and political theory courses. Ideological and political theory courses play a huge role, but they have boundaries and cannot solve all problems. Second, ideological and political theory courses and curriculum-based political and virtuous education are different curriculum systems with different emphases. Ideological and political theory courses focus on the level of ideological and political theory, guiding students to form correct value cognition and deepen their identification with the core socialist values. Curriculum-based political and virtuous education focuses on strengthening ideological and value-level educational guidance in the transmission of professional basic theoretical knowledge, safeguarding security in the ideological domain, and firming students’ political stance. Third, curriculum-based political and virtuous education is not a supplement to ideological and political theory courses but a coordination. Supplement implies a primary-secondary relationship; coordination is an equal relationship. In ideological and political education, ideological and political theory courses indeed play an irreplaceable role, but the status of curriculum-based political and virtuous education should not be underestimated. In the entire system of ideological and political education, the two differ only in channels, not in hierarchy. Only when the two move in the same direction and exert a synergistic effect can the best effect of ideological and political education be achieved. General Secretary Xi Jinping explicitly emphasized: “We must adhere to taking fostering virtue through education as the central link, integrate ideological and political work throughout the entire process of education and teaching, achieve whole-process education and all-round education, and strive to create a new situation for the development of China’s higher education.” [4]4 Ibid., as collected in *Xi Jinping on Governance (P376) “We must make good use of the main channel of classroom teaching. Ideological and political theory courses must persist in being strengthened through improvement, enhancing the affinity and pertinence of ideological and political education to meet the needs and expectations of students’ growth and development. All other courses must guard their own stretch of canal and cultivate their own responsibility field, so that all types of courses move in the same direction with ideological and political theory courses, forming a synergistic effect.” [5]5 This is a quotation from John Dewey, *Democracy and Education* (1916). The original English text has been translated into Chinese by the author and is here rendered back into English. (P378)

思政课与课程思政有许多相通之处，特别是两者均聚焦于落实立德树人根本任务，都在强调思想政治教育的重要价值与意义，但两者体系不同，对思想政治教育要求的强度不同。对于思政课而言，其意识形态性教育要求更高一些，显性教育更明朗一些，思政课是“关于思想政治教育的课程”，思想政治教育是核心，课程是载体、是依托，任何时候、任何情况下，都不能以任何理由削弱或忽视思想政治教育作用的发挥。对于课程思政而言，虽也是“思政”与“课程”的词语组合，但不是两者的简单拼接，也不是两者融合形成的思政课，而是基于对相关课程任务使命的认识而形成的新话语。课程思政虽然具有意识形态的教育功能与特性，但却以隐性教育为主，更多地体现在教育内容以及教师的样态中。因此，教师要充分意识到思政课与课程思政的区别所在。一是课程思政不是思政课的移植。思政课作用巨大，但有边界，不可能包打天下。二是思政课与课程思政是不同的课程体系，侧重点不同。思政课侧重于思想政治理论层面，引导学生形成正确的价值认知，加深对社会主义核心价值观的认同。课程思政侧重于在专业基础理论知识的传授中加强思想价值层面的教育引导，维护意识形态领域的安全，坚定学生的政治立场。三是课程思政不是思政课的补充，而是协同。补充有主次之分，协同是平等的关系。在思想政治教育中，思政课的确发挥了不可替代的作用，但课程思政的地位也不可小瞧，两者在整个思想政治教育体系中，只是渠道不同，没有贵贱之分，只有两者同向同行，发挥协同效应，才能实现思想政治教育效果最佳。习近平总书记明确强调：“要坚持把立德树人作为中心环节，把思想政治工作贯穿教育教学全过程，实现全程育人、全方位育人，努力开创我国高等教育事业发展新局面。”[4]（P376）“要用好课堂教学这个主渠道，思想政治理论课要坚持在改进中加强，提升思想政治教育亲和力和针对性，满足学生成长发展需求和期待，其他各门课都要守好一段渠、种好责任田，使各类课程与思想政治理论课同向同行，形成协同效应。”[5]（P378）

III. Curriculum-Based Political and Virtuous Education Is the Excavation of the Ideological and Political Elements of the Curriculum Itself

三、课程思政是课程本身思政元素的挖掘

Curriculum-based ideological and political education does not change the essence of things, nor does it alter the nature of the curriculum. Rather, through the rearrangement of internal elements and innovation in operational methods and approaches, it stimulates the educational component of the curriculum. It is the restoration and activation of the curriculum’s original nature and tasks, and the excavation and activation of its own ideological and political elements. This actually involves a deep-seated issue: how to understand the relationship between ideological and political elements and curricular elements in curriculum-based ideological and political education, and how the two should be combined to achieve the optimal curriculum. We often say that moral education takes precedence; what this emphasizes is the status of moral education, its leading and foundational role in the process of cultivating people. The key to its functioning lies in its integration into all forms of education. Moral education taking precedence, with all forms of education nurturing virtue—this is the normal state of education. Curriculum-based ideological and political education is a restoration and reaffirmation of this original state of education. As is well known, any discipline or course has the nature and function of educating people; it includes both intellectual education functions and moral education components. It is only because, driven by long-term instrumental goals, the knowledge-based and specialized content of courses has become increasingly prominent, primarily fulfilling the intellectual education function, while their moral education components have become increasingly hidden, even gradually ignored by people, who blindly pursue specialized knowledge and skills while neglecting the guiding role of values. The current emphasis on curriculum-based ideological and political education is to reconsider the nature and function of the curriculum, to fully excavate the ideological and political elements inherent in the curriculum itself, and to reactivate the comprehensive educational role of the curriculum. In curriculum-based ideological and political education, curricular elements are the focus, but ideological and political elements cannot be underestimated. However, the biggest problem currently in the practice of curriculum-based ideological and political education is that some specialized teachers, disregarding the design of their specialized courses themselves, blindly respond to policy requirements and artificially, rigidly, and externally impose many ideological and political elements onto specialized courses, turning specialized courses into ideological and political theory courses. This not only affects specialized teaching and curriculum construction but also arouses aversion to ideological and political theory courses among those being educated. Over time, people may develop an indifferent attitude toward curriculum-based ideological and political education. There is no fixed rule for the proportional relationship between curricular elements and ideological and political elements; it should be determined based on the nature and tasks of different courses. As long as it is conducive to the operation of curriculum-based ideological and political education and does not affect the specialized characteristics and task arrangements of the course itself, any proportion is acceptable. For example, in poetry courses within the literature discipline, the teaching of poetry is the transmission of knowledge and the training of poetry writing skills—this is explicit, external education. The function embedded within it of conveying emotion, expressing aspirations, and transforming people through poetry is implicit, internal education. “Historically, poetry has been linked with religion and morality; it has been used for the purpose of penetrating the mysterious depths of things. Poetry also has immense patriotic value. For the Greeks, Homer’s poems were a Bible, a moral textbook, a history, and an inspiration for the Greek nation. In any case, we can say this: if education has not succeeded in making poetry a resource for life and a means of leisure, then this education is deficient. Otherwise, poetry is merely artificial poetry.” [5]5 This is a quotation from John Dewey, *Democracy and Education* (1916). The original English text has been translated into Chinese by the author and is here rendered back into English. (P255) Therefore, integrating ideological and political education elements into poetry courses is not simply a matter of mechanically imposing relevant theoretical knowledge onto them. Rather, in the process of explaining the creation of poetry and the rich emotions it contains, the historical context, feelings for family and country, cultural connotations, and even the joys and sorrows of separation and reunion inherent in the poetry itself should be articulated, prompting students to receive education and grow in ability within an imagined context.

课程思政不是改变事物的本质，也不是改变课程的性质，而是通过内部元素的排列与运行方式方法的创新，激发课程的育人成分，是课程原有性质、任务的恢复与激发，是自身思政元素的挖掘与激活。这实际上涉及一个深层次的问题，即如何认识课程思政中思政元素与课程元素之间的关系，两者如何搭配才能达到课程最优。我们常说德育为首，其实强调的是德育的地位，强调德育在人的培养过程中的先导和基础作用，而它要发挥作用的关键是融入诸育之中。德育为首、诸育育德，才是教育的正常状态。课程思政就是对这一教育本来状态的一种恢复与重申。众所周知，任何一门专业、一门课程均有育人的性质与功能，其既包括智育功能，又包括德育成分，只因在长期工具化目标的驱动下，课程知识化、专业化内容愈发凸显，重点发挥了智育功能，而其德育成分愈发隐匿，甚至逐渐被人们所漠视，盲目地追求专业知识、专业技能，而忽视了价值观念的导向作用。现在强调课程思政，就是重新考虑课程的性质与功能，要充分挖掘课程本身蕴涵的思政元素，重新激活课程育人的全面性作用。在课程思政中，课程元素是重点，但思政元素却不容轻视，然而目前在课程思政实践中，存在的最大问题就是部分专业教师不顾专业课程本身的设计，盲目地响应政策要求，人为地、生硬地、外在地给专业课程强加许多思政元素，致使专业课变成了思政课，这不仅影响了专业教学与课程建设，也引起了受教育者对思政课的反感，长此以往，人们会对课程思政产生漠视心理。课程元素与思政元素之间的比重关系没有固定的法则，要视不同课程的性质与任务来确定，只要有利于课程思政的运行，在不影响课程本身的专业特色与任务安排的前提下，任何比例均可。如在文学专业的诗歌类课程中，诗歌的讲授是知识的传输，是诗歌写作技能的培训，这是外在的显性教育，而其中蕴涵的以诗传情、明志、化人的功能，则是内在的隐性教育。“在历史上，诗歌是与宗教和道德联系在一起的；它曾经用于深入事物的神秘深处的目的。诗歌也具有巨大的爱国主义价值。对希腊人来说，荷马的诗是一部圣经，是一部道德的教科书，是一部历史，又是希腊民族的灵感。无论如何，我们可以这样说，如果教育没有成功地使诗歌成为生活的一个资源和闲暇生活的手段，这种教育就是有缺陷的。否则诗歌只是矫揉造作的诗歌。”[6]（P255）因此，在诗歌类课程中融入思想政治教育元素，不是简单地将相关的理论知识生搬硬套地强加其中，而是在讲解诗歌的创作与所蕴含的丰富情感的过程中，将诗歌本身所带有的历史情境、家国情怀、文化意蕴，甚至悲欢离合表述出来，促使学生在想象的情境中受教育长才干。

As one of the important pathways for strengthening ideological and political education, curriculum-based ideological and political education plays an increasingly significant role in the educational practice of higher education institutions. How to enhance the educational effect of curriculum-based ideological and political education is therefore particularly important. Based on an exploration of the essence of curriculum-based ideological and political education, higher education institutions can stimulate its educational function by deeply excavating curriculum resources, strengthening practical concepts, and enhancing overall design, thereby advancing curriculum-based ideological and political education to adapt to changing circumstances and promoting its innovative development.

课程思政作为加强思想政治教育的重要途径之一，在高校的育人实践中扮演着越来越重要的作用，如何加强课程思政的育人效果就显得尤其重要。基于对课程思政的本质探讨，高校可通过深挖课程资源、强化实践理念、加强统筹设计等途径，激发课程思政的育人功能，推进课程思政因势而新，推动课程思政创新发展。

IV. The Practical Purpose of Curriculum-Based Ideological and Political Education Lies in Stimulating, Mobilizing, and Realizing the Educational Functions of Numerous Courses

四、课程思政的实践目的在于激发、调动、实现诸多课程的育人功能

To accelerate the promotion of curriculum-based ideological and political education, some higher education institutions have established research institutions for it and specially opened some courses on curriculum-based ideological and political education. This fully reflects the importance these institutions attach to curriculum-based ideological and political education and their swift action. The practice of establishing specialized research institutions to further conduct targeted research is also commendable. However, if specialized research evolves into mere theoretical discussion of curriculum-based ideological and political education by a small number of people, this approach requires deliberation. And defining curriculum-based ideological and political education as one course or a few courses leads into another misunderstanding. Based on the needs of economic and social development for comprehensive talents and the needs of students’ own comprehensive development, most higher education institutions, in addition to ideological and political theory courses and specialized courses, have opened many foundational educational courses, collectively referred to as general education courses. General education courses aim to broaden students’ horizons through the foundational, holistic, comprehensive, and broad nature of knowledge, cultivating students who can think, judge, have a complete personality, and a strong sense of responsibility. Currently, general education courses in domestic higher education institutions mainly include three categories: first, public foundational courses such as college foreign languages and physical education. Second, common foundational courses for related disciplines, such as higher mathematics courses for science and engineering students, and college Chinese courses for humanities students. Third, cross-disciplinary quality development courses, such as artistic literacy, traditional culture, and dialectics of nature. General education courses are either a single designation for one of the above three or a combination of them, with different expressions in different institutions. Regardless of the specific type, general education courses opened based on general education are relative to specialized courses. Their main purpose is to enhance students’ quality and abilities. Although they involve some moral education components, they cannot be equated with curriculum-based ideological and political education; it is still necessary to excavate the ideological and political elements within them for conscious education.

为了加速课程思政的推广力度，部分高校建立了课程思政研究机构，专门开设了一些关于课程思政的课程。这充分体现了各高校对课程思政的重视程度与行动迅速，成立专门的研究机构进一步开展专项研究的做法也是值得提倡的。但是，专项研究如果演变成只是少数人对课程思政进行纯粹的理论探讨，这一做法则需要商榷，而将课程思政界定为一门课或几门课，则又步入了另一个误区。基于经济社会发展对综合性人才的需要，以及学生自身全面发展的需要，大多数高校在思政课和专业课之外，开设了许多基础性教育课程，这些课程简称为通识课程。通识课程旨在通过知识的基础性、整体性、综合性、广博性，开拓学生视野，培养学生会思考、能判断，人格全、责任强。目前国内高校通识课程主要包含三类：一是大学外语、体育等公共基础课程。二是相关专业的共同基础课程，如理工科开设高数课程，文科开设大学语文课程等。三是跨专业基础上的素质拓展类课程，如艺术素养、传统文化、自然辩证法等。通识课程要么是上述三者的单一称谓，要么是三者的排列组合，在不同高校表述不一。无论具体是哪一种，基于通才教育而开设的通识课程是相对于专业课程而言的，其主要目的是提升学生的素质与能力，虽也涉及部分德育成分，但却不能与课程思政等同，仍然需要挖掘其中的思政元素进行有意识的教育。

The value and significance of curriculum-based ideological and political education are embodied in all courses, not in one course or a few courses. To enable more teachers to understand curriculum-based ideological and political education and master better techniques for it, higher education institutions can conduct curriculum-based ideological and political education for teachers, such as specialized training courses and special lectures. However, if, merely to respond to the policy requirement of offering curriculum-based ideological and political education, institutions specially open one or more courses on political education or moral education for students, this is superfluous. This not only wastes curriculum resources but also weakens the educational effect of curriculum-based ideological and political education. Curriculum-based ideological and political education is not about establishing new courses; rather, it is about deeply excavating and refining the ideological and political education resources inherent in all courses themselves, such as beliefs and pursuits, moral norms, social responsibility, feelings for family and country, scientific literacy, and humanistic spirit. Through the organic unity of knowledge transmission and value guidance, it cultivates new-era individuals with strong professional abilities, high scientific literacy, and deep humanistic sentiments.

课程思政的价值与意蕴体现在所有课程中，而不是一门课或几门课。为了让更多的教师了解课程思政，掌握较好的课程思政技巧，高校可开展针对教师的课程思政，如专项培训课程、专题讲座等。但如果仅为了响应开设课程思政的政策要求，而专门针对学生开设一门或多门的政治教育、道德教育类课程，则是画蛇添足。这不仅浪费了课程资源，更削弱了课程思政的育人效果。课程思政不是新设课程，而是要在所有课程中深入挖掘、提炼课程本身所内含的信念追求、道德规范、社会责任、家国情怀、科学素养、人文精神等思想政治教育资源，通过知识传授与价值引领的有机统一，培养专业能力强、科学素养高、人文情怀深的时代新人。

However, it should be noted that emphasizing curriculum-based ideological and political education does not mean forcefully implementing it in all courses. The focus is on forming the educational concept of curriculum-based ideological and political education in the minds of educators, keeping the thread of curriculum-based ideological and political education taut. How it is specifically applied depends on multiple factors; teaching should be tailored to students’ aptitudes, and there is no fixed model to follow. For some courses with strong foundational theoretical content, highly technical courses, or purely natural science courses, it is not necessarily mandatory to carry out curriculum-based ideological and political education. Forcibly incorporating ideological and political elements may not only fail to achieve the intended effect but may also backfire, adversely affecting both course education and ideological and political education. Therefore, a teacher’s attitude toward students, passion for knowledge, and enthusiasm for scientific issues may all produce unexpected educational effects—this is curriculum-based ideological and political education. But curriculum-based ideological and political education does not mean engaging in extensive political or moral discourse in specialized courses, nor does it mean encroaching on specialized course time to turn specialized courses into political courses or ideological and political theory courses. The emphasis is on requiring that, in the process of knowledge transmission, teachers can provide appropriate value guidance. This does not necessarily require lengthy expositions; sometimes a few words can play a key role. Nor does it require this in every class; adjustments should be made in a timely manner based on the requirements of the discipline and the needs of the content being taught.

但需要注意，强调课程思政并不是对所有的课程都强力推行课程思政，重点是强调在教育者的头脑中要形成课程思政的教育理念，紧绷课程思政之弦，具体如何应用则取决于多种因素，要做到因材施教，没有固定模式可遵循。部分学科的基础理论性课程、技术性强的课程、纯粹的自然科学类课程，并不一定非得要开展课程思政，生硬地融入思政元素，不仅难以发挥预设的效果，可能还会走向事物的反面，对课程教育及思想政治教育产生不良影响。因此，教师对待学生的态度、对待知识的热爱、对待科学问题的热忱，可能都会产生意想不到的育人效果，这就是课程思政。但课程思政并不是在专业课上大谈政治、道德，也不是挤占专业课时间，将专业课上成政治课、思政课，侧重要求在知识传授过程中，教师能开展适当的价值引导，不一定需要长篇累牍，有时寥寥数语就能起关键作用，也不是要求每节课都如此，要根据专业要求、传授内容的需要适时调整。

V. The Practical Driving Force of Curriculum-Based Ideological and Political Education Lies in Continuous Advancement and Optimized Innovation

五、课程思政的实践动力在于持续推进与优化创新

At present, the theoretical exposition and value significance of curriculum-based political and virtuous education are relatively clear. While it is certainly necessary to construct a framework system for curriculum-based political and virtuous education, the most urgent task is its advancement and innovation in practice, followed by summarization and re-practice based on that practice. The advancement of curriculum-based political and virtuous education is a very difficult process and also an extremely complex one. First, curriculum-based political and virtuous education involves all courses, with content that is diverse and lacks unified standards. Second, different majors and different courses each have their own attribute requirements and operational laws. Although curriculum-based political and virtuous education is a part of them, it is very difficult to precisely control the degree of its implementation in practice. Third, along with the improvement in the academic qualifications of university teachers, the knowledge literacy and teaching ability of educators themselves are beyond doubt, yet there still exist some teachers who lack the capacity to identify students’ laws of ideological and moral development and their psychological health crises. Fourth, the knowledge level and cognitive ability of students in the internet era have undergone a qualitative leap. If curriculum-based political and virtuous education does not consider the learning situation, disregards students’ feelings, and fails to achieve a natural and smooth outcome, even if it avoids artificial and forceful additions, it will still provoke student aversion.

目前课程思政的理论阐述、价值意义已相对明了，固然需要建构课程思政的框架体系，但最迫切的却是课程思政在实践中的推进与创新，继而由实践进行总结与再实践。课程思政的推进是个非常艰难的过程，也是个极其复杂的过程。一是课程思政涉及了所有课程，内容庞杂且没有统一标准；二是不同的专业、不同的课程均有自己的属性要求与运行规律，课程思政虽然是其自身的一部分，但在运行中，其度的掌控很难到位；三是伴随高校教师学历水平的提高，教育者本身的知识素养与传授能力不容置疑，但依旧存在部分教师在对学生思想道德的发展规律、心理健康的危机识别能力不足；四是互联网时代的学生的知识水平与认识事物的能力均有了质的飞跃，课程思政如果不考虑学情，不顾学生的感受，不能水到渠成，即使避免了人为地、强硬地添加，也会引起学生的反感。

Therefore, universities need to continuously explore in practice, and even constantly trial and error, in order to find a development path for curriculum-based political and virtuous education that suits different courses. Different universities and different courses can each choose different methods based on their own characteristics. As long as the goal of curriculum-based political and virtuous education can be achieved and students’ interest can be stimulated, any scientific method can be employed. Even within the same university and the same type of course in the same major, different teachers can combine their own teaching characteristics to carry out different teaching forms, in order to achieve equivalent educational effects. The key is to conduct curriculum-based political and virtuous education teaching based on the specific university and major. For example, for courses on traditional culture, maritime universities and normal universities can be completely different in terms of curriculum-based political and virtuous education. The former can focus on teaching maritime culture, enabling students to understand the unique Chinese maritime cultural tradition that differs from the Western maritime development model. On the contrary, if these two types of universities’ traditional culture courses are completely identical in teaching content, then we need to reflect on our curriculum-based political and virtuous education. Of course, this does not mean that there are no laws to follow, no experience to summarize, or no models to promote in the teaching of curriculum-based political and virtuous education. In fact, many courses have commonalities, and much content can be mutually referenced. In the operation of curriculum-based political and virtuous education, it is also necessary to establish relevant rules and regulations, summarize and refine the construction standards for curriculum-based political and virtuous education, and even formulate negative lists. For example, in higher mathematics calculus courses, when teaching abstract and difficult concepts such as constants and variables, finite and infinite, differentiation and integration, discrete and continuous, bounded and unbounded, no matter which university or which major, it is necessary to reveal the philosophical principles within them, such as qualitative change and quantitative change, and the unity of opposites of contradictions. Curriculum-based political and virtuous education needs to be renewed according to the situation, transformed according to events, and advanced according to the times; this is the fundamental requirement for the practice of curriculum-based political and virtuous education.

因此，高校需要在实践中不断探索，甚至不断地试错，才能找到合乎不同课程的课程思政的发展道路。不同的高校、不同的课程，均可以立足自身特色设定进行不同方式的择取，只要能达到课程思政的目的，能激发学生的兴趣，任何科学的方式均可运用。甚至在同一所学校、同一门专业的同一类课程中，不同的教师可结合自身的教学特色开展不同的教学形式，以达到同等的教育效果。关键是要立足所处学校、所处专业来开展课程思政教学。如对于传统文化类课程而言，海洋类院校与师范类院校在课程思政方面可以完全不同，前者可以着重讲授海洋文化，让学生了解不同于西方海洋发展模式的独特的中国海洋文化传统。恰恰相反，如果这两类院校的传统文化课程，在讲授内容方面完全雷同，则需要反思我们的课程思政了。当然，这并不是说在课程思政的教学中，没有规律可遵循，没有经验可总结，没有模式可推广。实际上，许多课程有共通之处，许多内容有相互借鉴的地方，课程思政的运行中也需要建立相关的规章制度，归纳总结课程思政的建设标准，甚至制定负面清单。如在高等数学微积分课程中，讲述常量与变量、有限与无限、微分与积分、离散与连续、有界与无界等抽象难懂的概念时，无论哪一所高校、哪一类专业，都需要揭示其里面的质变与量变、矛盾对立统一等哲学原理。课程思政需要因势而新、因事而化、因时而进，这是对课程思政实践的根本要求。

VI. The Practical Approach of Curriculum-Based Political and Virtuous Education Requires Strengthening Overall Planning and Design

六、课程思政的实践进路要求加强统筹设计

Currently, scholars and experts have not yet formed a unified understanding of curriculum-based political and virtuous education. Some scholars believe that curriculum-based political and virtuous education, like ideological and political theory courses, belongs to the category of ideology and should be managed primarily by the propaganda department and supervised by the School of Marxism. Some scholars believe that curriculum-based political and virtuous education is different from ideological and political theory courses; its focus is on curriculum teaching and should be managed primarily by the academic affairs department. Some scholars believe that curriculum-based political and virtuous education is simply “curriculum + moral education,” with professional teachers responsible for curriculum teaching and moral education to be completed by counselors. Still other scholars believe that curriculum-based political and virtuous education is a new thing with unclear management boundaries, and a new dedicated institution should be established to manage it. It is precisely these ununified understandings that have caused the current chaos in the understanding and practice of curriculum-based political and virtuous education, and this precisely illustrates the extreme complexity of curriculum-based political and virtuous education, requiring systematic thinking and coordinated advancement.

目前各位学者专家对课程思政尚未形成统一认识，有学者认为课程思政如同思政课，属于意识形态范畴，应归属宣传部门主抓、马克思主义学院主管的事情；有学者认为课程思政不同于思政课，其重心在课程教学，应归属教务部门主管；有学者认为课程思政就是“课程+德育”，课程教学由专业教师负责，德育应由辅导员来完成；还有学者认为课程思政是新生事物，管理界限不明，应成立新的专属机构予以管理。正是这些未达成统一的认识造成了当前课程思政认识与实践的乱象，而这也恰恰说明课程思政的极其复杂性，需要系统性思维，统筹推进。

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: “Ideological and political work is fundamentally about working with people. It must revolve around students, care for students, serve students, continuously improve students’ ideological level, political awareness, moral character, and cultural literacy, and enable students to become talents with both moral integrity and professional competence, and well-rounded development.” [7] (P377) [6]6 Xi Ideological and political education, which involves working with people, cannot be independently completed by any single factor within a university. It requires the attention and overall planning of the Party committee, administrative functional departments, and secondary colleges; it also requires the participation of leaders, teachers, general staff, and service personnel; moreover, it requires the coordinated linkage between the first classroom and the second classroom, as well as the full mobilization and exertion of students’ subjectivity. As an important component of ideological and political education in universities, curriculum-based political and virtuous education must be student-centered, focusing on the comprehensive development of people, especially the construction of the spiritual world, and requires the joint support and promotion of the aforementioned combined forces of ideological and political education. To this end, the “Guiding Outline for the Construction of Curriculum-Based Political and Virtuous Education in Higher Education Institutions” issued by the Ministry of Education in May 2020 clearly states: “Comprehensively advancing the construction of curriculum-based political and virtuous education is a strategic measure to implement the fundamental task of fostering virtue through education.” “We must firmly grasp the ‘main force’ of the teaching staff, the ‘main battlefield’ of curriculum construction, and the ‘main channel’ of classroom teaching, so that all universities, all teachers, and all courses assume the responsibility of educating people, guard their own stretch of canal, and cultivate their own responsibility field, enabling various courses to move in the same direction as ideological and political theory courses, unifying explicit education and implicit education, forming a synergistic effect, and constructing a grand pattern of all-staff, whole-process, and all-round education.”

习近平总书记指出：“思想政治工作从根本上说是做人的工作，必须围绕学生、关照学生、服务学生，不断提高学生思想水平、政治觉悟、道德品质、文化素养，让学生成为德才兼备、全面发展的人才。”[7]（P377）做人的工作的思想政治教育，不是高校中的任何单一因素所能独立完成的，既需要党委、行政职能部门、二级学院的重视与统筹，也需要领导、教师、一般职员、服务人员的参与，更需要第一课堂与第二课堂的协调联动，以及学生主体性的充分调动与发挥。作为高校思想政治教育的重要组成部分，课程思政要以生为本，重点关注人的全面发展，尤其是精神世界的建构，需要上述思想政治教育合力的共同支持与推动。为此，教育部于2020年5月颁布的《高等学校课程思政建设指导纲要》明确指出：“全面推进课程思政建设是落实立德树人根本任务的战略举措。”“要紧紧抓住教师队伍‘主力军’、课程建设‘主战场’、课堂教学‘主渠道’，让所有高校、所有教师、所有课程都承担好育人责任，守好一段渠、种好责任田，使各类课程与思政课程同向同行，将显性教育和隐性教育相统一，形成协同效应，构建全员全程全方位育人大格局。”

Curriculum-based political and virtuous education must employ systematic thinking, comprehensively coordinate and implement policies, and form an atmosphere, system, and policy support that values curriculum-based political and virtuous education, studies it, and deepens its practice. Specifically, curriculum-based political and virtuous education should be reflected in all courses. The ultimate goal of course learning is not merely to learn course knowledge, that is, to stop at grasping the concepts and principles of the discipline and improving cognitive levels, but to enable students, through the process of knowledge learning, to form their own independent judgments via the rehearsal of thinking training, to forge strong thinking abilities, to form inner convictions on the basis of reflection, and to clarify life goals and life directions. Among these, the stimulation of the subjectivity and initiative of teachers and students is crucial. The strength of students’ participation awareness, their level of self-reflection, the expression and influence of teachers’ attitudes and emotions, as well as the use and penetration of language and methods, all play an important role in enhancing the effect of curriculum-based political and virtuous education. It is worth mentioning that curriculum-based political and virtuous education places high demands on teachers’ teaching literacy. How to achieve moral education without affecting the transmission of professional knowledge, and how to implement ideological and political education in the teaching of knowledge, achieving the effect of “sneaking into the night with the wind, moistening things silently,” [7] is a question that every teacher needs to seriously consider and diligently practice. In addition, curriculum-based political and virtuous education is different from general courses; its curriculum design has obvious interdisciplinarity. Teachers need to draw on and apply the theories and methods of related disciplines, majors, and courses to stimulate students’ value perceptions, humanistic feelings, and moral psychology. For example, courses in language-related disciplines and majors can use theories and methods from disciplines such as psychology, sociology, and pedagogy to scientifically interpret professional content and effectively transform teaching.

课程思政要运用系统思维，综合统筹施策，形成重视课程思政、研究课程思政、深化课程思政实践的氛围、制度、政策支持。具体而言，课程思政要体现在所有课程中，课程学习的终极目的不是只学习课程知识，即停留于把握学科的概念与原理，提升认知水平，而是要使学生在知识学习的过程中，通过思维的训练预演，形成自己的独立判断，练就较强的思维能力，在反思的基础上形成内心的信念，明确生活目标和人生方向。其中，教师与学生主体性与积极性的激发至关重要。学生参与意识的强弱、自我反思的水平，教师态度、情感的表露与影响，以及语言、方法的运用与渗透都对增强课程思政的效果发挥着重要作用。值得一提的是，课程思政对教师教学素养的要求颇高，如何在不影响专业知识传授的同时实现德育，如何在知识的讲授中实施思想政治教育，达到“随风潜入夜，润物细无声”的效果，是每一位教师都需要认真思考并努力践行的。此外，课程思政不同于一般课程，课程设计具有明显的交叉性，教师需要借鉴运用相关学科、专业、课程的理论与方式方法，激发学生的价值感受、人文情怀、道德心理。如语言类学科专业的相关课程可以借助心理学、社会学、教育学等学科的理论与方法对专业内容开展科学阐释，对教学进行有效变革。

(Author’s Bio: Li Heliang, Professor at the School of Marxism, Ludong University, and Doctoral Supervisor at the School of Marxism, Harbin Engineering University)

（作者简介：李合亮，鲁东大学马克思主义学院教授，哈尔滨工程大学马克思主义学院博士生导师）

(Fund Project: This article is a research outcome of the National Social Science Fund Key Project “Research on the Construction of an All-Media Communication System for Ideology” (Approval No. 23AZD048))

（基金项目：本文系国家社科基金重点项目“意识形态全媒体传播体系建设研究”（批准号23AZD048）的研究成果）

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